THE ART OF THE HEAVY INTERURBAN.

It's been ninety years since the North Shore Line and South Shore Line finished upgrading their fleets of steel interurban cars for the last time before Depression and the motorcar took their toll.  Now the East Troy Electric Railroad is raising money to restore one such car from each interurban.

Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Car 761 ran on the North Shore Line between the Loop in Chicago and downtown Milwaukee from 1930 to 1963.

Chicago South Shore and South Bend Car 6 ran on the South Shore Line between Chicago and South Bend, Indiana, from 1926 to 1983.

Both cars need work before they can run on the East Troy Railway.

“Restoring both of these cars is a priority for us, each for a different reason” said Ryan Jonas, president of the East Troy Railroad Museum. “We depend on our South Shore fleet to run our popular special event trains, like the Bunny Trains and Christmas Trains. South Shore Car 6 will give us a backup in case one of the other South Shore cars needs repairs. We want Car 761 back in service so we can showcase another interurban car with Wisconsin history.”

The museum are capable of running multiple-car South Shore trains already, and on busy fall weekends as many seats as are available come in handy.  The North Shore car has returned to its State Line haunts after serving at least two different preservation railroads in Michigan.

I'm treating these preservation projects as an opportunity to put my money where my mouth is, and encourage readers to support the preservation railroad's efforts.