New York State Railways Rochester Lines Peter Witt Car 1213

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Dorcas Lindsey
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1 1 Seashore Trolley Museum Kennebunkport, Maine New York State Railways Rochester Lines Peter Witt Car 1213 Donald G. Curry Restoration Project Manger Status report covering restoration work 1 December 2009 through 1 August 2011 This configuration is our goal Thanks to the Rochester Area Community Foundation On behalf of the membership of the Seashore Trolley Museum, I would like to thank the Rochester Area Community Foundation for their continuing support of the restoration of New York State Railways Rochester Lines Peter Wit trolley car no The Community Foundation is making the restoration of this very significant piece of transit history return to its original state following the wishes of Lloyd Klos, who was very interested in the preservation of Rochester streetcars. He set up the Lloyd Klos Foundation for Historic Preservation, now administered by the R. A. C. F. in which the preservation of Rochester streetcars is specifically named. His contribution via the Foundation has encouraged significant donations from the Seashore Trolley Museum s membership, thus leveraging the funds available for restoration work supported by each grant. One very interested member

behalf of the membership of the Seashore Trolley Museum, I would like to thank the Rochester Area Community Foundation for their continuing support of the restoration of New York State Railways

2 2 alone has pledged to double the R.A.C.F. grant. These grants have allowed work to continue without interruption due to lack of funding. Significant events in car 1213 s after life s body Arrives at the Seashore Trolley Museum from Webster, New York 1993 Enters Museum s Town House Restoration Shop 1994 First restoration work commences New underframe constructed and slid under original upper body 2006 First grant received from Rochester Area Community Foundation 2008 Second grant received from R. A. C. F Steel siding installed, car body stabilized and placed on trucks, sign box rebuilt, center door frame being rebuilt With the green and cream paint scheme applied in the 1920s to the outside of the car s exterior, 1213 s exterior has moved closer to its final appearance. The Overall Goal of the restoration work is to recreate car 1213 as it was in its later ( ) period of its operation ( ) in Rochester. It was one of 50 cars constructed by the Cincinnati Car Company. (Some of the other cities operating similar cars were Buffalo, Cleveland, Syracuse and Indianapolis.) At this time the most important aspects of the project involve closing in and stabilizing the main part of the body from the front bulkhead arch through the rest of the body. s Plans for Center door frame complete rebuilding the original, using some of the original steel with new steel spliced in. Complete the unique sign box frame over the center door Assemble and install the door and sign frames Join them to the siding that is in place on the car Complete the installation of the steel siding on the door side of the car body from the rear corner to the front door post. With the installation of this unique part of the structure, the car will further take on its final appearance as well as become more stable. Photos are our blueprints. Help from another museum. Although the Peter Witt cars were prominently featured in the electric railway industry publications of the day and the articles contained many technical details, there are virtually no extant blueprints in existence detailing their body construction. Fortunately the trolley company s legal department maintained an excellent set of photographs showing damage to various areas of the 1200-series of cars. These are now in the files of the New York Museum of Transportation in Rush, NY. Thanks to them we now have a set of these excellent quality black-and-white copies which have been very useful in doing the body work on They also have made available to us some builder s photographs. The NYMT s Charlie Lowe in his letter of 1 June, 1999, making the photos available to the Seashore Trolley Museum, stated, There are several photos on this list that will be of use to you in recreating the center door on NYSR From what I gather by looking at the photos, the center post between the two doors at the center door opening was very susceptible to damage in automobile accidents the 1200 s suffered in the 1920 s. The Company s loss is our gain because many of NYMT s accident photos do show excellent detail on the center door area. I hope all is going well with 1213 and otherwise; your progress with 1213 sounds just wonderful!

commences 1996-2001 New underframe constructed and slid under original upper body 2006 Fi

3 3 Accidents in service form great blueprints 1985 Webster woods The center door area Kennebunkport, August 2011

4 4 This is the area where work will concentrate. The blueprint The center door underframe s transformation in 26 years. The original signbox frame from over the center door used as a pattern for the new steel. This design gave cars like 1213 a unique and rather modern look for 1916.

The original signbox frame from over the center door used as a pattern

5 Technicians at work welder, a planishing hammer operator, painters. 5

6 6 The big curved front bumper and the front sign box. The restored front signbox including original mahogany frame 1213 about to leave its Webster resting place Our vision of 1213

The Car Accident. Simple Past and Past Continuous

The Car Accident. Simple Past and Past Continuous The Car Accident Yesterday I saw a car accident. I was standing on the corner, waiting for the green light. The other light changed from green to orange. Then I saw a sports car. The man driving the sports