[milwaukee-electric] Re: 9th street

[Don Ross]

Don L
I don't remember Lew Martin.  There were other original members and I 
am having a problem in remembering the names.  One was a fellow with 
an Italian name something like Valesano and another was a good artist 
who worked for Kalmbach.  I think Frank Butts was involved.  The guys 
who I blamed were McLeod, Wietzke, and Harper.  You can't carry a grudge.
I took the pictures of the Birneys.  I haven't used them on my site 
yet.  The car for Jay was 1545 and was the solid cream color car,  It 
went to Worthington, Ohio, and later parted out for the Fort Smith 
museum.  The RHS car was actually 1536.  It was renumbered 1540 
because that was the original purchase.  They swapped cars in Kansas City.
After 60 years views come from different directions.  They stick and 
usually don't have the total information.  In 1951, museums groups 
started and ended early.  There was little experience and we were in 
a funk.  We had the wonderful experience of Speedrail and then it 
went down and down.
Don


At 11:01 AM 3/18/2011, you wrote:
>Don R and list:   Actually, TMER&L's 607 was to be saved and was run
>over to the the 15th street Team Tracks that fronted on St.Paul 
>Avenue.
>
>Unfortunately the leader of the RHS, Lew Martin, was in the Army at that
>time.  The remaining members notified him of the situation and LM got an
>emergency furlough to come home and deal with this 
>issue.
>
>The scrappers, not knowing otherwise, began to scrap the 607, by
>destroying one end platform and pulling out the truck.  Apparently,
>someone told them of the ownership and disposition, too late.
>
>Upon Lew Martin's arrival, the car was now no longer moveable on own
>wheels so, the car was scrapped.  I had heard that The Transport Company
>(TMER&T) was disappointed that this car was lost.  If notified, perhaps
>they could have funded movement of it, perhaps to a Car Station or to
>the Cold Spring Shops.
>
>Does anyone else, have a slant on this ?
>
>Jogging my memory, weren't the two KC Birney cars the 1536 and 1540 ?
>Someone has a photo of these cars arriving on property, on flat cars
>behind the TM Box Motor M 14, on the so-called 3rd rail (freight line)
>at 20th street.
>
>Historically speaking, the 607 was one of the improved cars (601 - 608)
>that were refitted for Cudahy~South Milwaukee service in the mid-1920's,
>preceding the acquisition of the new articulated trains (1031-32 ~
>1049-50) built by St.Louis Car Company in 1930 for that service.
>
>Don L .