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Street Cars and Interurbans of Yesterday By Davies Collection car illustration D
Street Cars and Interurbans of Yesterday By Owen Davies A collection of car illustrations and drawings
Hard Cover with dust jacket (very damaged)
Copyright 1960 Notice the staining on the book edge
indexed 166 pages
From the electic Railway Dictionay
CONTENTS
STREET CARS, SINGLE TRUCK
Closed Cars1
Semi-Convertible Cars5
Open Cars9
STREET CARS, DOUBLE TRUCK
Closed Cars11
Semi-Convertible Cars21
Convertible Cars23
Combination Open and Closed Cars25
Open Cars27
Funeral Car29
INTERURBAN CARS
Passenger Cars30
Combination Passenger, Baggage and Smoking Cars38
Open Trailers47
Parlor, Observation and Private Cars 48
Gas-Electric Cars52
Express and Freight Cars54
ELEVATED AND SUBWAY CARS58
SNOWS WEEPERS AND PLOWS61
SPRINKLERS64
WORK CARS
Flat Cars66
Coal and Ash Cars67
Crane and Wrecking Cars 68
Line Cars70
Sub-Station Car72
Gasoline Weed Burner Car72
CAR BODY FRAMING
Street Cars, Single Truck73
Street Cars, Double Truck79
Interurban Cars98
Elevated and Subway Cars105
Snow Plows109
Sprinklers113
Sub-Station Car116
Flat Car117
Locomotives 118
CAR BODY DETAILS
Air Brakes, Westinghouse120
Air Compressors121
Air Brake Valves122
Hand Brake Handles, Details123
Couplers and Draft Gear124
Curtains125
Destination Signs126
Fenders and Wheelguards127
Hardware - Basket Racks and Bells 129
Hardware - Doors130
Hardware - Lighting Fixtures131
Hardware - Platform Gongs132
Headlights and Marker Lamps133
Heaters and Stoves136
Registers and Fare Boxes137
Seats140
Trolley Catchers and Retrievers 142
TRUCKS
Brill143
Baldwin146
St. Louis148
American Car and Foundry151
Taylor 152
Truck Details, Springs153
WHEELS, CAST IRON154
MOTORS, WESTINGHOUSE155
MOTOR DETAILS
Table of Weights and Horsepower of Westinghouse Railway Motors and Control Apparatus156
Table of Weights and Horsepower of General Electric Railway Motors and Control Apparatus; Classification of Railway Controllers158
CONTROL APPARATUS159
WIRING161
THIRD RAIL SHOES162
TROLLEY BASES, TROLLEY HARPS 163
INDEX to Companies represented in the illustrations165
At the 1908 convention of the American Electric Railway Association a committee was appointed to supervise and prepare for publication an "Electric Railway Dictionary, " a work similar in scope to the already familiar "Car Builders' Dictionary" and "Locomotive Dictionary and Cyclopedia" of the steam railroads. Mr. Rodney Hitt, associate editor of "Electric Railway Journal" was appointed editor. Three years later, at the convention of 1911, the completed work was presented to the Association, and the Committee reported, "The McGraw Publishing Co. has spared no pains or expense to make it the most complete reference work on electric railway cars and their equipment that has ever been compiled. The illustrations include floor plans and exterior and interior views of more than 200 representative cars for city, suburban and interurban service, dimension drawings of car framing, illustrations of all types of trucks, motors, modern car and truck equipment parts. "
Save for catalogues issued by individual car builders, there never was anything comparable previously published - nor since, for that matter! The Committee went on to say that the "Dictionary" would be a useful and valuable book for every department of every electric railway company. For instance, "The Mechanical Department can make use of it as a comprehensive and complete reference work on car construction and equipment when designing new cars or rebuilding old cars."
Although the Association had been in existence under various names since 1882, and their annual Convention Proceedings contained a wealth of technical data pertaining to all phases of the industry, this was the first attempt to standardize and systematize electric railway carbuilding practices. From the great body of knowledge gathered in their experience of twenty-five years, the time was ripe, in 1911, for publication of the "Dictionary.
The electric railway industry had come of age; in 1912, shortly after publication, there were over 1,200 operating and lessor companies in business, operating 94,016 cars over 40,000 miles of track, and producing operating revenue in excess of $567, 000, 000. Electric railways were rolling swiftly to their zenith; in that year they transported over eleven billion passengers. In 1923, eleven years later, they reached their ultimate height by handling fourteen billion passengers.
One may conjecture that both the Association and editor gave serious thought to preparing a new edition of their "Dictionary" but this was not to be. First, the World War intervened with its attendant labor and material shortages, accompanied by the rise of two rivals: the wildcat jitney and the upstart motor bus. Then the depression of the post-war era and the beginning of the abandonment of unprofitable lines turned trolley managers into transit operators seeking inspiration from Detroit to keep their accounts in the black.
As a consequence there was only one edition of "Electric Railway Dictionary" and its distribution undoubtedly limited to those in the industry. Very few copies reached the general public (no reviews are quoted in "Book Review Digest" for 1911), and today copies are excessively rare. In thirty years I have acquired only three copies, despite constant search and, curiously enough, all of them were purchased in Chicago. Many street car enthusiasts and model builders freely admit to never having seen or heard of it.
Their remarks have encouraged me to believe that its re-publication would be welcomed by traction buffs. throughout the world. To more readily suggest the content of this reprint, the title has been changed and, to keep the cost within bounds, the dictionary portion and some of the illustrations of ephemeral, transitory interest have been deleted. All illustrations of cars and drawings of car body framing have been retained, with selections of car body details, hardware, trucks, wheels, motors and motor details.
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