Chicago Aurora & Elgin 308



Facts and Figures


Current Number308
Railway RepresentedChicago Aurora & Elgin
BuilderNiles Car & Manufacturing
Built In1906
Builder's order id
Currently in (State)Illinois
--(Locality)Union
Totally out of svc date1962
(Initial retirement date)1957
Car Typeinterurban
-subtypecoach
-designation
Statusdisplayed inoperable
More infohttp://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2009/01/h308.html
Gauge4'8.5"
Constructionwood
Roof typeRR
EndedDE
Length53'1"
Width8'7"
Height13'0"
Weight75000
#Seats52
#Wheels/Conf.8
Total HP250
TrucksPullman
BrakesAMM (M15B)
CompressorD3-EG
ControlGE M (C21E)
MotorsGE 66B (2)
Voltage (if not 600DC)

Car 308 in operation at IRM in 2007
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomas-merton/1357053433/

Car 308 in operation at IRM in 2010
Flickr
photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_miley/4958595313/
Car History by Frank Hicks


Chicago Aurora & Elgin 308
This car is one of three Niles-built CA&E cars surviving, and is also one of three "half-motor" CA&E cars left. Built as a four-motor car, at some point - thought to be the early 1920's - car 308 had half of its electrical equipment and motors removed to supply other cars. It operated for the last 30 years of its life as a two-motor car. Retired in 1957, it was sold to a group of railfans in Indianapolis in 1962 and stored in the yards near Indianapolis Union Terminal. Around 1964-65 it became one of the first car in the collection of the newly-formed Indiana Museum of Transportation and Communication (IMOTAC). The car was moved to IMOTAC's site in Noblesville, where a barn was built and a collection of rolling stock was assembled. Car 308 was the second car ever to run at IMOTAC, in 1973, but at some point in the mid- to late-1970's a restoration effort resulted in one end of the car being disassembled before the effort was abandoned. The car was stored for nearly two decades until a fiscal crisis at the now-Indiana Transportation Museum in 1996 resulted in the car being sold to IRM. Rebuilding work commenced in 1999 and car 308 operated for the first time at IRM in 2002. It is currently in regular operation.

Ownership History


OwnerCar NumFromToPreservation?Loan?
Aurora Elgin & Chicago (Illinois, Wheaton)3081906 1922 NO NO
Chicago Aurora & Elgin (Illinois, Wheaton)3081922 1962 NO NO
Indiana Transportation Museum (Indiana, Noblesville)3081962 1996 YES NO
Illinois Railway Museum (Illinois, Union)3081996 present YES NO

Additional Media

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Car 308 in operation at IRM in 2008
YouTube
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPSW5ql6p78