Irene/Sandy Flood Recovery Status

Recovering from the damage suffered by the museum's vehicle collection at the hands of storms Irene and Sandy is a multi-year process which is made possible by a pair of disaster assistance grants from FEMA. Each vehicle can take over a year to complete (although the average has been 6-9 months) and over $50,000, of which FEMA pays 75% and the museum pays 25%.

In general, the process is to bring the vehicle into the shop and remove the damaged components. Primarily these are the traction motors, and most cars have either 2 or 4 motors. Air compressors and other major components that were flood-damaged may also be removed. These components are sent out to a qualified electrical motor shop which overhauls them and remediates the flood damage. Upon return, the components are given a run-in test at the museum and then re-installed. Finally, the vehicle itself is given a number of run tests before being released back into service.

In response to frequent inquiries from museum members and the general public, the tables below, which will be updated periodically, give the overall status of the program.

The museum's goal is to completely reverse the effects of these floods. To do so, the support of museum friends is essential. The museum welcomes both general donations, which will be directed to the vehicle or vehicles that most need the funding, or vehicle-specific restricted donations. In the latter case, please understand that the museum may not be able to initiate repair of a particular car until it has sufficient funding secured to make it feasible to undertake the project. A typical car needs $7000-$12000 of funding (our share of the cost after FEMA reimbursement).
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Note: Some of the cars are listed as "temporarily repaired." Their traction motors were washed out and dried with hot air without removal from the car. While these cars are now operating, their long-term reliability is not assured, and they would benefit from motor overhaul. There isn't sufficient space on this page to list all of the technical issues involved with each car. Interested readers are encouraged to contact the museum with any questions. One of the museum members involved with the project will be happy to discuss these with you.

Vehicle Num	Year Built	Description	Repair Started	Repair Completed	Notes
Completed Repairs
5	1910	Only preserved trolley rotary snowplow, Montreal Tramways	Nov 2018	Nov 2020	Amherst Ry. Society Founders Award
9	1911	Montreal & Southern Counties Interurban/Suburban	Jan 2020	March 2023	(CFGNH)
34	1899	Single-truck open, Wildwood NJ (ex Lynchburg VA)	March 2019	March 2020	CFGNH
61	1893	Single-truck closed car, Rhode Island Co.	Jul 2016	Dec 2018	CFGNH
220	1892	Single-truck closed car, NYC, converted cable car	Jun 2016	Nov 2016	CFGNH sponsorship.
302	1907	Railway Post Office trolley, New Bedford MA	Mar 2014	Apr 2015	Motor work sponsored by H. Albert Webb Memorial Grant
316	1896	Single-truck closed car, Union Railway (Westchester Co.)	March 2016	Aug 2016	Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
356	1926	Closed pasenger car, Johnstown PA	*	*	Motors replaced with previously overhauled spares
500	1904	Trolley Parlor Car, Connecticut	Dec 2015	Jan 2017	Sponsored by 500 club members and CFGNH.
629	1939	"Modern" closed car, Third Avenue Ry. (NYC)	Apr 2018	Sep 2018	Funded by a restricted bequest.
709	1923	Interurban, Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee	Jun 2018	Jan 2020	Private sponsors
775	1904	Closed passenger car, Connecticut	Oct 2016	Aug 2017	CFGNH funding
865	1905	Closed passenger car, Connecticut	Jan 2014	Dec 2015	New axle bearings via grant from W. Russell Rylko Memorial Grant, motor work partially sponsored by Amherst Railway Society
1001	1936	Oldest preserved PCC car, Brooklyn	Jul 2013	July 2019	partially sponsored by National Railway Historical Society
1706	1913	Single-truck convertible, Toronto	Oct 2017	Nov 2018	Private donor
1792	1899	Early double-truck passenger car, Brooklyn	Feb 2015	Nov 2015	Compressor repaired in-house
1911	1919	Closed passenger car, Connecticut	Feb 2016	Dec 2017	Private donor.
2001	1929	Closed passenger car, Montreal	Jan 2015	Aug 2015	New pinion gears via 20th Century Elec. Ry. Foundation grant
2350	1922	Single-truck "Birney" style car, Connecticut	Jan 2016	May 2016	Sponsored by Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
2898	1923	"Peter Witt" style passenger car, Toronto	Mar 2015	Apr 2016
4573	1906	Convertible passenger car, Brooklyn	May 2013	Aug 2018	Sponsor: private donors.
6688	1955	Rapid transit subway car, class R-17, NYC	Feb 2013	Apr 2013
9137	1903	Derrick crane car, Brooklyn	May 2014	Apr 2016
S36	1920	Double-truck sweeper, Toronto (ex Eastern Mass, ex Third Ave)	May 2016	Apri 2018	Private donors
Temporarily repaired and now operable (require future permanent repair)
Shunter	1913	Home-built single-truck switcher, Montreal Tramways
W3	1929	Motorized crane car, Montreal Tramways
25	1923	Single-truck line car, Ottawa	-	-	Partially funded, private donor
205	1947	Trolleybus
503	1928	Rapid transit subway car, Hudson & Manhattan class J (NY/NJ)
948	1926	Closed passenger car, Atlanta	-	-	Only 2 motors flooded
1349	1905	Brooklyn Elevated rapid transit convertible motor car
1504	1904	Wrecker/emergency car, Rhode Island
1689	1940	Rapid transit subway car, class R-9, NYC
3152	1925	Snow plow, single-ended, Cornwall
5466	1924	Rapid transit subway car, "Lo-V", NYC
Repairs in progress
12	1917	50-ton Baldwin-Westinghouse elec. loco., Cornwall, ex Utah&Idaho	Jan 2021	-	Truck repairs completed, motors expected soon(private donors)
Amy	1899	4-wheel early elec switcher loco	Oct 2022	-	Motors at shop, one rewind needed
27	1949	All-elec. PCC, Newark	Dec 2015	-	Motors replaced with purchased spares, pending M-G and control group repairs
84	1933	Brill "Master Unit", Red Arrow lines	Feb 2021	-	motors and trucks sent out for rebuild
116	1930	High-speed interurban, Cincinatti & Lake Erie (later CRANDIC)	Jul 2018	-	John. H. Emery Rail Trust grant, motors done, control group work underway
1425	1911	15-bench double-truck open, Connecticut	Aug 2015	-	Sponsored in part by Branford Community Foundation, Tom. E. Dailey Foundation, Amherst Railway Society, private donors. Motor and truck work done, pending reassembly
2431	1913	Closed passenger car, New Jersey	Nov 2019	-	Motors in progress, 1 rewind needed (Private donor+CFGNH)
3662	1907	Rapid transit subway car, "Deckroof Hi-V", NYC	Nov 2018	-	Private donor. Motors back, Sep 2019
Inoperable, sponsored or specific funding source
8	1941	"Brilliner", Red Arrow lines	-	-
10	1899	Single-truck snowplow, Brooklyn.	-	-	CFGNH
830	1908	Closed pasenger car, Third Avenue Ry. (NYC)	-	-	Fully funded, Private donor
884	1909	Semi-convertible passenger car, Third Avenue Ry. (NYC)	-	-	Fully funded, Private donor
1227	1903	Brooklyn Elevated rapid transit, closed motor car	-	-	Private donors
Inoperable, awaiting funding and repair
388	1925	Staten Island Rapid Transit
1403	1914	Closed single-ended passenger car, Montreal
1972	1929	Single-ended closed passenger car, Montreal
3000	1922	Double-truck "Birney" style car, Connecticut
5002	1918	Home-built 50-ton switcher, Montreal
9799	1899	single-truck snow plow, Brooklyn
9832	1915	single-truck sweeper, Brooklyn