Hi Guys:
Does anyone know the history of how Ward Kimball designed the Chloe open passenger car and where did the parts come from?
Thank you,
Norman
I always understood it was an old open trailing car for a street car but the pic I found searching indicated it was a restored open horse drawn streetcar, the kind you would find on older smaller streetcar lines. I dont know where he got it from but back in the 1950’s it would still be possible to find such things.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxHMTlyPMjk/T87cgEspoRI/AAAAAAAAIfs/CegWBEz8sG0/s1600/old+streetcar.JPG)
This is an old horse drawn tram thats almost a dead ringer for the Kimball car.
Hi Victor: Thanks! That explains the curved roof style being different from the J. G. Brill trolley cars. Here is a photo of an Ottawa Electric Railway open streetcar :
(http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/001075/f1/nlc009823-v6.jpg)
Note that the same handbrake system is used from the previous, very recent, days of the horse drawn cars. On the internet, I found a history of the horse drawn cars of New York City. Electification of the trolley cars, former horse drawn cars, came not a moment too soon. Apparently, the citizens were basically being buried in horse manure due to the massive number of horses required to haul goods around town from the cargo shipping warfs and the freight train stations. From what museum did you find the photo? A museum in Mexico, Portugal or Spain? Totally amazing the items which Ward Kimball was able to buy for his collection during his lifetime which today are not obtainable. Many items were bought for scrap value as those items were destined for the scrap heap had Ward Kimball not purchased them. Norman
I found it trawling the net, it says Tranvia Municipal which puts it in Bogota Columbia. Its was on someones transit blog page.
It is in the narrow gauge building at the Orange Empire RR Museum in CA. I took a pic from the other direction - “Chloe” in front.
Thanks Pete, its very similar but smaller (4 posts) than the horse-tram in my pic (5 posts), both have reversable seat backs. I really have to wonder now just where did ol’ Ward dig his up from? BTW whatever happened to the open mining cars he had? I don’t recall seeing them at the OERM.
(http://ironhorsey.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/chloe.jpg)
I still have to wonder, if I had Tom Millers pad why would I want a silly ride-on Big Boy when I could such a thing of beauty like this consist? 