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Originally this car had open platforms, but the vestibules were enclosed between 1901 and 1905. The car was equipped with two four-wheel swivel trucks, known as the "Boston Special," and was operated for many years between Union Square, Allston and Watertown via North Beacon and Arsenal Streets. Converted to an electrical test car in 1922, it was acquired by Seashore in 1954 from Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority.
After its arrival at the museum, No. 396 received comparatively little attention, except for an occasional coat of paint, until late 1962. Advance agents for Gamma Productions, about to shoot movie sequences in and around Boston for The Cardinal, came to the museum in their quest for an old Boston trolley of the 1915 era. No. 396 was among those inspected and was the one finally chosen. An agreement was reached whereby Gamma Productions leased the trolley for a dollar and contracted the extensive cost of the required reconditioning.
The work was carried out by the Metropolitan Transit Authority at its Everett Shops. The interior was restored to natural finish and the metal work was buffed, longitudinal seats with green plush upholstered cushions and backs were installed and advertising cards of the 1915 period were placed in the car racks over the seats. The exterior was completely painted and striped. Missing signs, brackets, fenders, and other hardware were sought out and applied. On Sunday, February 24, 1963, a day that will long be remembered in Seashore annals, the sequences in which the trolley was involved were filmed on Belmont Street in Belmont, a Boston suburb. Here streetcar tracks still remained, overhead wire for trackless trolleys was available for power, and the early 1900s houses lining the street provided the perfect movie "set". After the "rushes" had been viewed and approved, the car was released to Seashore and a few days later in was safely back at the museum.
Later, in 1977, No. 396 stared again in a Public Television series, The Best of Families, where it was used in a scene about a trolley strike in Brooklyn in 1905. This was filmed at Boston MBTA's Reservoir Carhouse, which at the time, was an original classic West End Street Railway style massive wooden carbarn, providing a perfect backdrop for the film.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
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