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Matt Cosgro photo, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
The crown jewel of Seashore's open car fleet is unquestionably No 2, one of the four famous observation cars that regularly were operated on summer sightseeing tours in Montreal, Quebec, until shortly before the end of trolley operations in the Canadian metropolis. Built by the old Montreal Street Railway in 1906, No. 2 was acquired in 1963 by the Museum through the cooperation of the Montreal Transportation Commission and the generosity of the Carling Brewing Company, then of Natick, Massachusetts.
No. 2 differs from the other open cars in that it has no roof and its seats are arranged theater fasion at progessively higher levels on either side of a center aisle. It is a single ended car, having controls at one end only, so that turning loopsor wyes are necessary for its operation in regular service. The other open cars can be operated from either end.
Transported by truck and trailer from Montreal to the Carling plant in Massachusetts, the car made a triumphal tour of the countryside en route. Stops were made in various municipalities, including St. Albans, Burlington and Montpelier, Vermont; Franklin, Concord and Manchester, New Hampshire; and Lowell, Massachusetts. Upon its arrival in Natick, the car was formally presented to the Society. Subsequently the car was trucked on to Maine, and, once No. 2 was in Kennebunkport, no time was wasted in readying it for operation. It made its first trips over museum trackage on Saturday, June 22, 1963. On one of these trips, the operator was a former Montreal motorman, Arthur Morisette, then a bus driver, who spend his annual vacation at the Museum. Although received in fairly good condition, No. 2 has been restored to its original splendor, under a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum Services.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
Photos on this website are not to be used elsewhere without permission from the photographer or the Society.
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