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Photo from the collection of Matt Cosgro, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Horsecars began operating in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1872, and from this historic whaling city came Seashore's two oldest street railway cars, Nos. 10 and 34. No. 34 was built in 1878 as a horsecar by the Fiegel Car Company of New Utrecht, New York, for the New Bedford & Fairhaven Street Railway, a precursor of the latter day Union Street Railway. Electrified in about 1894, it was converted to a Railway Post Office car for operation between New Bedford and Onset in 1902. It still has some of its original windows and its complete original roof. The windows on the side of the roof contain glass of several different colors and run the entire length of the body.
No. 34 was placed in storage after the suspension of mail service. It reportedly was used occasionally as a work car until the fall of 1938 when, during the great New England hurricane, the Pope's Island barn, in which No. 34 was stored, was flooded. The salt water damaged the motors in the car and it never ran thereafter. Acquired by Seashore in 1947, it was stored breifly at the Edaville Railroad in Souther Carver, Massachusetts, before being moved to Maine. Although one motor awaits more drastic rework, the museum was able to repair the other so that the car could run on October 8, 1983. It was used as an active Railway Post Office on that day for the introduction of the Streetcar Commemorative Stamps by then Vice President George Bush and Postmaster General William Bolger.
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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