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No. 41 was built in 1901 by the John Stephenson Car Company, Ltd., of New York City, for the Lexington & Boston Street Railway, a predecessor of the Middlesex & Boston Street Railway, which operated in the Middlesex County communities to the west of Boston. After the end of streetcar service in 1930, the firm continued to operate as a bus company until it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in 1973.
Car 41 was constructed originally with enclosed vestibules at the ends of its 20 foot body. Like other single truck cars, it had longitudinal seats and was equipped with two motors and hand brakes. No. 41 has a railroad roof, so called because it traditionally was used on steam railroad coaches before being applied to streetcars. The monitor, or raised portion of the roof, continues over the vestibule, tapering down to the roof line at the end of the car, instead of terminating abruptly at the end of the body with a flat board or window which usually held the destination sign. Except on open cars, monitors generally had narrow opening windows or ventilator louvers (or a combination of the two) to improve the interior air quality. Car 41 was acquired in 1962 as a body, which saw various uses over a period of years, and much restoration work will be necessary before it can be operated again. But, because of its having been kept indoors prior to its arrival at Seashore, it is in remarkably good condition for a car of its age.
History from Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich
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