The
Electroliners were a pair of electric passenger train sets operated by the
Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee RailroadThe Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, often called the North Shore Line, was an interurban railroad line that operated between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until its abandonment in 1963.- Early history :...
, which ran between Chicago, Illinois, and
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...
. These
streamlinedA streamliner is any vehicle that incorporates streamlining to produce a shape that provides less resistance to air. The term is most often applied to certain high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully...
electric multiple unitAn electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of many carriages using electricity as the motive power.- Types :...
interurbanAn Interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad that enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were unpaved and could become nearly impassable during...
trains were built by
St. Louis Car CompanyThe St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri....
in 1941. Each train set carried two numbers, 801-802 and 803-804. Although the Electroliners were equipped with retractable
couplerA coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the railway gauge, since flexibility and convenience are maximised if all rolling stock can be coupled together.- Nomenclature :The different types of coupling...
s, the couplers were only used for towing purposes.
Each trainset is made up of four sections: two end units and two center units. Each end unit is divided at the side doors into a Luxury Coach, which seats 30, and a Smoking Coach section, which seats 10 and also has a restroom. Each door had steps and a trap door for boarding from street level, low-level and high-level
platformsA railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
. One center unit is a coach unit that seats 40, and the other center unit is a Tavern Lounge which seats 26.
The Electroliners were cleverly designed to operate with the high platforms, sharp curves, and narrow clearances of the
Chicago LoopThe Loop is the name given to the two mile circuit of elevated railroad that forms the hub of the 'L' rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois...
and the
Chicago 'L'The
'L' is a rapid transit system that serves the city of Chicago in the United States...
, to run at speeds of or more on the North Shore's main line, and to make their way up Milwaukee city streets to the North Shore Milwaukee Terminal in downtown Milwaukee. The Electroliners' styling resembled that of the
Pioneer ZephyrThe Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies, built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , commonly known as the Burlington...
and influenced the styling of future electric trainsets, notably the
Odakyū 3000 series SEThe or SE , later becoming SSE , was a "Romancecar" EMU operated by the Odakyu Electric Railway in the Tokyo area of Japan....
Romance Cars. Although they were streamlined, the Electroliners were not faster than the conventional equipment operated by the North Shore Line. When the Electroliners were first received in 1941, during one test run the traction motors were allowed full field shunt to determine absolute maximum speed. The Electroliner reached just over 110 mph, and North Shore personnel noted that at that speed, the train would reach highway crossings before the crossing gates could fully close, a dangerous situation. Thereafter, the Electroliners were limited to 90 mph.
Liberty Liner
After the North Shore Line ceased operations in January 1963, the Electroliners were sold to the Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company, then known as the
Red Arrow Lines, and the two trainsets were renamed
Liberty Liners. The trolley poles and steps were removed, new doors were added in the center coach sections, and updated third-rail contact shoes were installed in order to operate on the
Philadelphia and Western RailroadThe Philadelphia and Western Railroad was a high-speed, third rail-operated, commuter-hauling electric railroad operating in the western suburbs of the U.S. city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of its lines is now SEPTA's Rt. 100 Norristown High Speed Line trolley; the other has been abandoned...
right-of-wayA right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted – through an easement or other mechanism – for transportation purposes, such as for a rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way...
, which exclusively uses third rail and high-level platform stations between Upper Darby, Pennsylvania and
NorristownNorristown is a municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 6 miles northwest of the city limits of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
. Electroliner 801-802 became Liberty Liner "Valley Forge", while 803-804 became "Independence Hall". The Liberty Liners were retired around 1976.
Preservation
Electroliner 801-802 is preserved and is being restored to its early 1960s operating condition at the
Illinois Railway MuseumThe Illinois Railway Museum is the largest railroad museum in the United States and is located in Union, Illinois, northwest of Chicago...
(IRM) in
Union, IllinoisUnion is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 576 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Union is located at ....
.
Former Electroliner 803-804, Liberty Liner "Independence Hall" is preserved at the
Rockhill Trolley MuseumThe Rockhill Trolley Museum is located at 430 Meadow Street, Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and south of US 22, the William Penn Highway....
in
Orbisonia, PennsylvaniaOrbisonia is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 425 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Orbisonia is located at ....
.
Models of the Electroliner
Model railroad company Con-Cor initially planned on releasing an
HO scaleH0 scale is the most popular scale of model railway in most of the English-speaking and non English-speaking world . In H0 scale, represents 1 real foot; this ratio works out to about 1:87.086...
Electroliner train set in 2003/2004, but cancelled the project due to lack of interest , and produced a
Pioneer ZephyrThe Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered railroad train formed of railroad cars permanently articulated together with Jacobs bogies, built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , commonly known as the Burlington...
set instead. In 2007, the company announced that the project was being resumed; its model was released in mid-2009. The trainset has been produced in
brassBrass is any alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin. Despite this distinction, some types of brasses are called bronzes. Brass is a...
in HO Scale by several companies. Recently,
MTH Electric TrainsMTH Electric Trains, formerly Mike's Train House, is an American toy train and model railroad designer, importer, and manufacturer, based in Columbia, Maryland...
has announced the release of an
O scale0 scale is a scale commonly used for toy trains and model railroading. Originally introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current 0 gauge was the most common model railroad scale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s...
Electroliner in 2007 .
External links