Wisconsin Railway, Light and Power (Winona) No. 10

Photo by Carl Barthelemy

Description

Wisconsin Railway, Light and Power Company No.10 served the city of Winona, Minnesota from 1913 until 1938. It was part of an order for four cars (Numbers 9 to 12) built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1913 and 1914 (job No. 1012) and delivered in April, 1914. Car No. 10 was placed in service in late May, 1914. Originally the car had hand brakes but in 1916, air brakes were installed. The car operated until the abandonment of streetcar service in 1938 and was the last car to run in Winona. Shortly after abandonment of the Winona lines, the car was sold to a local family who used it as the basis for a cabin-a common fate for streetcar bodies; that was also how our Duluth Street Railway No. 265 was saved. The car is a rare example of a single truck streetcar designed for use by a small city streetcar system such as Winona. During the period 1908 to 1916 (before the advent of the lightweight, single truck Birney-type safety car) small city companies that wished to update their streetcar systems and reduce electricity costs with lighter cars replaced older (and old-looking) heavy wood-body cars (usually built before 1900) with modern, light steel-bodied streetcars such as No. 10.

No. 10 is unique in that it has a steel frame and exterior surfaces but the interior is all wood. Both the interior and exterior of the car is in surprisingly good condition. What also makes this car a rare find is that as far as is known, there are no other cars like No. 10 in restored and operating condition in a transit museum.

No. 10 was purchased by the Museum in the spring of 1999. Volunteers stripped away the surrounding cottage and it was taken by truck to the Excelsior Carbarn, where restoration has begun for use on the Como- Harriet Streetcar Line. There, it will be put to use on weeknights and in the fall when ridership is lower - to save money just as it did in Winona nearly a century ago.

Photos

  Winona 10 (historical photo)