Boston Elevated Railway 3618


3618 being loaded during construction of the Redman Wye trackage	3618 shortly after its arrival from Seashore Trolley Museum in 1974

Car Number	3618	Car Builder	Differential Steel Car Company
Year Built	1927	Year Acquired	2009
Type	DTDE Street Railway work car	Seats	n/a
Length	40'	Width	8'
Height		Weight
Motors	WH535A	Status	On display in RHB Car House

Car 3618 was built by the Differential Steel Car Company of Findlay, Ohio, for use in track construction on the streetcar lines of the Boston Elevated Railway in Massachusetts. Its job is to carry ballast (crushed stone) to construction sites, and then spread the rock on top of the ties, so that it can be used to raise and level (tamp) the track. This hopper dump car is unusual because most electric railway companies used side dump cars (like the museum's Pittsburgh Railways M551) for this job. In fact, fewer than ten cars of this type are known to have been built by Difco.

Construction work on trolley lines diminished considerably after the Great Depression, but 3618 remained on as a maintenance car. Because of its low clearance and in spite of its all metal construction, it was used for emergency overhead wire work in the trolley subway in Boston. Its last use was in 1959 when a portion of the Boston and Albany Railroad was converted for use as a streetcar line.

The car body of 3618 came to the museum in 1974 from the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. The car has subsequently been refitted with trucks from a former Pittsburgh work car so that it may run on wide gauge tracks and completely restored to operating condition. Its ballast spreading ability was used with great success during the Arden Valley and East Site extensions.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger photos (will open in new window):


3618 after it received its first coat of green paint	Streetcar rebuilder Steve Cherpak gets restoration underway	Ballasting at the McClane School Loop EH Lybarger photo

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