| Car Number | 3618 | Car Builder | Differential Car Company |
| Year Built | 1927 | Year Acquired | 1974 |
| Type | DE Center-Dump Hopper | Seats | 0 |
| Length | XX'X" | Width | X'XX" |
| Height | XX'X" | Weight | XX,XXX lbs (XX tons) |
| Max Speed | XX mph | Status | Out of service, flood damage (09/04) |
Car 3618 was built in 1927 by the Differential Car Company for use in track construction on the streetcar lines of the Boston Elevated Railway. Its job is to carry ballast (crushed stone) to the construction site, and then spread the rock on top of the ties between the rails, so that it can be used to raise and level (tamp) the track.
Hopper dump car 3618 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.
Last updated October 17, 2005
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