Question on Peter Witt streetcar

[lanny]

Hi All,

Does anyone on the forum have any idea if this type of streetcar was ever used in Des Moines, Iowa (capitol of Iowa)? My wife remembers growing up in a house on a street that was on a main electric street car route, but can't remember if they looked like the Bachman version or what color they might have been.

If anyone knows or has suggestions where to research this I sure would appreciate it!

thanks!

lanny nicolet

[Jonathan MacCormack]

Lanny,

Drop a dime on the Chamber of Commerce or Historical Society in Des Moines.

Jonathan

[paulsafety]

Lanny,

Here is a site that has a lot of history about Iowa traction companies, past and present:
http://world.nycsubway.org/us/iowa/

Here is a link to a photo archive of many traction lines that operated in Iowa:
http://davesrailpix.com/odds/ia/ia.htm

Here is a link to a photo archive of the Des Moines Railway:
http://davesrailpix.com/odds/ia/ia.htm#dmr

Here is a link to a Des Moines Railway car that looks like a peter witt:
http://davesrailpix.com/odds/ia/htm/dmr30.htm

Hope this helps, and I hope you feel confident enough to purchase a Peter Witt anyway!

Paul F.

[Frankford el car]

Oddly enough;

That Des Moines, Ia. streetcar that look's like a "rough copy" of a Peter Witt, almost look's like it could be modeled, using the Bachmann Brill Suburban streetcar, as a starting point. It just might be possible, moving the "rear-end" doorset on one side forward to the middle of the side, and replacing both doorsets on the other side, with appropriate body panels and windows.

That might actually turn out to be a crude version of a Nearside trolley, the predecessor of the Peter Witt...

[lanny]

Paul F.

Thanks very much for those wonderful websites. I got some great photos of the streetcars and my dear wife clearly remembers the 'modern' ones running by her house as well as riding them to various locations in Des Moines. The "Peter Witt" side door is in the wrong place, but in general, it is close to the DM trolleys ...close enough to justify buying one!   

Jonathan, I had thought of the 'historical society' and was preparing to make a trip there, but  Paul's great research saves me gas money and the addmission price (the 'dime  ) which now can be put towards the purchase of the Peter Witt street car! 

I don't know if I will take the time to 'bash' the door back to the rear as the DM cars did ... will wait until I get the street car to make that decision.

lanny nicolet

[SteamGene]

Jonathan,
That's a good idea, if the locals have any knowledge of such!  I stopped by the Hampton museum after it opened last year and what they knew about trains in Hampton I could have written on my little finger nail!   They had a picture of a C&O steamer pulling a passenger train across the Hampton River Bridge and the captain was something like "C&O steam locomotive and its tender..." 
Gene

[paulsafety]

Lanny,

Drop a dime on the Chamber of Commerce or Historical Society in Des Moines.

Jonathan

Another option that sometimes produces results is to look at publishers of history books to see if they have a searchable web catalog....
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com is one that enables searches by keyword (i.e. trolley) or by state, etc.

A search by state got me to a book on Staunton Virginia's history.  I don't know if it mentions Shenandoah Traction Company, but for 20 bucks, it might be worth an investment to learn more about the area.

Here's a link to their "advanced search page"  http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCHM&Store_Code=arcadia

Paul F.

[lanny]

Thanks Paul for the web site Paul.

I used one web site suggested and got a wealth of great photos.

Then, on a whim, I checked Don Ross' web site and wow, there were a ton of DM trolley cars ... the ones closest to the Peter Witt ran from the mid 40s into the 50s when the trolleys gave way to diesel motor bus transportation.

The biggest difference I see is that the Peter Witt has double doors in the middle side, while the DM trolleys had them at the front (as does the Peter Witt) and the rear, with no doors in the middle. So, it will have to be kit bashed to get a true DM trolley. But, looking over the Spectrum photos, it seems like it could be done pretty easily.

I even got one photo in color. Looks like a dark blue and creme color scheme. That will bear further checking.

lanny nicolet