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Click photos below for larger images.
Car 25 at the old carbarn in 1951.
Unloading Car 25 at the Howes St. barn in May 2008.
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History of FCMR Car 25 The Fort Collins Municipal Railway (FCMR) owned nine single-truck Birney Safety cars between 1919 and 1951. The initial four, cars 20-23, were purchased new from the American Car Co. in 1919. Car 24 came from the National Car Co. in 1920 but was scrapped by 1930. Cars 25 and 26 came used from Cheyenne, WY in 1925 after operated in the Wyoming capital for only a few years. The last two cars to arrive, second 24 and second 25, arrived in 1946. This is a brief history of FCMR second car 25. For more about FCMR streetcars, see our: FCMR History pages. As mentioned above, the FCMR had two cars numbered ’25.’ Both were built by the American Car Co. in 1922 for the city of Cheyenne, WY. Our first Car 25 was purchased used from Cheyenne Light & Power in 1925 but didn’t last long. The second car 25 came used from Virginia Railway & Power Co. in 1946. Second 25 was originally numbered 1520 when it ran on Richmond, VA streets. It arrived in Fort Collins along with sister car 1530, becoming FCMR second Car 24. Second Car 24 didn’t last long and was used as a ‘parts car’, while second 25 served the City well until operations ceased in June 1951. Second car 25 is shown above meeting other cars downtown in 1950.FCMR second cars 24 and 25 were almost identical to other FCMR cars from American Car Co., the most-noticeable differences being the high-back leather bucket seats, doors that opened inward, and slightly longer than the other cars. All remaining FCMR cars were sold after the system shut down except Car 21. Second Car 25 was purchased by Jim Stitzel for less than $500 and moved to his family’s second home in Victor, CO. It remained outside their home, which was formerly a railroad depot, until sold to SCANA Corporation of South Carolina in the early 1990s for approximately $10,000. SCANA cosmetically restored the car as their Charleston Car 407 for the 150th anniversary as a South Carolina utility. After the celebration, the car remained in storage in Columbia, South Carolina until 1997. Second Car 25 changed hands in 1997 to Charlotte Trolleys, Inc., a volunteer-based non-profit working with the city of Charlotte to provide a heritage streetcar experience. Purchase price this time was about $127,000. Charlotte Trolleys intends to completely restore the car as Richmond car 1520 and operate it, along with other restored streetcars of the region, on Charlotte’s expanding light-rail lines. Restoration cost was estimated at over $250,000. Due to a change in Charlotte Trolleys' mission in 2007, they decided to restoring only cars from their city. They contacted us in the hopes that we could complete the restoration. We quickly traveled to Charlotte, assessed the condition of the car and negotiated sale price and terms. Thanks to quick action by our board and generous local donors, we raised the needed $196,000 purchase price and completed the purchase in December 2007. Car is now back to in the Howes St. carbarn awaiting a 5-7 year restoration to service on our restored line. For more about Car 25 or for information on joining our restoration team, please contact project manager Bob Hutchison, 970-493-1044. |
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