Cleveland Transit System 1052

Cleveland’s first trolley bus operation was in 1936 when the Cleveland Railway converted one streetcar line to trolley bus service. (In Cleveland, as in Boston, these vehicles were normally termed “trackless trolleys,” while elsewhere “trolley bus” was a more common designation.) In 1942, the city-owned Cleveland Transit System took over the city’s transit operations from the Cleveland Railway. Cleveland did not establish more trolley bus routes until after World War II. After the war, the Cleveland Transit System planned to convert many, but not all, of its streetcar lines to electric trolley bus operation. In 1946, CTS ordered 175 trolley coaches from St. Louis Car Company. Of these, St. Louis delivered Nos. 1000 – 1074 in 1947, while the remaining 100 coaches came in 1948. St. Louis had been a major streetcar manufacturer and was also an early trolley bus producer. St. Louis Car became one of the major trolley bus manufacturers, delivering over 1100 coaches to 15 cities between 1930 and 1952. Streetcar service in Cleveland ended in 1954. By the 1950s, Cleveland Transit became one of the larger trolley bus operators in the country with 461 trolley coaches on 15 routes. CTS began phasing out trolley bus operation in 1958 in connection with expansion of its rapid transit service. CTS ended trolley bus operation in 1963. CTS sold some its coaches to Mexico City and Toronto; all the rest were sold for scrap. In 1963, J. Ours purchased No. 1052 and moved it to New Brighton, PA. Instead of being scrapped, the seats were removed, and the vehicle was used for storage. By 1983, No. 1052 had moved to A.& B. Salvage Co. in Lancaster Twp., PA. Greg Walz of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum spotted it and informed Bob Humanchuk of the Northern Ohio Railway Museum. Humanchuk inspected No. 1052, found it sound and obtained it. He then donated it to the Seashore Trolley Museum. Seashore volunteers also obtained other Cleveland bus and trolley bus parts from the A. & B. scrap yard. In 1991, Seashore volunteer Fred Maloney repainted the coach in its Cleveland Transit colors of two-tone beige. No. 1052 is Seashore’s only trolley bus built by St. Louis Car. No. 1052 became part of a growing collection of Cleveland transit vehicles at Seashore. The Museum had previously acquired Cleveland streetcar No. 1227, streetcar trailer car No. 2318 and Lake Shore Electric interurban No. 117. Then, in 2009, Seashore acquired Cleveland rapid transit car No. 113 and another trailer car No. 2365 which replaced No. 2318 in the collection. The museum now had all four types of electric transit vehicles from Cleveland: streetcar, interurban, rapid transit and trolley bus. Cleveland joined Boston and Philadelphia as cities with complete multi-modal collections at Seashore.