In Kansas City MO - Jim Garvey collection at newdavesrailpix.com

Builder: Cincinnati Car Co.
Secondary Use: Farm building
Type: City and Suburban Streetcars
Year: 1911
Acquired by the Museum: 1993
Note: Seashore placed No. 922 on trucks and covered it with tarps.
Fund: 713

Kansas City Public Service Co. 922

From Kansas City, Missouri

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History

Kansas City had a relatively extensive streetcar system. At its peak in the 1920s, there were some 750 streetcars and over 300 miles of track, including routes across the state line in Kansas City, KS. The system began as the Metropolitan Street Railway. The Metropolitan Street Railway was renamed the Kansas City Railways and then, in 1925, Kansas City Public Service. No. 922 was one of 50 cars built by the Cincinnati Car Co. in 1910-11 to replace earlier four-wheel vehicles on the Metropolitan. The car features steel sides and the so-called arch roof, in which metal ventilators replace the monitors previously used for ventilation. This was an early application of this roof style. In 1917, No. 922 was rebuilt to eliminate an unusual curved ramp leading into the car at the rear. A 1927 rebuilding provided double front doors to facilitate one man operation. In the 1940s, Kansas City Public Service applied a striking cream and black paint scheme. A former operator remembered the 900’s as “big, noisy and fast.” No. 922’s retirement date is not known, but the last Kansas City streetcars ran in 1957. After retirement, No. 922 (without its trucks) went to a farm in Tonganoxie, KS to be used as a home until another residence was being built. The residence was never built, and the farmer lived in the streetcar for an unknown number of years. Subsequently, the car was protected by a wooden enclosure with corrugated steel sheathing and used as a storage shed. Although it was widely believed that no traditional Kansas City streetcars had survived, Seashore discovered the body of No. 922 in 1992. The owner of the farm donated the car to Seashore. Seashore moved the carbody to Maine in 1993

Technical Information

Seats: 53
Control: K-35
Brakes: National Straight Air

Trucks

Number: 2
Manufacturer: Standard
Model: 050

Motor

Number: 4
Manufacturer: Westinghouse
Model: 306

Weight and Dimensions

Length: 48’
Width: 8’ 7.00"
Height: 11’ 7.00"
Weight: 46400 lbs.