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CA&E 460 7-4-2010
Chicago Aurora & Elgin steel curveside coach motor 460 (St Louis, 1945 order 1717) @Illinois Railway Museum, Union IL 7-4-2010
This car and its sisters in the 450-460 series are noteworthy on several accounts.
Firstly, they were the last cars purchased by the "Roaring Elgin".
Secondly, they were the last classic conventional interurban cars built in the United States. Ordered in 1941 but with construction delayed by the war, they were built in 1945, after the Electroliner and only a few years before IT's streamliners, but their design hearkened to an earlier age. Only a sharp-eyed person could catch the difference between it and the CA&E's other steels built 20 years earlier. One of the differences, shared with the Electroliners and the 5000 and 6000 series "L" cars was a curved side to give it a roomier interior while still allowing it to fit the narrow clearances of the "L" 's high-level platforms.
CA&E 460 7-4-2010
Chicago Aurora & Elgin steel curveside coach motor 460 (St Louis, 1945 order 1717) @Illinois Railway Museum, Union IL 7-4-2010
This car and its sisters in the 450-460 series are noteworthy on several accounts.
Firstly, they were the last cars purchased by the "Roaring Elgin".
Secondly, they were the last classic conventional interurban cars built in the United States. Ordered in 1941 but with construction delayed by the war, they were built in 1945, after the Electroliner and only a few years before IT's streamliners, but their design hearkened to an earlier age. Only a sharp-eyed person could catch the difference between it and the CA&E's other steels built 20 years earlier. One of the differences, shared with the Electroliners and the 5000 and 6000 series "L" cars was a curved side to give it a roomier interior while still allowing it to fit the narrow clearances of the "L" 's high-level platforms.