Major Work On 763

From Rail & Wire Issue 185, September 2000

Bruce Lampson shows rust damage near the 763's stepwells. Photo by Greg Heier.

Bruce has jacked up the 763 high enough so that its truck may be rolled out for rebuilding. Photo by Greg Heier.

Working on a major restoration grant from the Elliott Donnelley Foundation, Bruce Lampson is heading up a rebuilding of North Shore Line coach 763. The car, which was built in 1930 by the Standard Car Company, was one of the last order of 25 non-streamlined interurban cars built for the CNS&M. The 103,800-pound interurban was rebuilt into a Silverliner car in March of 1958. The Silverliner cars were painted with simulated fluted "shadow-striping" to resemble the stainless steel fluted siding of the streamliners on the Class One roads. After the North Shore Line's abandonment in 1963, the 763 was sold to The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society. That museum painted the car in an incorrect Greenliner scheme and used it in passenger service on their East Troy to Mukwonago museum railway. They eventually sidelined the car when it needed mechanical work. Illinois Railway Museum purchased the car from TWERHS in 1988 along with a number of other North Shore Line and Milwaukee Electric cars. GHH

Bruce is presently working on a tear-down and rebuilding of one of the 763's trucks. Bruce jokes about it and calls it "the ultimate model railroad kit." Photo by Greg Heier.