Welcome to the official site of the Electric Railroaders’ Association, Inc. Founded in 1934, the ERA is a non-profit educational organization consisting of people from all walks of life interested in the history and progress of electric railways. ERA dues for 2010 are $35. The benefits of joining are numerous:
All ERA members in good standing receive the Association’s magazine,Headlights, America’s premier journal dedicated to light rail transit, subways, interurbans, electric railroads and other forms of electric transportation. Currently published twice a year, each ad-free issue is packed with in-depth coverage of transit systems, news and book reviews contributed by leaders in the transit field.
You are invited to attend the ERA’s national convention, held yearly in a North American city with electric rail operations. This year’s convention will treat participants to much of what Portland has to offer. Taking place over the Labor Day weekend from Friday, September 3 through Tuesday, September 7, highlights of the trip included:
If you are conducting research, you may take advantage of the ERA’s extensive collection of electric railway literature and images at the Frank Julian Sprague Memorial Library at ERA headquarters in Grand Central Terminal. The first books and papers in the library were donated to the ERA by Harriet (Mrs. Frank) Sprague and consisted of elements of Mr. Sprague’s personal collection.
The directors and membership committees of the Electric Railroaders’ Association, Inc. and of the New York Division, ERA, Inc. are cooperating again to make renewal easier by offering members a Joint Renewal Notice and Remittance Coupon for 2010 dues (link to PDF below). ERA members and others may also use the coupon to pay 2010 dues to the Light Rail Transit Association and to subscribe to LRTA publications.
We thank eagle-eyed ERA member Frank Pfuhler for alerting us to these Beefy-T 100% cotton T-shirts available from the Shore Line Trolley Museum. The T-shirt depicts the 15-bench open breezer Connecticut Company 401 in meticulous detail. According to the museum, the Connecticut Company had hundreds of these large, 75-passenger open breezer cars. Very popular in the summertime, they were retained until 1947 to handle large crowds at Yale Bowl events. We don’t know how many T-shirts they have or what sizes they come in (x-small looks like a given), so call the museum at 203-467-6927 for details.
1996 tube stock units stable at Stratford Market Depot. Wikipedia photo by Michael Pead (September 22, 2002). Click to enlarge.
ERA member Subutay Musluoglu sent us this interesting correction to the article on London’s Jubilee Line in the current Las Vegas issue of Headlights…
First, on Page 27 in the first paragraph, there is a reference to the line’s planning background history that was obtained from Wikipedia. It states that the line was to have originally been named the Fleet line after the River Fleet. This is incorrect and a confusion stemming from the complex planning history of the line that goes back to the end of World War II. The name Fleet Line refers to an earlier proposed alignment that followed Fleet Street, which is on the northern side of the River Thames. However, the line’s alignment was subsequently changed to one that followed more closely along the Thames River, alternately shifting between, and serving, both sides of the city, thus leading to the new name River Line. This was then followed by the renaming to the Jubilee Line in honor of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, which is correct in the article. This alignment, with some adjustments, resembles what was eventually built. The history is actually much more complex, with several alignment variations, but this is the basic story.
Second, on the map on Page 29, the description of the new Canada Water station omits the transfer that is available there to the East London Line. The Jubilee Line crosses underneath the East London Line there, and the station was built during the same period in the late 1990s that the East London Line was closed for extensive refurbishment of line’s original tunnel under the river, built by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Thank you, Subutuy. All members are reminded that we are always on the lookout for images and text for upcoming issues of Headlights, and materials in electronic form take precedence over those that require typing or scanning. For more information, contact Sandy Campbell, editor.
Model Engineers to Host SlideshowThe New York Society of Model Engineers (NYSME) will be hosting a slideshow covering the branch lines and terminals of the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The presentation will be given by noted rail photographer Rich Taylor. Due to the strong response to this slideshow so far, it has been moved from the Society’s Carlstadt, N.J. headquarters at 341 Hoboken Road to a larger location that will permit more people to attend.
The New York Society of Model Engineers was founded in the early part of the 20th century and incorporated in 1926. The Society is the oldest model railroad club in the US and possibly the world. Located within their 5,000 square foot headquarters in Carlstadt, N.J. are two large “HO” and “O” scale model train layouts, a fully equipped machine shop, and large library. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in model trains, or just trains.
For additional details, see the Society’s website: ModelEngineers.org
The ERA Photo CD Collection is almost a library itself, thanks to the heroic efforts of ERA member Frank Pfuhler. Beginning in 2004 and continuing for two years, Mr. Pfuhler scanned thousands of historic images from the Sprague Library Collection, labeled and indexed each one of them, then burned hundreds of copies of the 48-CD set. Each CD contains anywhere from 300 images to close to 900. Though no longer available for sale (as of January 2009), a collection of labels from all 48 CDs, designed by ERA editor Sandy Campbell, can be seen here.
The next issue of Headlights is in the mail. The entire 40-page issue is devoted to the Croydon Tramlink light rail system in London. This meticulous article was written by Stephen J. Parascondolo, webmaster of Croydon Tramlink, The Unofficial Site. As usual, the article is lushly illustrated with full-color (colour) photos by Mr. Parascondolo and Sandy Campbell, editor of Headlights. In addition, there is a 4-page, full-color Tramlink map supplement, a first for Headlights.
Now would be the perfect time to join the ERA to get your copy!
Alan Hannock, a past ERA President and NYD Chairman, passed away on October 6, 2004, at age 75. In the past few years Alan was confined to an adult residence or nursing home because of a stoke and other medical problems. Alan was a leader of both the ERA and the NYD in the 1950s and 1960s.
Because Alan had neither living relatives nor an estate, the Boards of the Electric Railroaders’ Association and the New York Division paid for Alan’s burial expenses. Fortunately, one of our members remembered that Alan’s parents were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, and arrangements were made to have him interred there. A ceremony was held on October 19, 2004, with several of Alan’s friends in attendance.
The total cost of Alan’s burial was $2562. Any amount that you can contribute to defray the expenses would be gratefully appreciated. Checks should be mailed to:
ERA Alan Hannock Fund
P.O. Box 3323
Grand Central Station
New York, NY 10163-3323
Please make your check payable to the Electric Railroaders’ Association, Inc. and annotate “Alan Hannock” on the check. All contributions will be split 50/50 between the ERA and NY Division. Thank you. — The Boards of the ERA and NY Division
New York Newsday marked the 100th anniversary of the New York Subway with a special section on its website today. Be sure to turn the volume down on your computer first!
Twenty-Third Street Line: Car 809 at SW 14th Avenue. From John Stern’s “Portland Dreams,” Headlights, July-December 1999, page 21. See the complete slideshow here.
A packed crowd at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation in SOHO listened intently as famed transit photographer and historian John Stern and his wife gave a talk entitled “The New York Subway: A Century!” to mark the 100th anniversary of the New York City subway system. ERA Online was credited with helping to publicize the event, and the article on John Stern (below) was quoted.
Before the event, Mr. Stern commented, “I still follow transit news closely through the pages of Railway Gazette International, and I am Honorary Director #22 of the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut. As my talk will show, I’ve come to have a deeper understanding of why the subway affects people so much: because it puts opposites together such as surface and depth, rest and motion, which we want to have closer in ourselves.”
An illustrated transcript of John Stern’s 2004 talk, “The New York Subway: A Century!”, is available. Click the link below to download a free PDF.
It is now easier to navigate ERA Online. Transit News has become What’s New and is now the first section you visit after the Welcome page. Publications is now Sprague Library and includes information about our picture collection (see next article). Finally, Membership has become a much more inviting Join the ERA.
If you’ve been patiently waiting for the next issue of Headlights to arrive in your mailbox, you’re in for a treat. The January-June 2002 issue of Headlights has finally been published!
This whopping 36-page issue revisits the Portland Streetcar with beautiful photos by Frank S. Miklos and Raymond R. Berger. It features a full-page map by Sandy Campbell of the Portland Streetcar and MAX Light Rail routes and reports on MAX extensions and Vintage Trolley happenings. As usual, every other spread is full-color.
This is the first issue of Headlights created with Adobe InDesign CS. This state-of-the-art page layout program features layer transparency, native Photoshop and Illustrator file import and OpenType support, capabilities which are raising Headlights production to higher levels of excellence. Previous issues of Headlights were produced using QuarkXpress.
It is now easier to find a topic on ERA Online. We’ve added a Google search button at the bottom of our pages which is so thorough, it even examines our sample Headlights PDFs. Give it a try!
The ERA is proud to announce that back issues of Headlights can now be ordered through our website! A complete index of the 15 most recent issues, from 1996 to date, has been added by Sandy Campbell, as well as a second index compiled by Frank Pfuhler of issues prior to 1996. Free Preview PDFs of post-1996 issues can be downloaded by clicking the corresponding cover or text link. Then, if you see an issue you’d like to buy, our new interactive order form makes it easy.
Indexes for 1983, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992 and 1993 were added today to the pre-1996 index. Thanks again to Frank Pfuhler!
The ERA held a testimonial dinner for Harold Geissenheimer. Mr. Geissenheimer is a former ERA president and editor of Headlights and is an avid promoter of electric traction. He has also held the post of general operations manager of CTA, helped revive the Pittsburgh streetcar system, and now publishes Transnet, an online newsletter about the transit industry.
Mr. Geissenheimer presented a slideshow that answered the question, “What is Light Rail?” The dinner was the second in a series honoring individuals who have made invaluable contributions to the ERA and the transit industry as a whole. The first dinner honored Arthur Lonto.
The whopping 44-page July-December 2001 issue of Headlights features an article on the history of the Newark City Subway by Frank S. Miklos. It is jam-packed with historic photos from Mr. Miklos, John Stern and others, and features a map of 1944 subway routes by Sandy Campbell. As usual, every other spread is full-color.
This issue completes an exhausting trilogy on New Jersey traction.
Robert DiStefano’s now-defunct website Subway Web News had a page of astonishing photos from “Underneath Ground Zero” at the Cortlandt Street subway station showing the damage caused to it by the collapse of the Twin Towers. On March 1, 2002, the MTA began a project to completely rebuild the section of tunnel that collapsed on 911. The project is now finished and service was restored on September 15, 2002. The Cortlandt Street station (above) remains closed.
The following news articles about subways around the World Trade Center since the attack on September 11 were forwarded by John Swindler.