You can feel the cold as you view Shaker Heights Rapid Transit car 51 running over what appear to be snow-covered rails. There also appears to be snow falling in the car’s headlight.
It is shown one stop west of the turning loop at the end of the Van Aken line in the winter of 1969/1970.
This is today Cleveland RTA’s Blue Line and the turning loop is long gone.
This car is bound for Terminal Tower, now better known as Tower City.
For many Clevelanders what has been for many year the Greater Cleveland Transit Authority rail lines to Shaker Heights will always be known as the Shaker Rapid.
At one time it was formally known as Shaker Heights Rapid Transit but today it is either the Green Line or Blue Line of RTA.
The top photograph was made in the late 1960s or early 1970s and shows Shaker Rapid car 46 at the Shaker Square station in Cleveland.
The next two photographs were made at the end of the Van Aken line in Shaker Heights.
The images were made in the same time period as the top image.
Car 74 at the far left has its doors open for inbound riders. Looking from the left you can see cars 74, 45, 65, 48, 84, and 77.
In the next image, Car 48 can be seen at the end of what is today the Blue Line.
The staging yard shown in these images has since been removed and there are now just three tracks at the end of the Blue Line just short of the intersection of Van Aken and Warrensville Road.
The location of the bottom image was not specified by the photographer, but it appears to be a westbound car headed for downtown Cleveland just west of the Shaker Square station.
Back in July 2005 when the Akron Railroad Club held its annual picnic at the Northern Ohio Railway Museum, we were told to come back in a few years and there will be an opportunity ride one of the museum’s cars.
A few years turned into nearly a decade, but this past June NORM finally began selling tickets to ride in former Shaker Heights Rapid Transit Car No. 12 over a demonstration track that that is approximately 1,000 feet in length.
The first public trip ran on June 10. Trips are offered on the second Saturday of each month through October.
These images were made during the second Saturday of operation on July 8.
Car 12 in the background was built in 1914. The car in the foreground was built in 1967.
The Northern Ohio Railway Museum on Saturday brought out former Shaker Rapid Car No. 12 for the museum’s first powered public trip on its demonstration track
The museum reported on its Facebook page that it carried 55 ticketed passengers.
Akron Railroad Club member Steve Heister was the motorman and Ed Ollick was the conductor of the first run, which departed at 11 a.m.
Trips departed on the hour with the last one leaving at 3 p.m.
Car 12 was used for fan trip and special event service for several years by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority before being donated to NORM in 2013.
NORM will have Car 12 back in action on July 8. Tickets are $4 for adults and teenagers (13 and older) and $2 for children ages 6 to 12. Children age 5 and younger are free when accompanied by an adult.
For more information visit http://www.trainweb.org/norm/events.htm
NORM said operations in 2017 will be limited to the second Saturday of the month through October.
The museum expects to have additional operating dates in 2018 at its site near Chippewa Lake in Medina County.
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