Public Service Railroad Line Car #5221

The following information was taken from photocopies of the original record cards of Public Service Coordinated Transport.

  • 1912

    • Dec. 1912 This car was originally built as a plow by the Russell Manufacturing Co. for the Trenton Terminal Railroad (later the Public Service Railroad) and served as a line car, snow plow and locomotive.

    • Original equipment included Taylor Extra Heavy Freight Trucks, four General Electric No. 57 motors, and Type K-35 controllers.

  • 1913

    • Jan. 20, 1913: Car was recieved in Plainsboro and assigned to the Milltown car house. From 1913 to 1917 the car was recorded as being on the roster of the Trenton Terminal Railroad.

  • 1914

    • Whistles were installed.

  • 1915

    • Aug. 18, 1915: Car was reported to be in the Perth Amboy shop.

    • Sep. 3, 1915: Car was returned to Elizabeth.

  • 1916

    • May 20, 1916: Car was assigned to Milltown.

    • July 7, 1916: Moved from Elizabeth to Dunellen.

  • 1917

    • From 1917 through 1925 the car was assigned to Milltown.

  • 1920

    • Car assignments are now being recorded as being under Public Service ownership.

  • 1922

    • Dec. 11-13, 1922: GE No. 57 motors were removed and replaced with four Westinghouse No. 310’s.

  • 1926

    • Car was assigned to New Brunswick, with a visit to the Newark shops from Nov. 24 to Dec. 9, and then on to Elizabeth before returning to New Brunswick, on Dec. 10, where it would remain until 1933.

  • 1933

    • Oct. 1, 1933: Car is now based in Elizabeth from where it would be used to remove the remaining overhead of the Trenton Fast Line.

  • 1935

    • April 3, 1935: Car is now assigned to the Roseville car house in order to service the, soon to open, Newark City Subway. Continued at Roseville until the shops at Newark Penn Station opened, on June 5, 1952.

  • 1937

    • Oct. 1, 1937: C50P trucks replaced the original Taylor trucks.

  • 2001

    • Aug. 24, 2001: PCC service ends on the former Newark City Subway, now Newark Light Rail, rendering the older equipment (5221, 5223) surplus.

  • 2009

    • Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center had cars 5221 and 5223 shipped from Newark to National Capital Trolley Museum for temporary storage.

  • 2013

    • Ownership of 5221 and 5223 is transfered to NJERHS from Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center.

  • 2018

    • Jan. 2018: Cars 5221 and 5223 arrived at Kinkisharyo International, in Piscataway, NJ.

  • 2025

    • Jan. 13, 2025: Line car 5221 was scheduled to be moved to the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, CT., with the corresponding ownership of the car being transfered to the Branford Electric Railway Association.

    • Jan. 28-29, 2025: After a bit of a delay, car 5221 was shipped from Kinkisharyo, in Piscataway, to the Shore Line Trolley Museum, where it was unloaded on Wednesday morning, Jan. 29. It is currently awaiting a full inspection by their head mechanic, before it will be put into service at the museum.

PSRR line car 5221 (Edward T. Francis photo, Stephen Maguire collection)

April 2, 1934 finds line car 5221 at Bayway, Elizabeth, NJ (the start of the Fast Line PRW) She is seen here dismantling the overhead. 5221 would survive the closure of the PSR Fast Line, ultimately serving as a line/utility car in the Newark City Subway. Photographed by North Jersey chapter NRHS founding member Howard Johnston.

Car 5221 in storage in Wheaton, Maryland, in 2010
Trainweb.org
photo: http://www.trainweb.org/Tomsrailtravels/Washington-Lancaster%20trip%20part%202_files/image056.jpg

This Jan. 26, 2018 image, taken shortly after its arrival at the Kinkisharyo plant, is courtesy of Piscataway Township’s Facebook post. Clicking on the above image takes you to the original FB post.

New Jersey Transit line car 5221 is seen inside the Kinkisharyo International factory in Piscataway on August 30, 2019. Photo by Marc Lipkin