National Capital Trolley Museum has acquired Arlington & Fairfax 109, an Evans Auto-Railer. The vehicle ran from 1937-1939 on the former electric streetcar trackage of the Arlington and Fairfax (A&F) Railway. The Auto-Railer was designed by Edwin R. Evans in 1936 and was first used on the A&F in 1937. Highway tires permitted A&F 109 to travel off the rails, while railroad guide wheels next to the tires were used on the railroad tracks. The Auto-Railer was gasoline powered by a Chevrolet engine.

A&F109 has survived decades of outside storage and neglect, but retains nearly all of its parts that can either be restored or used as patterns to return the car to its original appearance. This vehicle is the only complete example of an Evans Auto-Railer known to exist.

In 2021, Nick Jobe, a student at William & Mary University, brought the existence of A&F 109 to the attention of the Trolley Museum through an internet posting on Railway Preservation News.

Museum volunteers, including Wesley Paulson, Josh Hirschfield, Wes Cox, Matt Nawn, and Bill Wall worked to inspect the car and arrange its purchase and transport to the Museum.

The Auto-Railer was moved to interim storage from Clark's Amusements in New Hampshire on September 9.

Further information about the Auto-Railer is available on our web page.

Wesley Paulson
National Capital Trolley Museum

That is amazing! Congratulations on this save. How did it wind up at Clark's?

Howard P.

The car went to Clark’s in private ownership in the early 1960s.

~Wesley

With Chevy mechanicals, return to operation is feasible.

Phil Mulligan

Earlier post, with photos and blueprints: viewtopic.php?t=45888

and three videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO5BaMreTy0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdsgtT6T8Zg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXLshH4nOE

As was noted in the other thread, the ride quality may have left a lot to be desired.

Amazing that such an item lasted this long! The originals would have been quite rare due to limited production, but here it is!!

This is a link to that last video, with its original "newsreel" soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQiJuQ9fwQM

Hello everyone, this is Nick Jobe. It's super rewarding seeing a dream that formed years ago finally reach that finish line. When I first began researching the various Northern Virginia trolley lines, I quickly discovered through the sources available that no equipment had survived. Treat the tale of Autorailer #109 as a lesson that even when nothing is said to survive, that doesn't mean the story is over.

My role in this process is certainly overstated, the main congratulations should be to Wesley and other National Capital Trolley Museum directors. This is a massive moment in the history of preservation relating to Northern Virginia as a whole. I stated earlier in this process that I don't care how I'm referenced as long as the railbus gets preserved and its history gets told. Happily, I can say that this goal will now be completed.

I'm looking forward to the delivery of the car to the museum in the Fall and hope to see it unloaded in person. Hopefully one day it will be operational and maybe visit the surviving Oakton station. That would certainly be something.

Thanks to all that made this happen.

A few letters between the Alaska Railroad and Evans Autorailer.

https://www.alaskarails.org/historical2 ... r-info.pdf

RyPN gets a shout out and a link: https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... ollection/

Everyone's so hyped about this Auto-Railer preservation, but I reckon history has a way of glorifying the old and defunct. Ride quality was horrendous in those things, like an old mule on cobblestones. But alright, I grant you, it's an impressive find and worth studying. Just keep perspective in mind.

Since we don’t have Birney car this will have to do for us. lol.

~Wesley

In my opinion, the Evans Auto-Railer tells the story of the desperation of the legacy trolley systems, in a tangible form, as nothing else really can. They were trying to head off closure at the end of the Depression, when autos were popular but not yet popular enough to cause gridlock.

The Arcade and Attica Railroad by Springirth, published in 2009, has two photos of these cars on pages 46 & 47. On page 46 it shows an Evans Auto Railer marked Arlington & Fairfax #102 and said it was one of three the line bought and they arrived in February 1941. On page 47 it shows one of the cars marked A&A #109. There was no equipment roster in the book. Another book on the A&A by Lewis and Douglass published in 1966 makes no mention of these cars and doesn't list them in its loco roster. However it does list the first diesel for the line as 110, one number over the 109 pictured in the other book.

Here is a photo of #109 on the A&A (bottom, unknown credit).

Edit: found this comment on a post on the "Fans of the Arcade & Attica" Facebook group, in the notes to a post about the South Shore photo (top): https://www.facebook.com/groups/fansofa ... 3899493442

"Patrick Connors Author
December 4, 2022
The A&A acquired at least two Arlington & Fairfax Evans Autorailers around 1941. #102 and #109. The #109 was resold to the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend in 1955. Some rosters show a #108 also as going to the A&A. One ended up on the Coudersport & Port Allegany as well. This one may also have gone through the A&A during the same time period."

Patrick Connors on the "Fans of the Arcade & Attica" Facebook group might know more.

From the other thread:

Not modified at all? It is a mystery.

The lower photo of #109 was the same one in the book I mentioned above.