My first Suydam car was initially a disappointment. The model was a match for the Oregon Electric's 62 foot coaches, the longest cars on the company's roster. I purchased it on ebay. It arrived, complete with the classic yellow box with red ends, tarnished but in good condition. After years of coveting, I finally owned a Suydam.
The glow of ownership soon dimmed. While researching the car's history I came across an unpleasant truth; the Oregon Electric never owned powered 62 foot coaches, only trailers. Poles were not an option. My car's prototype could not operate by itself. It never lead a train through downtown Portland, or across the Willamette Valley to Eugene. It was, quite literally, an also ran.
Oregon Electric 62 foot coach #107 at Forest Grove Oregon. (click on images to expand)
Still, it was irresistibly brass, with a heft impossible to plastic. Even unpainted and tarnished it was a showpiece. Perhaps a second coach, one with poles, could be purchased to make a two car train, I thought. In the mean time I sent the car to Mitch Holland in Southern California, the dean of west coast traction model painting, to be finished for the Oregon Electric Railway.
In the weeks that followed, my continued research revealed to me the history of the Oregon Electric's longest cars and of their representative models.
In 1907, the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad purchased nineteen 62 foot coaches from the Niles Car Manufacturing Company. Long and fast, they were the ultimate expression of what Niles advertised as "Electric Pullmans". Changes at the WB&A's terminal forced the railroad to return the order to the factory. Nine cars found homes elsewhere, while four others, according to William D. Middleton in Traction Classic's Volume One, were converted by Niles to trailers and sold to the Oregon Electric.
The history of the models has parallels to their prototypes. The Suydam catalogue, circa 1956-57 introduced models #1907 (powered) and #1907T (trailer) of 62 foot long coaches for $29.95 and $22.50 respectively. Niles Company advertisements touting the "Electric Pullmans" featuring the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis cars were used as illustrations.
By the release of the 1959 catalogue, Suydam was importing a line of Oregon Electric cars. Eight powered or trailer cars were offered along with the previously released #1907 and #1907T models (although only the later was actually appropriate for the Oregon Electric).
When my car returned from Mitch Holland in gorgeous dark green with gold lettering, any disappointment I once had vanished. It might not have been my first choice as a stand-alone model, but as part of a collection it was a good starting point, one that under other circumstances I might have finished with.
As for the Oregon Electric's former Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis coaches, none appear among the ten or so cars existent today. More research is needed to tell the story of their final disposition.
