Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern
Car 303

This builder's photo shows Jamestown Westfield & Northwestern Car 303. This car was built by the Cincinnati Car Company in 1914 and was delivered with 60 seats and controls at each end. The coach seats were leather covered while those in the smoking compartment were covered with rattan.

The following notes come from an undated document written by Harold Ahlstrom.

Car 303 was rebuilt in 1933 into a combination car using eight of the windows for the baggage area and seven for the passenger compartment.  At that time there was a two window smoker and a five window passenger areas, still with the original seats.  By about 1937 the partition was removed and new bus type seats were put into the single seven window passenger compartment.

The cars were originally green, with 312 the last to be painted red in the late 1920s.

Sometime between 1936 and 1940 all the small cars (300-305) changed over to the small, circular logo on the sides instead of the full-length "Jamestown, Westfield & Northwestern" above the windows and the "America's Scenic Route" along the side of the car.  303 had a silver loop design in 1945 and the destinations on the side.

In 1941 it received the same treatment as Car 301 with respect to air conditioning. The luggage racks and bell cords were taken out and a duct was put into the center of the ceiling.  The advertising cards were removed, some coat hooks were screwed over the windows, and the whole interior painted light green and cream, with aluminum paint in the vestibules.

By 1946 it had reverted back to racks, bell cords, and brown paint.   When it was repainted the ceiling was left white down to the letter boards.  At that time a new partition was built between the passenger and baggage compartments. 

 

Photo by Harold Ahlstrom.

This undated photo shows the extensive modifications to Car 303. Around 1928 a large baggage section was added to the smoking section end (the left end on the photo above). Notice also that the vestibule door and steps were removed from the near side of baggage compartment end. This car was used on the runs with the greatest amount of express business and the least number of passengers.

This photo from the Dan Borgnis collection shows Car 303 at the car barn in Jamestown.  This appears to be after the 1928 modification but before the car was modified in 1933.

This undated photograph from the Bill Volkmer collection shows the car as it waited in Westfield, NY.  Based on the paint scheme it appears to be taken sometime after 1936.

This August 1940 photo from the Woodbury collection shows the car crossing the Pennsylvania Railroad in Mayville

References