LSE Freight Car in Avon Lake

I've decided to drop the brackets from the front of my post titles. I think it makes the title too long and look unclean, plus they are pretty much worthless if I have a descriptive title. Anyway, a few days ago I was made aware of a large piece of history sitting behind a shopping center just down Route 6 from our house in Avon Lake. The shopping center happens to be one of historical importance and was also covered in a previous post you can view here.

The shopping center I am referring to is the one that used to be the old Beach Park LSE Station.

Even though the building itself is probably the largest remaining piece of the old interurban system that ran along the lake, there is something surprising behind it that I never knew existed. Come with me for a ride...

Behind the former interurban station sits an LSE freight car. You can tell it is a freight car due to the lack of windows along the side and the large cargo door. Judging by the use of steel (not wood) this is a later model car, probably running up until the Lake Shore Electric Railway folded in 1938.

I cannot seem to locate anything online about who the owner is or when it was placed behind the building. It may have just been left here when they shut down the lines, but one thing is for sure, someone has repainted it.

I was going to get some pictures of the inside, but the post office employees were eyeballing me (the post office is just to the left of this photograph) and the rope blocking the doorway was uninviting. It appeared to have been completely gutted anyway and being that it is a freight car it probably didn't have much inside to begin with.

This is a picture of Freight Motor 33 coming into Lorain after leaving Beach Park (Avon) in 1938. This is the same type of car that sits behind the shopping center...but is it the same one? (Photo credit to Drew Penfield)

Since I got the picture I needed I then headed back home. It was a really nice day and perfect riding weather.

The mystery of the freshly painted LSE car is currently unsolved, but I will definitely be searching for more information regarding the story of this antiquated vehicle.

Thanks for reading!