Electroliner

Electroliner
Passengers boarding the restored Electroliner at the Illinois Railway Museum.
In service	1941–1978
Manufacturer	St. Louis Car Company
Constructed	1941
Entered service	1941
Refurbishment	1963
Number built	2
Number preserved	2
Fleet numbers	801–802, 803–804
Operator(s)	Chicago North Shore
Specifications
Train length	155 feet 4 inches (47.35 m)
Height	12 feet 7 inches (3.84 m)
Doors	4 passenger, 2 cab
Weight	214,000 pounds (97,000 kg)
Electric system(s)	650v DC
Current collection method	trolley pole, third rail
Bogies	Jacobs bogies
Braking system(s)	Westinghouse
Multiple working	No
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Electroliners were a pair of streamlined four-coach electric multiple unit interurban passenger train sets operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They were built by St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Each set carried two numbers, 801-802 and 803-804.

Each set is made up of two end coaches and two center coaches. The sections are articulated using Jacobs bogies. Each end coach is divided at the side doors into a Luxury Coach, which seats 30, and a Smoking Coach, which seats 10 and also has a restroom. Each door had steps and a trap door for boarding from street level, low-level and high-level platforms. One center coach seats 40, and the other is a Tavern Lounge that seats 26. All cars are air-conditioned, a first among new traction (interurban and trolley) equipment of the time.

The sets were designed to operate with the high platforms, sharp curves, and narrow clearances of the Chicago Loop and the Chicago 'L', to run at speeds of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h) or more on the North Shore's main line, and to use city streets to the downtown Milwaukee Terminal. The sets' styling resembled that of the Pioneer Zephyr and influenced the styling of other electric trainsets, notably the Odakyū 3000 series SE Romance Cars. The articulated truck/bogie design allowed very smooth running with none of the horizontal movement characteristic of non-articulated equipment. Although they were streamlined, the sets were not permitted to run faster than conventional North Shore equipment. From the front passenger seat adjacent to the motorman's half cab, if the door was propped open, a passenger could see the speedometer pegged at 90 mph on the long stretch between Dempster Street and North Chicago Junction. When the sets were received in 1941, during one test run the traction motors were allowed full field shunt to determine absolute maximum speed. It reached just over 110 mph (180 km/h), but at that speed the train reached highway crossings before the crossing gates fully closed, a dangerous situation. Thereafter, the sets were limited to 90 mph (140 km/h).