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Preston & Berlin 61
[P&B 61]
PRESTON & BERLIN RAILWAY 61

Preston & Berlin Railway 61 is beautifully posed on a track at the Preston Car & Coach Co. in Preston, Ontario. The text on the front of this old postcard reads, 'Style of car in use on our Electric Street Railway and manufactured in Preston, Canada'. What makes this strange is the fact that P&B 61 was in fact built by the Ottawa Car Manufacturing Co. in Ottawa, Ontario. John M. Mills in his book, 'TRACTION ON THE GRAND', says, "It has been suggested that the order (for car 61) was placed with Preston but sub-contracted to Ottawa, and this is plausable since 1910 (the year 61 was built) was a very busy year for the new company (Preston Car & Coach)."

P&B 61 was identical to cars 21, 31, 41 & 51 acquired in 1907, being of all wood construction with 64 seats and a length of 55 feet. This car was re-lettered GRAND RIVER RAILWAY in 1914. In 1919, 61 was involved in a head-on collision at Hagey (next passing siding west of Preston) and was rebuilt with an LE&N type vestibule. It is also reported to have been converted to a trailer and re-lettered LAKE ERIE & NORTHERN RAILWAY 61.
Retired in December 1921, it was not scrapped until 1935.


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