Two Very Different Old Photographs

[WILLIAM O CRAIG]

Does anyone have any information to share about open-sided el cars such as shown in the 1910 Shorpy photo?  I have never seen or heard anything about them until seeing this photo, unlike the once widely used open-sided streetcars.  I don't mean gate cars with open end platforms.  I rode on some of them in 1949 on the Third Avenue line when I first visited New York.   

By the way, the discussion about these old photos is confusing because the very interesting comments are on the Shorpy site.

[timz]

Atlantic Ave pic is at Mass Transit: 1910 | Shorpy Old Photos | Photo Sharing

The 4-4-0 Cane Train: 1897 | Shorpy Old Photos | Photo Sharing

[M636C]

I am still looking at the "Shorpy" website, and as I post this, there are two old Railroad related photos at the top. If this changes by the time you check them out, just scroll down to the photos. The link is: https://www.shorpy.com/

The first photo is of the Atlantic Avenue elevated station in Brooklyn in early August 1910, with an open sided elevated car in the station. Were these only used in summer, or could they be converted like the genrally similar streetcars?

The second photo is of the Louisville New Orleans and Texas Rogers 4-4-0 number 8 working an extra passenger train in the canefields in 1897.

These are photos in the Library of Congress collection that have been recently scanned to a high standard which makes them an amazingly detailed window into the past.

Peter