Like every other piece of machinery, streetcars eventually became outmoded as the technology advanced, or simply wore out. At this point, the great majority of old cars were scrapped. However, not every old car met this fate. Last week we looked at how some cars that were no longer suitable for carrying passengers were converted for other uses, mostly as work or maintenance cars. But some old cars were converted to something completely different. Pictures 1 – 5 show some examples (all Columbus Metropolitan Library). They are, respectively, former Ohio Electric Ry #51 as a classic diner restaurant, retired Youngstown & Southern car converted to an office at the car barn, former Toledo & Western Ry #61 as a summer cottage, and two pictures of former Lake Shore Electric cars as summer cottages at Sages Grove, a vacation spot for LSE employees. Toledo Railways & Light Co. car #588, now in our collection, was once such a Sages Grove cottage.

Although possibly a depressing sight, even such an apparent degradation led to some fine old cars being saved and, ultimately, restored to their former grandeur at streetcar museums – a third life, one might say! Many of the cars that now are on display in museums escaped scrapping in this way. This has been the case, especially, with earlier cars that were out of service long before streetcar museums were organized, or even thought of. The final two pictures show Lake Shore Electric car #151, now at Northern Ohio Railway Museum, that survived in this way.