Early streetcars were either enclosed for winter use or open-sided for summer use. This meant that some cars had to sit idle for a whole season. Some trolley companies would remove the trucks (wheels and motors) from the closed cars and install them underneath the open cars each spring and switch them back in the fall. This process was a lot of work.

In 1892, Cleveland Railways built a fleet of single ended cars with removable side panels on the curb side, like this #1706. This “half” convertible car sometimes pulled a horsecar as a trailer. After it was withdrawn from passenger service in 1925, the car became a rail grinder W-24 and was used to smooth out rough spots on the rails.

It has since been restored to its early configuration.