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 Post subject: Pennsy car help
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 4:38 pm 

We have a R.P.O. car? baggage car? We are getting ready to move. We are thinking of using it as a connsesion car. before we make any final plans I'm looking for the history,or what it really was information on it. coming through the paint is PRR 9215 with a star over it. I have pictures but have never had luck posting pictures on this site.

irss@eriecoast.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: Pennsy car help *PIC*
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2003 9:17 pm 

Hello Jack,

According to the online searchable roster of PRR equipment , your car is a class B60B Baggage car. The star indicates that the car was equipped to carry an express messenger, which means that the car had a toilet and desk. PRR express-messenger equipped cars were numbered in the 9200-9399 series (inclusive). Diagrams of these cars can be seen at .

An example of express messenger facilities from a 1957 Delaware & Hudson ACF baggage car can be seen at Unlike this car, the 9215Â’s toilet may not have been housed in a closet.

There are a few B60B cars preserved in various places:

The Danbury Railway Museum received a B-60 from Metro North, which is listed on their roster as MNCX 057. It was modified with roof-boards for use on its wire train – arguably its most significant use and how it should be preserved as.
Photo:

The URHS has B60B 9286, which they note:”This car was originally a simple 60-foot baggage car. But, in 1964, it was rebuilt as one of forty cars at the Altoona Shops as an express-messenger-baggage car with a toilet and locker for the messenger. It served through the Penn Central years and ended its career as a work-storage car for Metro North Railroad at Stamford, Connecticut. It was donated to the museum collection by Metro North. It will be restored to its original appearance in 2002.”
Photo:

The Altoona Railroaders Museum has B60 9055 owned by the Horseshoe Curve Chapter NRHS. The Union Tank Car Co., Altoona, Pa., restored this car in 1995.

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania Has B60B 9356, built by the
St. Louis Car Co. in 1928. The Metro-North Commuter RR donated it in 11/1985.

Additionally, Amtrak still has a few in maintenance of way service on the northeast corridor. Gunn administration has ordered a massive “housecleaning” which he claims to have disposed of over 5-miles of equipment (including many historic pieces) so there may not be any left within the next few months.

My notes on interpretation and preservation:

Museums have generally overlooked the potential for using baggage cars as interpretive pieces. Many museums use them for storage, while others have reconfigured them for use as stationary or moving concession space, kitchen cars, generator cars, etc. This is unfortunate because baggage cars offer a great opportunity to interpret how significant passenger trains were to every day life. Before the 1970’s, the Railway Express Agency was leading package carrier in the US, and cars like 9215 carried everything from birthday presents, to news-reel footage, to caskets, to??? Moreover, most passenger trains operating through Ohio (and in the east in general) survived into Amtrak only because they carried large amounts of express. (Note, the car in the URHS collection was rebuilt in 1964, and was probably one of the last passenger cars rebuilt by the PRR.) Thus, while the 9215 may not appear as “romantic” as other passenger cars, it was often the most important car on the train.

As a rolling or stationary exhibit, the multiple uses of this car could be highlighted by bringing old suitcases, crates, and steamer trunks into the car. The crates and suitcases could be weighted or bolted to the floor and used as seating. The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) with North Shore Silverliner combination 251, which operates on an irregular basis. Likewise, you could also accommodate passengers in a few lounge car chairs, (as IRM does in AT&SF combination 2544). In terms of setting up a concession space, depending on what you want to do (i.e. sell souvenirs and railroadiana or food service) you should be able to accommodate these functions without having to modify the car structurally. A sales table could be bolted to the floor at one end of the car and merchandise held in trunks or crates. This would have the added benefit of facilitating inventory while preserving the historic atmosphere of the car. Additionally, doing less to the car not only makes sense historically, it also saves money.

An example of how not to preserve a car is illustrated by the above article on Delaware & Hudson 405. When the car was received by Monticello, it retained most of its original interior, including the messenger station and heating system and electrical cabinet. Unfortunately, the all of these features were removed in favor of re-insulating the walls. In its current state, it looks more like an office or loft rather than a historic railroad car.

I hope that this information is useful. I would very much like to see your photos of the car, please contact me at the above address if you would like to share them.

Best,
Tom Cornillie



PRR Baggage Car diagrams
Image
rrhistorian@hotmail.com


  
 
 Post subject: North Shore Line Silverliner combination #251 *PIC*
PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:26 pm 

Hello all,

In a previous thread I mentioned how the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) has set up the baggage compartment of Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee (CNS&M) Silverliner combination #251 to both carry passengers and interpret its original function. I recently discovered a page with several photos of this car at the Special Collections page of the Lake Forest College Library. This page http://www.lfc.edu/library/collections/ ... d/nsl.html has much information about the CNS&M including photos, sound files, and video of the surviving cars at IRM and recent photos of the right of way.

Best,
Tom

> As a rolling or stationary exhibit, the
> multiple uses of this car could be
> highlighted by bringing old suitcases,
> crates, and steamer trunks into the car. The
> crates and suitcases could be weighted or
> bolted to the floor and used as seating. The
> Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) with North
> Shore Silverliner combination 251, which
> operates on an irregular basis. Likewise,
> you could also accommodate passengers in a
> few lounge car chairs, (as IRM does in
> AT&SF combination 2544).

North Shore Line Silverliner combination #251
Image
rrhistorian@hotmail.com


  
 
 Post subject: Re: North Shore Line Silverliner combination #251
PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 8:58 pm 

Tom,

Western Railway Museum have had the Petaluma and Santa Rosa combine 63 set up that way for years.

People love to sit on the "freight" and steamer tunks on busy days. Look at a nearby Salvation Army for old luggage that they want to get rid of for cheap.

The car was restored from a car body after years of weekend work.

ted_miles@nps.gov


  
 
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