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 Post subject: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 10:14 am 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 am
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Location: S.F. Bay Area
An electric New York Central commuter car has arrived at the Southern Michigan Railroad Society, in Clinton Michigan.

Updated: Please donate to support this project at the links below.

This is one of the now-rare MU commuter cars which operated in electric territory from Grand Central Station to Croton-Harmon on the Hudson line, and North White Plains on the Harlem line. Of 353 produced, only 3 still exist - the other two are in the care of another heritage railway, the Toledo, Lake Erie & Western.

It's a homecoming for the car, since the Southern Michigan Railroad preserves a New York Central branch.

More on the car here. http://www.southernmichiganrailroad.com ... -4331.html

This is a project of the Friends of the Southern Michigan Railroad, a 501c3 supporting organization. Our link on the car is here. http://www.fsmrs.org/coach-nyc4331.html

Please donate to support the project, at either link.


Last edited by robertmacdowell on Mon Jan 15, 2018 7:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 5:18 pm 

Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:17 am
Posts: 244
Location: New York
And here I thought all the old NYC mu cars were long gone. Saw a post on the Batavia & Ohio Railroad Services facebook page about moving this car. I have attached one of their photos loading the car in Carthage, Ind.

Attachment:
File comment: New York Central m.u.
nyc-mu.jpg
nyc-mu.jpg [ 79.7 KiB | Viewed 10218 times ]


-otto-

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 9:55 pm 

Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2005 9:06 pm
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Location: Thomaston & White Plains
Um, no. When these "barrel-door" cars were in service on the Electric Division, there was no "Southeast", and third rail went no further north on the Harlem than Virginia Road in North White Plains. Line was electrified NWP-Brewster/Putnam Jct in 1983-4.

"Barrel-Door" cars-- the bulge in the front door was the "barrel" that covered the control stand when the cars were in mid-train position and the end doors were opened 180 degrees.

Glad to see a few of these still exist!! Really nice interior, brings back a few memories!

PS: Grand Central Station is either the US Post Office next to, or the IRT subway station under, Grand Central TERMINAL.

Howard P.
Mt. St. Vincent, NY

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 4:19 pm 

Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:17 am
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Location: New York
Ooooh, I wonder if these cars also operated on the Putnam Division on the electrified Getty Square Branch (1926-1943)?

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2016 5:42 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:10 am
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Otto Vondrak wrote:
Ooooh, I wonder if these cars also operated on the Putnam Division on the electrified Getty Square Branch (1926-1943)?

-otto-



Thanks to this post, I Googled the Getty Square Branch and fell down the Interwebs rabbit hole. Neat branch with some remainders left, but what really caught my eye was the Park Hill funicular that the branch had a station near... and both funicular depots still stand!. WOW! Neat stuff. Rob


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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 5:18 pm 

Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:27 pm
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Location: Flat Rock, MI
Got permission from SMRS and Batavia and Ohio to watch the operation. Congrats to Mr. MacDowell on his new acquisition.

Image

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 1:31 pm 

Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:36 pm
Posts: 198
Can't wait to see it this weekend

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 12:02 am 
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Location: Seattle, WA - Land of Coffee
robertmacdowell wrote:
Of 353 produced, only 3 still exist - the other two are in the care of another heritage railway, the Toledo, Lake Erie & Western.

The 2 cars at the TLE&W as #407 and #408 are ex-PC #1292 and #1276 respectively, and were (presumably*) built as NYC #4331 and #4315.

*I say presumably as the PC roster has a total of 47 ex-NYC MU 100 seat coaches listed as PC #1250-#1296, and are listed as coming from NYC number ranges #4240-#4246 (4 of 7 remaining as #1250-#1253), #4254-#4266 (7 of 13 remaining as #1254-#1260), #4300-#4306 (all 7 remaining as #1261-#1267), #4307-#4316 (all 10 remaining as #1268-#1277), #4317-#4326 (all 10 remaining as #1278-#1287), and #4327-#4336 (as #1288-#1296). Note the discrepancy in the last group of ex-NYC #4327-#4336, which originally had 10 cars, but the PC roster only has room for 9 cars, which means that most likely one of these 10 was retired, but it doesn't note which one, so the PC #1292/TLE&W #407 might not be nee-NYC #4331.

Anyways, the nee-NYC #4330 now at SMRS most likely became PC #1291, but again, the discrepancy is in that part of the roster.

Here's some more history on these cars:

#4315 was 1 of 10 cars (#4307-#4316) which were built by Standard Steel Car (SSC) in 1928 in NYC Lot (class) #2071, with most likely originally 82 seats, but the June 1944 NYC passenger car diagram folio lists that all 10 of these cars had 78 upholstered seats.

#4330 and #4331 were 2 of 10 cars (#4327-#4336) which were built by SSC in 1929 in NYC Lot #2110, with 100 3-and-2 seats.

And now some history on the entirety of NYC's MU all-steel car roster:

Coaches:

124 cars (#4000-#4123) were built by AC&F in 1906-1907 (#4000-#4053 in 1906 and #4054-#4123 in 1907) in NYC Lot #650, with 82 seats. 45 cars had the seating reduced by 4 when switched to upholstered seats. All cars were rebuilt at either Harmon or West Albany Shops in 1925-1928. #4008 was rebuilt at Harmon Shops in 1927 to commuter club #186. According to the June 1944 diagram folio, 56 cars had been retired.

49 cars (#4124-#4172) were built by StLCCo in 1907 in NYC Lots #652 (#4124) and #653 (#4125-#4172), with 82 seats. 15 cars had the seating reduced by 4 when switched to upholstered seats. 22 cars had the seating increased by 12 when switched to 3-and-2 seating. 30 cars (#4125-#4154) were rebuilt at Harmon Shops in 1913, under Lot #656. 17 cars (#4155-#4170, #4172) were rebuilt at Harmon Shops in 1928-1930.

1 car, #4173, was built by AC&F in 1907 in NYC Lot #651, with most likely originally 82 seats, but the June 1944 diagram folio lists that this car had 78 upholstered seats. It was rebuilt at West Albany Shops in 1927.

14 cars (#4174-#4187) were built by Pressed Steel in 1913 in NYC Lot #822, with 74 seats. By the June 1944 diagram folio, all but #4180 had been retired.

12 cars (#4193-#4204) were built by SSC in 1917 in NYC Lot #877, with 82 seats.

18 cars (#4205-#4222) were built by SSC in 1918 in NYC Lot #895, with 82 seats.

15 cars (#4223-#4237) were built by SSC in 1921 in NYC Lot #919, with 82 seats.

30 cars (#4238-#4267) were built by SSC in 1924 in NYC Lots #925 (#4238-#4247) and #932 (#4248-#4267), with 82 seats.

29 cars (#4268-#4296) were built by SSC in 1925 in NYC Lot #977, with 82 seats.

10 cars (#4297-#4306) were built by SSC in 1926 in NYC Lot #2026, with most likely originally 82 seats, but the June 1944 diagram folio lists that all 10 of these cars had 78 upholstered seats.

10 cars (#4317-#4326) were built by SSC in 1929 in NYC Lot #2091, with 100 3-and-2 seats.

Combines:

6 cars (#4350-#4355) were built by StLCCo in 1907 in NYC Lot #653, with 58 seats. 4 cars had the seating increased by 12 when switched to 3-and-2 seating. All 6 cars were rebuilt at Harmon Shops in 1910, under Lot #655, and were rebuilt a second time at Harmon Shops in 1929-1930.

6 cars (#4356-#4361) were built by Pressed Steel in 1913 in NYC Lot #823, with 46 seats.

Baggage Cars:

2 cars (#4398 and #4399) were built by StLCCo in 1910 in NYC Lot #654 as baggage-RPO's with a 15' apartment, and were rebuilt to full baggage cars at Harmon Shops in 1918, under Lot #657.

2 cars (#4400 and #4401) were rebuilt at Harmon Shops in 1925 from coaches #4153 and #4171 respectively.

1 car, #4402, was built by StLCCo in 1928 in NYC Lot #2072.

Baggage-RPO's:

4 cars (#4394-#4397) with a 15' RPO apartment, were built by StLCCo in 1910 in NYC Lot #654.

Sources:

1. Terry Link's NYC passenger car roster pages: http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/NYC-MODELS-PASS.htm

2. NYC passenger car diagram folio of June 1944

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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 2:18 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 am
Posts: 2603
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Thanks Howard for the facts on the Harlem branch. Here's a photo of unloading in Clinton, using one crane. Not the preferred way to do it, by the way, but the crane company didn't have 2 cranes available.

We barely got this move in before the snow - apparently everyone is trying to get their projects done, and crane availability was at a premium. That's a good takeaway if you're doing a truck/crane move -- don't do it in the fall if you can avoid it. Another takeaway is to have as long a planning horizon as possible - preferably 4-5 months.


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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2019 6:28 pm 

Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:46 am
Posts: 2603
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Rainier Rails wrote:
The 2 cars at the TLE&W as #407 and #408 are ex-PC #1292 and #1276 respectively, and were (presumably*) built as NYC #4331 and #4315.

*I say presumably as the PC roster has a total of 47 ex-NYC MU 100 seat coaches listed as PC #1250-#1296, and are listed as coming from NYC number ranges #4240-#4246 (4 of 7 remaining as #1250-#1253), #4254-#4266 (7 of 13 remaining as #1254-#1260), #4300-#4306 (all 7 remaining as #1261-#1267), #4307-#4316 (all 10 remaining as #1268-#1277), #4317-#4326 (all 10 remaining as #1278-#1287), and #4327-#4336 (as #1288-#1296). Note the discrepancy in the last group of ex-NYC #4327-#4336, which originally had 10 cars, but the PC roster only has room for 9 cars, which means that most likely one of these 10 was retired, but it doesn't note which one, so the PC #1292/TLE&W #407 might not be nee-NYC #4331.

Anyways, the nee-NYC #4330 now at SMRS most likely became PC #1291, but again, the discrepancy is in that part of the roster.

Here's some more history on these cars:

#4315 was 1 of 10 cars (#4307-#4316) which were built by Standard Steel Car (SSC) in 1928 in NYC Lot (class) #2071, with most likely originally 82 seats, but the June 1944 NYC passenger car diagram folio lists that all 10 of these cars had 78 upholstered seats.

#4330 and #4331 were 2 of 10 cars (#4327-#4336) which were built by SSC in 1929 in NYC Lot #2110, with 100 3-and-2 seats.


Wait. Are you saying 4315 and 4332 have different seating styles???

Yes, the 3-and-2 seating appears to be original. It is remarkable how *untouched* this car is.

The 4330 confusion also threw me for awhile. But forensics on the car prove the car is actually #4331, and therefore the TLE&W car is #4332.

Attachment:
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image.jpeg [ 76.04 KiB | Viewed 6199 times ]


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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2019 7:01 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Rob -

How goes the cars restoration?


Les


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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 2:33 pm 

Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:32 pm
Posts: 199
Was this the one that was at the Carthage Knightstown & Shirley railroad?


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 Post subject: Re: Southern Michigan Railroad acquires NYC Coach
PostPosted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:00 pm 

Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 11:41 am
Posts: 138
Tavor wrote:
Was this the one that was at the Carthage Knightstown & Shirley railroad?


Yes.


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