I am looking for the history of two heavyweight passenger cars; SCL 991060 and SCL 990210. Both were converted to MOW cars and were part of CSX's Hamlet North Carolina wreck train until 1990 or so. SCL 991060 is a former Atlantic Coast Line diner that was the diner for the Hamlet wreck train and SCL 990210 is a former Pullman sleeper that was a sleeper/office car for the Hamlet wreck train. Cars were sold for scrap in 1991 by CSX and purchased from a scrap yard in Waycross, GA by their present owner in 1991 or 1992. Both cars are presently privatley owned and stored in Colorado.

Thanks

Jason Midyette

Jason,

I am pleased to hear about the existence of these two cars. If you have access to them, check out the trucks. ACL usually affixed small metal plates with the car's road number stamped into it to the trucks at the upper outside corner of the frame. Since all of ACL's diners had names only, I am not sure if the name would be attached or not. In the case of the RPO at Thronateeska Heritage Center, I found the plate which had "RPO 13" stamped into it.

You might also try posting this question at the Atlantic Coast Line & Seaboard Air Line Historical Society web site www.aclsal.org in the Q&A section. There are several society members that have a lot of information about disposition of ACL and SAL passenger equipment. A quick check of Larry Goolsby's book ACL Passenger Service, The Postwar Years revealed no information that would help identify these cars.

I would love to see photos of these cars if they are available.

Jason,

I just found a notation that may help. The dining car "Fayetteville" was the last heavyweight diner on the ACL roster. It was modernized (as were most all of the ACL HW diners) by replacing the original paired windows with single wide picture windows and skirting below the side sill, and the addition of roller bearing trucks. It is distinct in that the modernization did not include the rounded or "turtleback" roof common to the ACL HW rebuilds. It still had the clerestory roof when removed from the roster in 1965.

Now, that said, since I don't have photos of all of the ACL HW diners, it is possible this is another of the diners retired in 1965, which included the following:

Albany
Brunswick
Fayetteville
Sanford
Sumter

The other HW diners were retired between about 1960 - 1963, except for some of the older cars that were retired as early as 1950. I would doubt your car is one of these early retirement cars.

My hope is that it might turn out to be "Albany" (for obvious reasons) or "Brunswick", in which case I'd like to talk to the owner...

Sorry to throw this thread back to the top from 2004, but...it does deal with a diner...

Jason, were you ever able to find out anything more about the SCL MOW cars (ex-ACL HW diner and Pullman sleeper) referenced in your original post? Any photos available?

Was up in Green Bay last year at the railroad museum, and as I recall, they had stored outside a modernized heavyweight Atlantic Coast Line diner named "Dothan". Car appeared to be a diner from its window configuration. Car appeared in good overall condition and I believe had original paint.

shoot me off a note if anyone wants to see current photographs of this car up in Green Bay, and I will be more than pleased to send them to you.


Dean Levin