> The Strasburg Rail RoadÂ’s self propelled
> Lancaster Oxford & Southern car emerged
> from the railroadÂ’s car shop yesterday
> freshly painted, and ready for service.
> The car was rebuilt by the LO&S in 1915
> from a coach to replace the failing narrow
> gaugeÂ’s steam powered passenger train. Over
> the years, its trucks were converted to
> standard gauge, and it passed through the
> hands of several owners until arriving at
> Strasburg.
> The car is used at Strasburg in the off
> season when traffic doesnÂ’t warrant running
> a steam train, just like the old days.
The survival of this car is amazing. Many railroads (both class 1 and short lines) rebuilt wooden passenger equipment into self propelled cars (using gasoline engines) in an effort to control costs. Eventually various builders saw the market and started turning out STEEL bodied "doodlebugs." The wooden passenger conversions usually were junked, or at best, converted back to regular passenger cars. That the LO&S car is still in existance is only somewhat short of a miracle! The question is, are any other wooden self propelled cars still in existance? And also, what type of propulsion does the LO&S car currently have? (I assume the original power plant is long gone.)
midlandblb@cs.com
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