According to reports from the Loconotes Yahoogroup

“A Pennsy MP 54 is nearing the end of the line in Coatesville Pa. I
saw it arrive at the Heckitt scrapyard today and it was spotted for
cutting up by 2pm. It's currently painted light blue with WS 300 lettering on the sides. By next week it will probably have been fed into the furnace at Lukens.”

“Should be "WT" not "WS" 300 - this was the crew train car between
Washington Union Station and Ivy City years ago. Must have been still
stored. Ownership would be Amtrak. Add that to your rosters...”

Can anybody here clarify this car's recent history? Can anybody confirm who its owner(s) was (were) after coming from WTC or where it was stored? Does anybody have recent photos? Is this an aborted preservation project?


Loconotes
rrhistorian@hotmail.com

Can anybody here clarify this car's recent
> history? Can anybody confirm who its
> owner(s) was (were) after coming from WTC or
> where it was stored? Does anybody have
> recent photos? Is this an aborted
> preservation project?

This MP54 was one of two the Washingtom Terminal (thus the WT) had as an employee shuttle from Union Station to Ivy City engine shops.

WT 300 and 301 were originally saved by Historic Red Clay Valley/Wilmington & Western ca. 1985. at best, they were parts donors for the four that W&W ended up with from SEPTA and converted to trailer cars.

lner4472@bcpl.net

There will be another one going to be cut up also. The W&W had 9 or 10 MP-54 over the last 10-15 years. Several have been sold to good homes, at least one renovated for use, and the worst two are going for scrap.

In the mid-80's there were MP-54s available like crazy and they were not grabbed up like the DLW equipment. I think this is due to no trailer cars were around and also the trucks, brakes, and couplers were not like those on standard passenger cars. Another interesting note is that a bunch of MP-54s ended up being sold by SEPTA to junkyards for parts storage. There are probably six or so in the Wilmington area.

Tom Gears


Forgotten Delaware
tom@forgottendelaware.com

> In the mid-80's there were MP-54s available
> like crazy and they were not grabbed up like
> the DLW equipment. I think this is due to no
> trailer cars were around and also the
> trucks, brakes, and couplers were not like
> those on standard passenger cars.

The DL&W cars were in better shape all around-- much better carbodies and vestibules. The MP-54s that I remember from the 70s seemed to have serious body rot, the DL&W cars had a higher maintenance standard. The low-roof DL motor cars were 1930-built, and had cast-frame roller-bearing trucks, so there was a better and newer basic car to start with.

hpincus@mindspring.com

Thanks for the info. I thought that the constant contact side bearings were not liked by folks in the tourist rr business. Same goes for the double jointed couplers as folks who push trains back seemed to feel they were a poroblem.

Tom

Forgotten Delaware
tom@forgottendelaware.com