I recently saw some photos of the remarkably well preserved heavyweight Pullman "Meadow Lark", one of two 3 Single Bedrooms, 2 Compartments, Drawing Room - Buffet Sun Room Observation Lot 3991-B, Plan 6352 delivered to the Southern Pacific in 1930 and used on the Oakland section of The Lark. According to available information, SP used this car until 1941 when it was released to Pullman pool service. In 1948 the car was sold to the New Haven. Just recently the car was trucked to some place in Delaware, location not stated.

Can you help answer the following questions:
1. Where is the car currently located and who owns it?
2. Who was responsible for keeping the interior of the car fully intact?
3. How long was the car in New Haven service and where did it go after the NH had no further need for it?
4. Any other info that you might offer.

Many thanks in advance -

The Kid

Without digging through the archives, I seem to recall that the car was sold to the New Haven in the mid-50s and was used as business car #3 until the mid-60s, with no change of exterior or interior configuration. The car was bought from the New Haven by Willis Barron of Ashland, PA, to go with a steam locomotive displayed at his Ashland Motel. The steam loco was CNR 2-8-2 #3254.

In the mid-70s, when 3254 was sold to Gettysburg Railroad, the NH business car was also sold and trucked out of Ashland. I recall that Doug Brown of Detroit (who also owned FEC 148 for a while, and who was once one of the five partners in the CPR Royal Hudson 2839) owned the car, and eventually offered it for sale.

I saw the car in early 1976, from the outside only, and was impressed by it's condition and the intact interior. I hope it gets a good home, and the original Pullman "DNA" is respected; it would be a shame to see it fall victim to modernizing/conversion/re-imagining.


Try this link.....

http://www.newhaven3.org/

There was/is a similar car, the Murray Hill (as built to Pullman Plan 3994B, rebuilt to 3994C) that resided in the mid west recently, that a friend of mine was trying to acquire and restore to full service. This car likewise retained its full interior and furniture after it's life service until being donated to a museum who's memebers saw it fit to take home with them what they wanted.

However much was missing, it still retained a good amount of it's originality. Sadly, red tape related to the cars actual owners and theft of money intended to get the car's trucks road worthy (so he could get the car east for actual restoration) by a contractor halted my friends aquisition of the MH and it still sits rusting away on a short line.

Hopefully the Medow Lark sees a better future. And if I'm correct, from the photo on their web page, I believe the car is on the Walkersville Southern in Md.

The Meadow Lark was donated to the Chesapeake Railway Association in 2006 and trucked from Gettysburg, PA, to Walkersville, MD. It is now under active restoration on the Walkersville Southern Railroad and upon completion will be used in excursion service. Gabe Gerber heads the restoration project and you may contact him at pullmanfund@gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for inf regarding the Meadow Lark. I have a couple of additional quests that you might be able to help with:
1. Does the Chesapeake Railway Asssociation have a Mission Statement?
2. Did the organization prepare a restoration plan for Meadow Lark?
3. What is the projected cost of restoration.
Once again, thanks for your help.
The Kid

The Chesapeake Railway Association's website is: http://www.chessierail.org
They have a few pieces of equipment on the Walkersville Southern Railroad. -- Ray