Rail Car Briefly Unsealed

o anderson · **Posted:** Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:21 am

From the LancasterOnline, and at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania:

Quote:

"It's an archeological site on wheels," senior curator Brad Smith said. Built in 1906 by Barney & Smith Co. of Dayton, Ohio, the wooden, 82-foot-long three-compartment car may be the last of its kind. A tasteful, well-appointed lounge car, No. 35 was later furnished with its own smoking and baggage sections. The combine carried passengers for 43 years before it was put to work transporting workers and hauling equipment. It ended up in storage for a few decades in Gettysburg. When it was acquired by the Strasburg museum in 1997, it was sealed in plywood and left untouched for another 13 years.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/276640

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sun Aug 15, 2010 1:01 pm

For those who don't feel like clicking through, the car is former Buffalo & Susquehanna wooden combine 35, built in 1906 and one of only 16 B&S passenger cars.

I presume the Museum (or its Friends) got it from the Gettysburg RR and/or the Cornells. Does anyone have a clue how/where/when it got where between its retirement in 1949 and Gettysburg?

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

For those who don't feel like clicking through, the car is former Buffalo & Susquehanna wooden combine 35, built in 1906 and one of only 16 B&S passenger cars.

I presume the Museum (or its Friends) got it from the Gettysburg RR and/or the Cornells. Does anyone have a clue how/where/when it got where between its retirement in 1949 and Gettysburg?

Questions: One of only 16 passenger cars ever on the roster of the B&S, or one of only 16 SURVIVING B&S passenger cars? If the former, how many of the 16 Buffalo & Susquehanna cars still exist?

Thanks.

Les

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:43 pm

Considering how small and ridiculously isolated the B&S was (Dubois, Pa.-Sinnenamahoning-Addison, NY, with five switchbacks on the main line), I consider it amazing that they even had sixteen passenger cars to begin with. I don't have the rosters before me (anyone have R&LHS Bulletins 49 or 70 handy?), but I'm wagering only 16 ever existed, and only #35 survives by some miracle......

derail · **Joined:** Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:45 pm **Posts:** 142

The article makes it clear that the B&S only had 16 cars, however, I am a bit confused as to if this is a Strasbourg railroad project or a railroad museum of pa project since the article says there next project is the Lindbergh Engine.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:41 pm

Al Martin and Bradley Smith are with the RR Museum of Pennsylvania; and I remember this car being snapped up for the Museum. It's definitely a Museum project, as the article makes clear.

derail · **Joined:** Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:45 pm **Posts:** 142

ADM, Thank you for the clarification.

Higherspeedrailnow · **Joined:** Wed Aug 13, 2008 2:09 am **Posts:** 130

Boy am I glad to see this car saved! I think it sat in Wellsville, NY at the end of track on the WAG for years. That's where I think I found it when I was a teenager, and that was a few years ago. I'm sure it's the same car.

Alan Maples · **Posted:** Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:40 am

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I presume the Museum (or its Friends) got it from the Gettysburg RR and/or the Cornells. Does anyone have a clue how/where/when it got where between its retirement in 1949 and Gettysburg?

Sloan Cornell once told me the whole story of buying and moving this car, but I don't recall all the details off the top of my head. I seem to remember he had some trouble dealing with the WAG people and the car was already in rough shape by the time they finally sold it to him. I do know he trucked it to his Penn View Mountain Railroad. As he related the story, upon arriving in Blairsville and with only a short time remaining before his permit expired, the police chief stopped the truck and refused to let it through town. Sloan said he had to employ some "folding money" to gain the full cooperation of the Blairsville police department.

Alan Maples