The Penn Central car on the CK&S is a fairly historic car, as it is one of only three NYC MU cars in existence and may be the only complete one (I'm not sure about the pair on the TLE&W). It was built by Standard in 1929 as NYC 4331 and was later PC 1291. I believe it was retired in 1972 but unfortunately I don't know anything about its history since.

There was also an Erie modernized heavyweight coach on the CK&S as well. Is it still there?

CK&S also had the body of a Red Arrow center door. I recall the car came from IRM and the original trucks went elsewhere. I am not sure of the current status of the car body.

Wesley

Please don't necro an 11 year old thread simply because you have a slightly related question about the same railroad. Start a new thread for that. Note also that your question has absolutely nothing to do with the OP, so you are hijacking/stretching the purpose of the thread - yet more reason to start a new thread again.


Yes, they did. I put the mark 1 eyeball on the beast when I was there a year ago. It was recently obtained from Michigan Transit Museum, my alma mater, and I'm a bit sad that another group didn't get it. Oh well. If it is indeed indoors today, then he is doing a fine job with it. Given the state it was in, it needed to be indoors ASAP. Selfridge Field had not been kind to it.

I also saw the pride of the collection, the NYC commuter motor. He is rather proud of the fact that it is intact. So go CK&S!

Hi Frank:
The two ex-NYC MU cars do still exist on the TLE&W. They are stored along with an ALCO diesel behind a VFW post near Grand Rapids, OH. The cars are in very poor condition.
J.David

Thanks for the update, that's very interesting. I recall seeing the cars back in 2000 and they were rough then, with some serious rot at the corners of the bodies and in the step wells. Looking at photos I took at the time, it also appears that they were likely stripped of their electric equipment. If they're in dead storage now I wonder what TLE&W is using for their service train, as it appeared the two NYC MU's were the service train when I was there. At that time there was also an ex-DL&W MU car on the property that was painted in TLE&W blue but appeared to be out of service.

I think the most simple answer is that any for-profit railroad MUST strike a balance between preservation and revenue. Where each individual entity will draw that balance will be based on the fallible humans that control those entities. Even in railroads considered beyond reproach like Strasburg, I've seen subtle changes in the balance of preservation. I recall the days when all the passenger equipment was bright red or yellow, and all the locomotives had a big yellow logo on the tenders, and the 89 and 475 redressed to appear more like Pennsy engines (or at least American.) Some would argue this sort of thing is important for advertising and brand identity. More recently we've seen the passenger equipment in more period correct schemes, and the locomotives in the configuration and paint schemes of their original owners. (While at the same time they've got an engine in the back they're going to convert to a Belpaire boiler eventually.) Updates in technology that make the railroad safer, meet mandatory FRA standards, or more accessible to the handicapped can all be seen to destroy the historic integrity of a piece of equipment, but can be essential to running a successful business. Certainly it is possible that some tourist railroads have NO interest in preservation and equipment is just equipment to them, but it seems that most have at least some sense of the historical nature of what they do, or at least that the historical nature is part of the appeal for some of their clientele. There is no "yes or no" answer to this question.