Walkersville Southern To Get C&O Horse Car

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2022 5:21 pm

No, really.

https://fredericknewspost-md.newsmemory ... e8_1348554

Quote:

Walkersville Southern Railroad will be the new home for a historical C&O railroad car that is scheduled to move on Thursday.

The car is the home of a model train collection of the Frederick County Society of Model Engineers, a nonprofit organization. The train car is currently off East Patrick Street, across the road from Saputo Dairy Foods USA.

The car was used to transport race horses around the country, according to Walkersville Southern Railroad (WSR) Museum Program Director Wayne Kirchoff.

The property that the car sits on is being sold for development, and the museum stepped in to offer FCSME a home, he said.

More at the link.

Photo by Jonathan Eau Claire.

PaulWWoodring · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2022 7:59 am

Not to disparage the good folks at WS, but wouldn't the C&OHS center at Clifton Forge have been a more appropriate place for it to go?

Meghan · **Posted:** Thu Jul 21, 2022 10:11 am

I think that would have been inconvenient for the owners,,,,

Tim Moriarty · **Joined:** Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:25 pm **Posts:** 372

Quote:

Not to disparage the good folks at WS, but wouldn't the C&OHS center at Clifton Forge have been a more appropriate place for it to go?

The horse car is home to the Frederick County Society of Model Engineers, a local model railroad club, and relocating the car to Clifton Forge would have been rather far for them to go. The move to nearby Walkersville was not so much for the benefit of the WS but rather to give the club a friendly, rail-oriented site next to the railroad as their previous location undergoes redevelopment.

The car wasn't put on "live rail" and was instead placed on a section of track on the west side of the former ice house (the WS yard is on the east side) that houses the WS museum and workshop. In recent weeks WS volunteers laid the new section of track in preparation for the car's move.

Also, the WS Railroad Museum Program Director (as well as President of the WS Railroad) is Wayne Kirchhof, not Kirchoff.

Note: The WS Railroad was formed as a for-profit organization and the much younger museum was set up as a non-profit. Like volunteers at many places, Wayne wears a lot of hats and you may also see him operating WS trains as a locomotive engineer.

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

Anybody happen to know the C&O road number for this car?

Les

wilkinsd · **Posted:** Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:38 pm

Glad to see this car restored and on the maneline.

bigjim4life · **Posted:** Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:14 pm

Les Beckman wrote:

Anybody happen to know the C&O road number for this car?

Les

Neigh, not me.

Zach Lybrand · **Joined:** Tue Mar 03, 2020 5:36 pm **Posts:** 120

bigjim4life wrote:

Les Beckman wrote:

Anybody happen to know the C&O road number for this car?

Les

Neigh, not me.

Where's the guy with the surviving passenger car roster? A horse car might be a little outside of his field, but this sort of thing behooves him.

Tim Moriarty · **Joined:** Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:25 pm **Posts:** 372

Quote:

Glad to see this car restored and on the maneline.

Not exactly. It was modified quite some time ago to accommodate a model railroad club so its interior is certainly not restored as a horse car. Also, it's not on the WS main line or any other live track. WS volunteers built a new section of isolated track on which to place the car when it arrived. It is near, but not connected to, live WS track.

Quote:

Anybody happen to know the C&O road number for this car?

I'll be at the WS tomorrow morning to do some work and I'll look for a number. If one isn't visible, I'll try to find out what its number may have been.

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

wilkinsd wrote:

Glad to see this car restored and on the maneline.

David -

It took me a little while, but I finally got it!

Les

Tim Moriarty · **Joined:** Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:25 pm **Posts:** 372

I walked around the C&O car today but couldn't find even a trace of its number or any other markings. Upon close examination it's clear the car has been repainted after leaving rail service and that may have obliterated anything other than Chesapeake and Ohio at the top.

I'll look into it further to see if the model railroad club remembers the number.

Elizabeth · **Posted:** Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:17 pm

According to https://sites.google.com/site/railwaypr ... peake-ohio, the C&O number was 207 and it was built in 1937.

Elizabeth

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

Elizabeth -

Thanks very much for the info.

Les