P&WV Office Car Available

eldiner · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:39 am **Posts:** 534

I received an email about the office car at the Essex House in West Orange, NJ:

Quote:

Yesterday I stopped by the Essex House Restaurant in West Orange and spoke to the manager regarding the classic private car that's been part of the establishment since the 1960's when the Keller family opened the restaurant. Due to changes in their business format the car is surplus to the plans they have and they are actively seeking some person or group to preserve it. It's a real classic from the late 1900's but is showing its age and in need of a lot of TLC. If anyone knows of some one or some group that could take on a big task such as this, contact me or Jimmy at the Essex House at (973) 731-2224. They are aware of the car's historic nature and want to see it saved. Please spread the word around to any contact you may have.

Here is a little history of the car:

It is ex-Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway office car No. 200 HOPEDALE; ex- Fleischmann Transportation Co. private car MIDDLENECK; ex-CYPRUS (1st) private car of Daniel C. Jackling; built by Pullman in 1909.

Perhaps someone else has a photo or can give a condition assessment.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:10 am

http://history.nevadanorthernrailway.ne ... stang.html (The picture illustrated there does not match the builder's photo of Cyprus)

Quote:

Built by Pullman (plan 2429, lot 3701). Consigned to Daniel C. Jackling 19 July 1909. Builder’s photos dated 20 July 1909.

Sold to Julius Fleischmann in 1920 and renamed Middleneck. After his death (05 Feb 1925), sold by the Fleischmann Transportation Co. to the Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway as office car No. 200 Hopedale, and on their roster through the 1950s.

Sold to a restaurateur and became part of the "Essex House" restaurant, 525 Northfield Ave., West Orange, New Jersey. Extant as of November, 2002; in use for dining service during the week. Advertised for sale.

A Pullman builder's photo is on page 386 of Beebe's Mr. Pullman's Elegant Palace Car (which, in serendipitous timing, I just picked up yesterday for free).

Current residence:

http://www.essexhouserestaurant.com/

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 11276&z=17

Google/Bing Maps aerial/satellite view shows the car parked well outside the rest of the building in the rear parking lot, with a building attached to half of one side. Oddly, no photo at the Essex House website shows the car's interior. Exterior from available Street View angles seems to show well-painted exterior retaining original window configurations.

What's going on with the place: http://westorange.patch.com/search?keywords=essex+house

http://westorange.patch.com/articles/zo ... eld-avenue

In a sense, this is a sister car to the Loretto (North Carolina Transportation Museum) and Loretto II (Railroaders Memorial Museum, Altoona), which were both built around the same time.

http://www.trainweb.org/horseshoecurve- ... _index.htm

James Fouchard · **Joined:** Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:56 pm **Posts:** 126

Interesting, I was just thinking of this car yesterday. I ran across a postcard from when the restaurant was Rod's Steak House years ago and wondered if the car was still available for dining currently as the Essex House.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:03 pm

Update:

As seen here, this car has been "on the market" since 2002. The question is, are they asking too much, has it been modified too heavily to move/reuse, or are they just really bad at marketing?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4312

CPR4000 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:07 pm **Posts:** 150

James Fouchard wrote:

Interesting, I was just thinking of this car yesterday. I ran across a postcard from when the restaurant was Rod's Steak House years ago and wondered if the car was still available for dining currently as the Essex House.

James, Rod's is a different restaurant, which is located in Madison/Morristown, NJ.

Walt L.

eldiner · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:39 am **Posts:** 534

CPR4000 wrote:

Rod's is a different restaurant, which is located in Madison/Morristown, NJ.

Walt L.

Walt, actually this was once also known as Rods - the Convent Station location was added later.

CPR4000 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:07 pm **Posts:** 150

Thanks, Tim, I didn't realize there was a second (or in this case, "first") Rod's.

Walt

o anderson · **Posted:** Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:16 pm

Update, this private car, in rare condition, has been offered on Railswap, no price mentioned. Hopefully it will find a good home.
http://railswap.org/cb/cl/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=15211&query=retrieval

Note that in this RYPN post from this past August, mention was made of a possible history as a Piedmont and Northern car.

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31828&p=161886&hilit=essex+house#p161886

Quote:

The Essex House Resaurant in West Orange, N. J., is looking to dispose of the open platform observation car that has been a part of the complex since the mid-1960's that late Rod Keller built as part of his restaurant chain. It is believed the car came from the Peidmont & Northern RR where it was their office car. It is a classic turn-of-the-century steelframe car with arched leaded glass windows and a beautiful inlaid wood interior. If anyone would be interested in obtaining this classic of the Golden Age of Rail Travel, please contact me at <DLW1155@verizon.net> and I'll give you more details.

Al Holleuffer

Location on Google Streetview
http://www.google.com/maps?q=&layer=c&sll=40.770419,-74.277375&cid=6653101949686450084&cbp=13,319.5,,0,-0.2&panoid=t7ApxyK9ifbfrh-TvULDJg&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=&ll=40.770312,-74.277116&spn=0.004055,0.009645&t=m&z=17&vpsrc=0&cbll=40.770327,-74.276994

railadventures · **Posted:** Tue Sep 25, 2012 4:59 pm

I heard from the owner of Essex House that the Cyprus is still onsite and for sale. Does anyone have a further update on plans for the site and the car?

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sun May 03, 2026 12:17 am

After a total of TWENTY-FOUR YEARS of being "available":

https://montclairlocal.news/2026/04/end ... velopment/

Quote:

A vintage dining train car that was part of the Essex House restaurant for decades will soon leave its longtime home — as part of a redevelopment plan that would replace the site with nearly 100 apartments.

Essex House — a restaurant and banquet hall complete with an attached Pullman dining car — is set to be razed. The property, located just steps from the Turtle Back Zoo, operated as a restaurant until it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pedro Gomes purchased the more than 2.5 acre property at 525 Northfield Avenue. Gomes plans to convert it into a four-story mixed-use building with 1,200 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor and 95 residential units on the upper floors.

AND THE CAR HAS A SAVIOR:

https://montclairlocal.news/2026/04/nex ... oll-again/

Quote:

A more than century old train car that has sat alongside a West Orange restaurant for decades will be spared from demolition and is set to find a new home in Pennsylvania, according to a preservation society.

The Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust will remove, restore and preserve the Pullman Company dining train car that is attached to the Essex House, a township staple that has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic, the preservation organization said in a statement.

Colebrookdale Railroad, based in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, has a history of restoring vintage train cars to add to their fully operational railroad that winds its way through rural Colebrookdale Valley, west of Philadelphia, the organization said.