Hello all,Does anyone here have more information on the heritage of the Jackson & Sharp coach belonging to the Maryland and Pennsylvania preservation society mentioned in the Breif? Many thanks,Tom Cornillie

The carbody itself was ripped from a defunct restaurant in nearby Chambersburg, Mechanicsburg, or Camp Hill, Pa. (I can't remeber which they told me) and is lettered "Chambersburg and Harrisburg" or some such nonsense.I believe they told me that it was originally a Bangor & Aroostook car. If it's not BAR, it's somewhere up there in New England. It's in fair condition--one may think if they look at it funny, it'll fall apart, but much of the structure, etc. appears quite sound.

The car was built by Jackson & Sharp in Wilmington in the early to mid-1890's. It ran on the Bangor & Aroostook but probably was not built for B&A. A check of the Jackson & Sharp Archives in the Hall of Records in Dover shows no car built for the B&A in this time period that matches the dimensions of our car. We have not been able to identify the car in the J&S records.Based on information in the Railway Equipment Register and numbers stamped on the clerestory windows, we believe the car was originally B&A #21, later renumbered #223. We would be very interested if anyone can provide further information on this car.Based on physical evidence we believe the car was used in work train service. At some point it was placed on a steel underframe with Bettendorf trucks, but the body and oak interior are mostly original. We have replaced all of the window sill, siding (except on the car ends), and window sashes which were deteriorated or missing. We expect to replace the trucks with fully equalized express reefer type trucks of 1930's vintage.The car is identical in dimensions and layout to the cars built by J&S for the Ma & Pa between 1901 and 1913. The only obvious exterior difference is that the platform roof profile is curved rather than straight as on the M&P cars. Also the oak interior is more ornate than the simpler styles of the early 1900's.Prior to coming to Muddy Creek Forks the car was used as part of a restaurant along route 30 between Gettysburg and Chambersburg.Craig Sansonetti

Thank you for the replies - very useful information. It is likely that the car was placed on a steel underframe between 1910 and 1920, as the ICC mandated that passenger equipment used in revenue service be equipped with steel underframes. I would suspect that the bettendorf trucks came when the car entered company service.Tom Cornillie