Passenger Trains > Iowa Pacific SRLG 133 on #5 today

Another IC painted car from Ed Ellis' fleet arrived safe and sound on #5 today at Oakland... great to see all of these IC painted cars being placed in service!

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A couple more of Chambersburg Inn...

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Were the original seats back-to-back on the IC coaches?

octrax Wrote:
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> Were the original seats back-to-back on the IC
> coaches?

Nope, not as far as I remember, but these look pretty close to the original fabric design, though.

this car never worked for the IC
it started as a Pennsy sleeper

Many Pennsy sleepers were converted from sleepers (roomettes and other configurations originally etc.) and made into coaches. MARC picked up a bunch of these converted old cars.

Great to see another of these nice cars returned to service. Sister car Franklin Inn is operated by the Washington DC Chapter, NRHS.

B&OB

If you (could) look closer, you would see that the upholstery is dark blue with "MARC" repeated over it in white. However, at a distance it does look like the plastic / vinyl that the IC used in its cars in later years - does anyone know the trade name for that material?


Do these seats date from the PRR rebuilding of these cars into coaches?

I'm glad that IPRH recognized the potential of these coaches and purchased a small fleet of them for continued operation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/12 05:28 by rrhistorian.

rrhistorian Wrote:
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> If you (could) look closer, you would see that the
> upholstery is dark blue with "MARC" repeated over
> it in white. However, at a distance it does look
> like the plastic / vinyl that the IC used in its
> cars in later years - does anyone know the trade
> name for that material?
>
>
> Do these seats date from the PRR rebuilding of
> these cars into coaches?
>
> I'm glad that IPRH recognized the potential of
> these coaches and purchased a small fleet of them
> for continued operation.


I never knew the name of that IC upholstery material, a good friend just called it "'63 Corvair" upholstery material. While not necesarily accurate, it gives a visualation of the plastic woven fabric in the red, green, and grey plaid that IC used.

The seats in the photo came from the 1964 rebuilding. They originally (in '64) had 64 seats and a smoking lounge. The smoking lounge had the sidemounted lounge singles and doubles.

These particular cars came to MARC via NJ Transit. When rebuilt by NJT, they were fitted as (I believe) 88 seat coaches, with whatever spare seats they could find, so they did not all match in a car. When rebuilt by ABB in Elmira Hts. for MARC in 1991, the seats were matched to the extent possible in each car and arranged in half facing one way and half the other way. Because MARC already had a high percentage of bathroom equipped cars, and this rebuild was done after ADA came into effect; these two cars (132 and 133) did not get new Microphor toilets, but the annexes remained as closets. As the overhaul project ran short of money, these two cars also got the best of the old upholstery from the other 160 series cars rebuilt at the same time. After the "MARC MARC MARC" upolstery came out in the 1993 SEMTA car overhaul (MARC 140's), two sets of seats were done for 132 and 133, they have vinyl on the back to be more robust agaisnt knees and shoes. In the mid '90's many, but not all, of the PRR rebuilds at MARC received "MARC Heritage Fleet" decals on one end of the letterboard, with a Keystone logo and the original name of the car. Attached is a roster shot of the 133 in the Brunswich Yard (MD) October 16, 2005;

Note to "E Cubed": PM me, I have two spare of these seatbacks, vinyl back with "MARC MARC MARC" upolstery that for some unknown reason are sitting in my garage!

TL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/12 10:04 by TorchLake.

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Beautiful coach! Is this coach in anyway affiliated with the new operators of the Santa Cruz branch?


That wheel in picture number three looks like it needs to get turned...UGH!

Good catch! That does look like some shelling going on there, doesn't it?

jp1822 Wrote:
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> Many Pennsy sleepers were converted from sleepers
> (roomettes and other configurations originally
> etc.) and made into coaches. MARC picked up a
> bunch of these converted old cars.


Of course, Pennsy being "cheap", didn't bother to change the window arrangement on these former 22 roomette Pullmans. You sat next to a window, or a pier panel, depending on your luck that day. One road, UP, had PS rebuild it's Alpine series 16 section streamlined Pullmans into chair cars in 1965 and those cars emerged pretty much identical to other UP 44 seats coaches. Each seat lined up to a window.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/11/12 13:33 by ATSF3751.

5524 Wrote:
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> Beautiful coach! Is this coach in anyway
> affiliated with the new operators of the Santa
> Cruz branch?
>
>
> That wheel in picture number three looks like it
> needs to get turned...UGH!

Yessir- headed to Santa Cruz and does look like some wheel turning work is needed, unfortunately.

Posted from iPhone

Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission will hold its rail corridor ribbon cutting this Saturday, November 17. They offered a free excursion over a portion of the line and the 900 tickets were gone in less than three hours! Possibly this car will used in that celebration? Someone please get a shot at Laselva Beach.

Well the lack of windows seems to be mitigated a little with the seating arrangement, good for short distance perhaps, family's