Steam & Excursion > Private Rail Car Gets New Home in PA

 A private rail car once owned by steel magnate Charles Schwab is now at the Colebrookdale Railroad in Pennsylvania.
The car, built in 1917 by Pullman, moved to the Colebrookdale from the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania, by highway.
Known as the Loretto, the car was built at a cost of $151,000. It has three bedrooms, a dining area, kitchen, and solarium end. Furnishings include stained glass, mahogany, marble, and brass.

The car was among the first acquisitions of the Altoona museum.
In 1975 the Altoona museum purchased the Loretto from Magee Transportation Museum in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, following the death of that organization’s founder.
The car is named for Schwab’s hometown near Altoona. Schwab (1862-1939) was the first president of U.S. Steel and he later turned Bethlehem Steel into the nation’s second-largest steel producer.

Nathaniel Guest, executive director of the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust, said the car will be restored to running condition for use on the 8-mile tourist line, a former Reading Company branch that connects at Pottstown with Norfolk Southern’s Harrisburg Line. From the akronrrblog 
 

When it was at the Magee Transportation Museum Bloomsburg, PA June 7, 1970.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/24 08:38 by PCCRNSEngr.

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Hope this news is as good as it sounds. The Loretto was torched in the museum yard back in 1983. We got to tour it during an early Railfest, and even with the damage It's still absolutely magnificent inside.

Rebecca Morgan
Jacobsburg, OH