Happy Wednesday today! I hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons, in the areas where your seasons are changing. It finally became Spring in my part of Pennsylvania last weekend. A cousin of mine in Wyoming says that in Spring, he finally gets snow. Kent in SD last week reinforced that with his photos of trains in the snow. I'll take the rain we are getting today, thank you.
Last week, I helped a friend to finally remove some Halloween decorations that he had stored in one of the cars owned by the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society in Scranton, PA. They refer to this yard as "Maple Grove" after the maple trees planted along the tracks here. It is also a reference to the Amtrak shops in Beech Grove, IN.
Their collection includes Nickel Plate Road sleeper, no. 211, three EL-NJ DOT coaches, originally called "Dieseliners," two Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey talent cars, which are a dormitory type of sleeper, an animal transport car, a US Army troop baggage car, and 3 diners. Two of the diners are from the Delaware Lackawanna & Western's "Phoebe Snow" train, along with an Erie "Erie Limited" diner.
Funds are not yet in place to paint Diner 469, but they do a good job keeping this in good condition. Historically, this car would be a light grey, with black roof, maroon window stripe and yellow trim.
These cars will be in use right after Memorial Day for a special excursion as part of the 8th International Conference on Contemporary Cast Iron Art. A $30.00 excursion is part of the week long conference. There is still time to plan. www.icccia.com. Delaware Lackawanna locomotives will power the train. Possibly one of the two Erie Lackawanna-painted C425s.
That is my offering for this week. Let's see what you have found on your tracks lately. I hope everyone has an enjoyable spring. May is right around the corner.
PRR E-8 excursion.
