P3 Coach 531 history

[NW Mailing List]

I saw 531 a while back and it was raining in side the car as bad as it was
raining outside. I am afraid that it is  over for that car since the
windows were glued to rubber and no window frames. I am sure the side sill
and a lot of the structure steal is just rusted away. Its a shame! My guess
is that the Railroad would not move it now.

Mike Tilley
Watauga Valley Railroad Museum

On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 12:12 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> As a follow-up, I was able to find pictures of #531 as owned by Hardin
> Southern, lettered for N&W, which suggests that was how the car was painted
> when they acquired it. I eventually found a picture of 531 in the N&W
> Historical Society Archives from 1992, lettered N&W but with ARCX (Atlanta
> Rail Car) reporting marks.
>
> https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=17583
>
> Marty Flick
>
> -----------------------------------------
> From: "NW Mailing List"
> To: "NW Mailing List"
> Cc:
> Sent: Tuesday May 19 2020 7:52:59PM
> Subject: Re: P3 Coach 531 history
>
> Marty
>
> The passenger car data has a lot of massaging to be done on it, it is all
> new, done by a volunteer, and it will take time to get there.
>
> Meanwhile, the 531 was stored after the end of passenger service,
> potentially, I assume, to be converted as needed for a commuter car. The
> commuter service ended in the last half of 1981 and the remaining equipment
> was brought to Roanoke.
>
> Then the 531, 536, 539 and 540 were selected to be converted to open
> window lightweight cars, or “OWLs” as they were referred to at the time,
> they rolled of the shops in May 1982 and were run on a test run down the
> Winston Salem line to see if they were OK. I saw the train in the station
> that morning.
>
> They served in the excursion trains for a number of years, and with the
> upgrading of the excursion train to all air conditioned equipment in 1991,
> two OWLs, 531 and 539 were retired and donated. 539 was donated to Watauga
> Valley Chapter NRHS, who proudly operates it to this day, fully a/c and
> closed windows.
>
> The 531 went to Atlanta, I am not sure I remember exactly who. I believe
> they did install a/c and windows, but apparently did little preservation
> work, and it ran some on a short line for a time in the mid to late 1990s,
> then it was sent to Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, who did little to the
> car besides store it for the most part. TVRM had no use for the car, and no
> money to budget to it. They were first attempting to sell the car back in
> 2013, Roanoke Chapter considered it, but it was priced too high for its
> condition. The entire floor would need total replacement, as well as a lot
> of side sill work and other work.
>
> As far as I know, it is still sitting at TVRM. The purchase price, the
> cost of movement and then rehab put it out of range for almost anyone. Even
> a give away, the cost of a move may well be prohibitive, and it may not
> even be moveable by rail at this point.
>
> Best
> Ken Miller
>
> > On May 19, 2020, at 5:35 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > I'm trying to find ownership history of P3 coach #531. The history on
> the N&WHS website's roster page reads a little funny: "Converted 1982 at
> Roanoke Shops for excursion service; no air conditioning; installed raise
> window sash. 1991 sold donated 1973 to Cass Scenic Railroad., Atlanta, GA"
> >
> > According to a roster by Jim Cochran in the May/June 1996 Arrow, the car
> was donated to Atlanta Rail Car Company in 1991 for use in the NS steam
> program, but my searches for the car under this ownership haven't turned up
> anything.
> >
> > Recent pictures show it owned by TVRM, but I couldn't find it listed on
> their own website.
> >
> > Does anyone have more complete information? I assume like a lot of the
> N&W cars it was converted to open window for excursions while still
> lettered N&W in the 1980s, then was sold or donated in the early 90s to be
> rebuilt to meet the new standards for the excursion train in its later
> years, but how was it painted and lettered after rebuilding for the early
> 90s excursions?
> >
> > Marty Flick
> >
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-- 
Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum
P.O. Box 432
Johnson City, TN 37605-0432
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