Former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Diner 469, built in 1949 for The Phoebe Snow, has arrived at our Maple Grove worksite in Scranton, PA! 40 years after the car was sold by the Erie Lackawanna, the car has returned home.
The car was picked up from its former home in Collierville, TN last week by Norfolk Southern, and arrived at the Delaware-Lackawanna interchange in Portland, PA on 4/17/12. After overnighting on home rails in downtown Scranton, the D-L spotted the car to Maple Grove on the afternoon of 4/18/12.
The car is in excellent physical and mechanical condition, and we will now compile a punch-list on what needs to happen to make the car operational. After a thorough clean-up, some kitchen work, and a return into Lackawanna colors, Diner 469 will soon become our first dining car to enter service.
To help raise the funds needed to get the car painted and operational, we are selling reproductions of the famous Phoebe Snow pattern china used on the car. We have also started the DL&W 469 Club, a special fundraising program for premium donations. Visit the Diner 469 page more more information.
Photo by Carl Ardrey in Sheffield, AL on April 8, 2012.
In preperation for its move to Scranton, we had to do some repair work on Diner 469 to make it road worthy. Photos and information on some of this work is now available on our Members Blog.
ELDCPS has entered into a lease agreement for a secure location to continue working on our cars in Scranton. Nicknamed "Maple Grove" after the surrounding trees (and a tongue-in-cheek nod to Amtrak's Beech Grove car repair shops), this industry track is located in South Scranton. This new location offers us improved access to our equipment, lots of parking, and space to work. ELDCPS volunteers have been working hard to return this previously out-of-service track back into service. For the latest updates, visit our Members Blog.
ELDCPS has partnered with Capital One to introduce the ELDCPS Capital One Visa Credit Card. As part of Capital One's Affinity Program, ELDCPS will automatically receive a percentage of all purchases made with the card. ELDCPS receives 2% from purchases at gas stations and major grocery stores, 10% from select merchants, and 1% from all other purchases. Select from three EL images for your card design.
All proceeds earned by ELDCPS through this program will go towards the restoration of our cars.
ELDCPS will be producing a Dining Car Calendar beginning in 2011, and we are looking for photographic submissions. We are looking for both interior and exterior photos of dining car operations from any railroad. If you are interested in contributing, please contact us using the link below. Digital submissions are preferred, but we can accept slides and prints as well. Contributors must have rights to their submissions.
African Americans played a critical role in Railroad Dining Car and Pullman operations, and we intend to research this history as part of our project. If you or a family member was employed in these historical dining car or Pullman operations, we would like to hear your personal history.