Modeling secondhand parlor cars for the LIRR
Modifying the Walthers 28-1 heavyweight parlor car/Mike Boland I
n the 1960’s, the Long Island Rail- road, known as “The Route of the Dashing Commuter,” gained much fame operating a fleet of heavyweight ex-Pullman parlor cars in trains to the Hamptons, Montauk and Greenport during the summer months. Even more famous was the The Cannon Ball, the 17-car, all parlor car train with an open end observation car that operated to Montauk on Friday evening. Parlor car business to the fashion- able and popular villages at the east end of Long Island was so good that in 1961 the LIRR purchased 26 parlor cars it had been leasing from its parent road, the Pennsylvania Railroad. The entire fleet of cars cost as much as one new commuter car. The parlor cars, all built by Pullman in various lots in the 1920’s, were painted in the standard LIRR color scheme at the time but giv- en an attractive light blue stripe through the windows.
The LIRR referred to them as their
“Blue Ribbon Fleet.” The cars were as- signed various Indian names of local towns, such as Nissequogue, Patchogue, and Moriches, and the cars even had their own herald. While all LIRR com- muter cars had a herald featuring Dashing Dan, a comical figure of a com- muter in a suit and hat running with a brief case and umbrella, parlor cars were given The Weekend Chief–Dash- ing Dan logo with “Dan” dressed in breechcloth and moccasins, and carry- ing a tomahawk and bow and arrow.
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PHOTO BY DOUG NASH: JAMAICA, NY
PHOTO BY HAROLD FAGERBERG: MONTAUK, NY; SEPT. 9, 1962
Long Island Railroad’s Blue Ribbon Fleet had a great number of 28-1 parlor cars on its roster. They were assigned Indian names of local villages and towns. The two cars shown are No. 2043, Matinecock,as it leaves Jamaica Station and passes Hall Tower (top); and No. 2028, Wantagh, at Montauk, Long Island (above). In the off season the fleet was stored at Montauk, where the salty sea air and sun corroded and faded the cars.
NOVEMBER 2013
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