Exterior: Lightweight, stainless steel
locomotive-hauled coach; picture windows; safety chains; tight-lock
couplers.
Interior: 107-seat (529, 530) or 106-seat (531-543) coach; 3/2
reversible vinyl seating; mechanical air conditioning; vestibule at
one end; one toilet.
Modifications: 530 converted to a 24-seat bar-coach, 5/1968, with
longitudinal seating and its toilet was removed.
General: These cars were sold about 6/1967 to the Pickens Railroad
where they were rebuilt. Original reclining seats were replaced with
high density seating, two of the three toilets were removed, end
lounges were removed and diaphragms were replaced with safety
chains. The Long Island bought cars 2938, 3049, 3063, 3073, 3075,
3064, 3126, 3133, 3136 and 3149 in 10/1967. Cars 3005, 3067, 3101
and 3147 were bought 11/1967. Car 86-Samuel J. Tilden was bought
12/1967. These cars were nicknamed “Pickens cars” by Maintenance of
Equipment personnel and “Silver Streak” by everyone else.
Research: Jeff Erlitz |
529 ex-New York Central 2938
530 ex-New York Central 86-Samuel J. Tilden
531 ex-New York Central 3005
532 ex-New York Central 3049
533 ex-New York Central 3063
534 ex-New York Central 3067
535 ex-New York Central 3073
536 ex-New York Central 3075
537 ex-New York Central 3064
538 ex-New York Central 3101
539 ex-New York Central 3126
540 ex-New York Central 3133
541 ex-New York Central 3136
542 ex-New York Central 3147
543 ex-New York Central 3149 |
LIRR #219 Union Hall Street passing St. Monica's c.1965 Archive: Joe
Saullo
|
Silver Streak - ex-NYC cars westbound
at Bellaire 12/02/1967 Archive: Dave Keller |
LIRR 539, a former NYC coach, is the last car in this consist in
this December 1967 view at Oyster Bay. Archive: Dave Keller |
LIRR #530 was a one-of-a-kind car on LIRR. It was built by Budd in
1941 as a parlor car with 30 seats and 1 drawing room for NYC's new
streamlined Empire State Express. When acquired by LIRR in 1967, it
was converted to a 24 seat coach with bar. Note: Five of the large
windows on this side of the car were blanked during the conversion. Photo: George Votava
Archive: Dave Keller
One of the fourteen coaches (LIRR #529, x-NYC
#2938) and the one bar coach, LIRR #530, x-NYC 86 SAMUEL J. TILDEN
(photo above), were built by Budd with a stainless steel structure.
The other thirteen coaches were built by Pullman with cosmetic
(non-structural) stainless steel fluting. These 15 cars were unlike
anything the LIRR owned/operated at that time or in the past.
I was not aware that the cars were rebuilt from their original 64
seat intercity configuration to a higher density commuter layout by
the Pickens Railroad at their shop in South Carolina. Certainly NYC
had the capability to do this work at their main shop in Beech
Grove, Indiana, but maybe it was done at the shortline shop in SC at
a lower cost.
I wonder if the term “Silver Steak” was also
applied to LIRR 8569-8572, the four Budd stainless steel coaches
acquired from FEC, about a year later? They did have a reasonably
similar exterior appearance. I rode one of those x-FEC cars on The
Shelter Island Express in 1970, and it still had its plush interior
configuration of 2 by 2 reclining upholstered seats. More
importantly, the air conditioning worked perfectly on a hot humid
summer day. Info: Jack Deasy
LIRR #531 coach ex-NYC #3005 Archive: Mike Boland
|
Silver Streak cars - Three C420s - Ronkonkoma 1969 Archive:
Dave Keller
LIRR #530 coach/bar ex-NYC Samuel Tilden parlor at Richmond
Hill. 11/03/1973 Photo: Gene Collora Archive: Mike Boland
LIRR #541 coach ex-NYC #3136 at Richmond Hill. 5/26/1968 Photo: Gene
Collora
Archive: Mike Boland
|
LIRR #207 ex-NYC "Silver Streak" cars Photo/Archive: Richard Glueck
LIRR #534 ex-NYC #3067 at Ronkonkoma
6/14/1970 Photo: Gene Collora
Archive: Mike Boland
LIRR #542 ex-NYC #3147 at Richmond Hill 5/26/1968 Photo: Gene
Collora
Archive: Mike Boland |