WNYRHS PASSENGER EQUIPMENT
Union Pacific #4001
40 Foot Lunch Counter Car
Purchased 6/2009 - Sold 8/2017
In June of 2009, The Western New York Railway Historical Society took ownership of Union Pacific 40-foot Lunch Counter Car #4001. The car was built by American Car and Foundry for the Union Pacific in 1955 as one of four "Chuck Wagon" lunch counter cars. The car was converted to a cafeteria lonuge by the UP in 1960. It was one of two cars that went into Amtrak Service and was renumbered to #8398. The car was purchased from Amtrak by the Indiana Railroad Museum in 1976 and was eventually acquired by Golden Age Rail Equipment Corp. in 2002. Rails Journey West acquired the car in 2007 and leased it to the Canadian Pacific for use in on their "Empress Train."
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It was moved by the CP from Calgary where it had been stored on the CPR. Although it carries the reporting marks RPCX 4001, it is not the former Maine Eastern car referenced by some in earlier reports. The car was purchased from member Roy Wullich and shipped to Western New York from Calgary, Alberta, via Canadian Pacific. CSX took over in Buffalo and delivered it to the Falls Road in Lockport. Once again, we must thank the Falls Road and Genesee Valley Transportation for their support in finding a spot for the car.
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Our car was originally numbered 4001 by the Union Pacific in 1955 and as is the practice common with many historical organizations, we maintain the original car numbers on the equipment. Rails Journey West maintained the original UP numbering when they had the car registered by Railroad Passenger Car Alliance and we moved the car using thier reporting marks to avoid any confusion when the car was processed by the customs folks when it re-entered the United States at Fort Erie, Ontario. There was/or still is another RPCX 4001, a 48 seat diner orginally built for the British Columbia Ry in 1949 according to the Kentucky Railroad Museum website. As they are also an RPCA member, they apparently used the UMLER registration service when they acquired that car from the Maine Eastern and moved it to Kentucky in 2007.
The WNYRHS has its own registered reporting marks, WNYX, and the RPCX 4001 will we reassigned to the Society's reporting marks in due course. We have just sent out the air brake valves to Pittsburgh Air Brake for rebuilding and they will be reapplied later this year as the restoration work nears completion.
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The car is in its' original configuration. The interior has a 40-foot lunch counter, a small galley, and seating for 16. Our plans are to upgrade the electrical systems, new paint and windows, and add it to our excursion fleet now in use on the Falls Road Railroad. Joe Kocis, Al Olmstead and Rick Henn toured the parlor car in late August 2009 and started a list of things to improve its condition.
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For some time the Society had been advertising the sale of the car as it did not fit into our long term excursion plans. In late August of 2017 it was sold to the "Great Sandhills Railway" in Saskatchewan Canada. We were paid to do the COT&S before it could be moved. We needed to remove the 8 applicators (disc brake version of cylinders) and perform a single car air test so the Falls Road Railroad could transfer the car to CSX.
Unfortunately the process was slow do to many small problems that appeared along the way. As each bug was fixed, another one popped up further down the system. This is what happens when equipment is not used for a length of time. After much frustration the car passed its air test and CSX picked it up on April 16th, 2018 for its trip to Saskatchewan Canada.
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The WNYRHS, Inc. P.O. Box 416, Buffalo, NY. 14231-0416 is an independent organization and has no affiliation with any other local or national group.
The Society is a fully qualified organization under 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and all donations to the Society are tax deductible.
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