Rutland Railroad combine car #255
Built by the Rutland RR, in 1898, as coach #515.
Rebuilt by the Rutland RR in 1915, as combine #255. A steel
under-frame was installed at this time and was never
renumbered after conversion.
Dimensions:
Height 13'8"
Width 10'6"
Length 62'8"
Approximate weight, 37 tons.
Approximate seating capacity is 32.
O. W. Link acquired this car, date unknown, and did
extensive restoration work in the 1961-1965 time period.
Included was the re-upholstering of the seats, interior and
exterior wood replacement, and paint and varnish. The roof
and windows required extensive repairs after years of
neglect.
RHSNNY acquired this car, along with the N&W Caboose
#518508, from the estate of O. W. Link in April of 2001. A
fund drive was conducted to move this car from Whippany, NJ
to Croghan, NY during the summer of 2001. Arrangements were
finalized for the move by truck, and was completed on Nov
30, 2001.
The Combine is presently stored at Lowville, in the old
Lowville & Beaver River RR enginehouse.
(References: Jeff English at englij@rpi.edu
and Rutland Historical Society at bcurry@cyberus.ca)
The following items need to be corrected before we can
operate this car.
- The roof needs repair.
- One of the trucks needs to be removed, repaired and
reinstalled. A spring on this truck is out of its pocket
and will have to be fixed.
- The interior needs a good scrubbing, with hopes of
removing some of the graffiti.
- The steps and guardrail will need to be
re-installed.
This list is just the start. As indicated, this is what
needs to be done to just get it rolling again. We expect to
be working on this car for several months to come.
Click
here for photos of the Combine
Current Update:
The bad area of the roof has been stripped, and has been
prepared for re-roofing. There are no visible signs of
deterioration, so at this time, we'll just be covering the
bad area. At some point, we will be removing the entire roof
covering, and will replace it with a new type of material.
The truck assemblies need repairs but that will wait until
we get word of operations. General clean up has taken place,
but a major effort will be undertaken at a later date. We
will also contract to sandblast the underside of the car
when we remove the trucks. This should add to the beauty of
the car and prevent further deterioration.
(Photo taken on November 29, 2001)
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