Turning now to view the Dining Room we see the beautiful built-in cabinetry in front of us. To the right of the built ins is the corridor to the Kitchen and Crew Quarters. Standing now in this other hall at the entrance to the Dining Room and viewing from the other side, we see a paneled wall with a mirror. To the right is the corridor from the Observation room. Backing out of the Dining Room and moving towards the Kitchen, we look back one more time into the Dining Room.

Continuing down the corridor with our backs to the Dining Room, the first area to our left is what I would call the Kitchen Wash and Prep area, with a sink, storage, and a pass through to the next area to the right - what I would call a Kitchen Prep and Cook area. The Prep and Cook area is larger for prep, has storage, and a large griddle. I'm not well versed in this so if any of the dining car specialists or people with greater knowledge of railroad kitchens can give greater insight I would appreciate it. Finally, after the Kitchen, we see the Crew Quarters.

Unlike the Locomotives and Rolling stock that have been left out to rot for 25 years in the yard, this car has been somewhat kept in a pretty stable state under the Park Service's stewardship. Indeed, when the tarp had started to look as if it would no longer adequately protect the artifact, it was moved inside as soon as space became available.

Pat - I hope you and others have enjoyed this tour of this fantastic car that by necessity, given its condition, is not generally accessible to the public. Raising an appreciation and awareness of the existence and condition of some of the lesser-known artifacts at STEA amongst the knowledgeable preservationists who frequent this board enables a greater understanding of their situation. It would be wonderful to see this car survive to full restoration, either at STEA or in another appropriate museum setting.

As I recall from the late 1960's the B&O assigned Office Cars to each of their Regional General Managers. The VP of Operations also was assigned a Office Car. I believe the VP's car was the 97 - W.C. Baker's favorite number - witness all the freight trains the B&O operated with 97 in their train identity.

I believe the Regional GM's cars were in the 900 series.

I don't know how many Office cars the B&O was actually using at that point in time.

When was Monomoy Island last in use on the B&O?
How did it make its way into the STEA collection?

Thanks!

Wesley

How difficult would it be to remove the steel sheathing? Besides being able to get a look at and repair the damage underneath and prevent future rain damage, it looks fake in my opinion.

The steel plating is attached with wood screws, so depending on how rusted they are will depend how easy or hard it will be. i do know the owner of the 907 had removed some of the panels in the past and what wood was underneath was not in very good condition, and used lots of epoxy to fill in the screw holes, so he could reattach the steel plate. so plan on a complete re-sheathing effort.

Al P.

Here is a floor plan for the B&O 912. Based on your photographs, the 903 and 912 have similar interior appointments.

I have a list of B&O office car assignments, revised in 1956, showing car 903 assigned to Engineer, Maintenance of Way, C.E. Jackman, Baltimore, MD. At the time the 903 was the oldest car in the fleet with an original construction date of 1895.

Alan Maples
Everett Railroad

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to research this while I was up there. I believe the car came down with the rest of Blount's collection when the Steamtown Foundation relocated to PA. Three possible sources for further information are people who worked for or were affiliated with the Foundation (my recollection is that J David Conrad was the CMO when the Foundation relocated and I believe Al P. mentioned that he volunteered for the Foundation at Bellows Falls), the Library at STEA - they have documentation on the items up there, and possibly the special history study of the Rolling Stock - if it exists.

In the other thread about STEA in which I attempted to discuss the Locomotives that have been sitting in the yard for 25 without any restorative effort, and in which you opined that such posts aided and abetted a situation in which, "...RyPN slowly drifts off into irrelevancy as several have noted in posts to this thread", I mentioned the Special History Study by Gordon Chappell and provided a link. When I was involved up there I came across a reference to a companion study that he did for the Rolling Stock but I have never seen any other evidence to support its existence. I had the pleasure of corresponding with Mr. Chappell several times but I never inquired about his work with the Rolling Stock while we were discussing the locomotives.


I am not familiar with this construction. Are the fasteners that hold the steel plate anchored in the wood sheathing or through the wood sheathing and into the frame? How thick is the steel plate? In the areas where the wood was saturated, what was the condition of the underside of the steel plate? Does the owner of 907 have any photos documenting the restoration effort that they would be willing to share to illustrate the process of replacing/repairing the underlying wood?

Mr. Maples - Thank you for the 912 floor plan (similar from what I recall but maybe a bit longer as it sleeps 7 guests vs 5 for 903?) and the brief history of the car. The build date you provided aligns with the information I posted and also the information regarding its assignment to the MOW Engineer seems consistent with mmi16's information that 900 series cars were assigned to Regional GMs.

Hi Scranton Yard
Sorry for taking so long to reply, and YES the photos were worth the wait, you did a great job, on them.
And Yes I fully agree with you, this business car, does need to be kept inside and out of the weather. Also a new paint job in B&O colors would hurt either..
Here is a photo of the car Before it was donated to Steamtown, in Bellows Falls, Vt. The photo was taken from the website, Passenger Car photo website. All information is on photo. Pat