I was in W-B last Friday for a fundraising mixer for the Osterhout Library, and the picture posted by Tom Cornillie is pretty accurate to today's conditions.
The Stainless Steel Obs lounge was once part of Palooka's Diner, and I ate in there in the early 90s. It looked like a Budd Tavern Lounge, much like the Phoebe Snow's cars I had seen in photos. I believe it was originally Seaboard, via Amtrak. The "phase 2" Amtrak wide red and blue striping were painted over with red on red, but the portion that faced the diner is still red and blue.
The diner was relocated to southern PA, if I recall correctly.

There were some Reading cars, possibly MUs, at RMDI in the old Coxton yard seven or eight years ago. I remember seeing holes cut in the side sheets for heating and A/C units. Could these have been the same cars?

Even without seeing them, I'd wager 99.9% probability the answer is yes, if only for proximity.

I can add to Sandy's remaining .1% and say yes, there were some of the cars from MKT street square. Another car or two can be seen on the North side of Route 80 at the Danville (PA) exit. Most of the cars were scrapped on site.

Dave

Google Streetview shows that the Pullman streamlined obs, three reefers and maybe a caboose are still at the Victoria Station site. A few other reefers or boxcars and the side rod Vulcan are shown in the satellite image but are now gone.

So what got out of there alive?

Off the top of my head:

The Vulcan - now at RMDI
Two Pullmans to Andy Muller
The RI/FEC wooden obs - last reported in SE PA
A D and H caboose
The MUs in Danville and possibly at RMDI

Anything else?

Rob

I was secretly hoping to snatch the diner! I will still have to take a look and see what is left, where is this exactly?

Hello

The diner Tim was talking about was the actual building, the railroad car is still there.
It's not too hard to find. The complex lies between Wilkes Barre Blvd and Pennsylvania Ave in downtown. I've attached a google image. Happy Hunting!

Dave

Thank you again Dave for the help, now I really gotta check this out.

On a side note what do you think are the chances of cars that are used in these types post-retirement uses still having some of there air brakes intact?

Only car I can think of that was saved of the hotel rooms was the car that sits along Interstate 80. It is unfortunate what happened to the rest of them. There was firm for a while who wanted to buy all the MU cars, but it never happened, so the cars sat in disrepair, having been broken into and the furniture destroyed in most. There were also 2 D&H wood cabooses there that fell victim to arson. Some cars were scrapped on site, the rest were shipped to RMDI's Coxton Shop facility a few miles away via the Luzerne-Susquehanna and Reading and Northern Railroads. The cars sat there for a few years until they were all finally scrapped. Last time i was in the area, the station still has a couple wood cars against it, but deterioration is taking its toll. The Stainless Steel observation car also sits there, abandoned. One of the cars from this hotel however, on a better note, is in active service today. Reading and Northerns Observation car #1 once sat at the station, and is now the primary car used in the RBMN office car specials. The car was originally wood with Steel plated over it, used by the West Point Route. Also, if you go down Pennsylvania Avenue, almost directly across from the Wilkes-Barre train shop, there are several more ex-FGE insulated boxcars there, These appear to have been placed there around the time the hotel was built, and were not from the hotel after its closing.

The Vulcan Center Cab that was at the hotel is also not at RMDI at their Coxton Facility. The engine has been in their shops for quite some time. The engine made the local newspapers a couple years back, because there is a group in the city that wants RMDI to restore the unit to operating condition, they have received funding to do so, and supposedly run train rides somewhere in the Wyoming Valley. Talk of this has died down unfortunately, and the engine remains in their shop.

Posted for the purposes of general knowledge and submitted without comment:

http://wnep.com/2015/08/14/developer-ha ... n-station/