Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Coach #582
The WK&S purchased Lackawanna coach #582 in 1963 for $1,000. The car came to the WK&S from the Erie-Lackawanna yards at Susquehanna Depot, PA.
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western #582 was one of about 60 open-vestibule 78-seat coaches built for the DL&W by the Pullman Company in 1914/15. Number 582 was built in 1915. Matching combines and RPO cars were also produced. These twentieth century steel coaches have an "old-time" look to them because the open-vestibule style is more closely associated with wood coaches from the nineteenth century. The DL&W coaches were some of the last such open-vestibule cars produced. They became known as "Boonton" coaches so nicknamed because of their prevalence along the Lackawanna's Boonton Branch out of Hoboken, NJ. The cars survived the Erie-Lackawanna merger of 1960 and most continued running in commuter service right on through the rest of the decade. It's interesting that the WK&S was able to acquire one as early as 1963. Officially the car would have been renumbered 2282 following the EL merger. But most of the class (including #582) were never painted as such.
Lackawanna #582 was one of the WK&S railroad's earliest acquisitions. It was ready to go for the railroad's opening on Memorial Day 1963. The first trains comprised one or two open gondola cars sandwiched between #582 and Reading #1365. The trains were powered by Porter 0-4-0 #2 which was the railroad's sole operational locomotive at the time. Through the 1960s and '70s the car was lettered WANAMAKER KEMPTON & SOUTHERN. During the 1980s the car was re-lettered LACKAWANNA as it has remained ever since. At some point the WK&S removed a few seats and installed a coal stove in the north end of the coach. There's also a coal stove in the baggage compartment of Reading combine #408. If you visit the WK&S during the chilly weekends of late autumn, these are the two cars you will most likely see with the train.
Lackawanna #582 on a rainy day.
Freshly refurbished interior.
Freshly refurbished interior. I believe the preceding three pictures were taken sometime during the 2000s.
The coal stove is a WK&S addition.
A shot of #582 during the 1960s or '70s. The car has been lettered WANAMAKER KEMPTON & SOUTHERN. Coach #582 was often run on the south end of the train during this period.
I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but the WK&S appears to have run a President's Special honoring the president of the Reading Company. The pictures below date from the mid 1960s when the Reading's president was Charles E. Bertrand, the last Reading president before Conrail.
Lackawanna #582 with a President's Special drumhead.
Museum car #72 with Bertrand at left.