Long Island Rail Road
Heavyweight Club Cars

In this July 1969 view, Alco Centiury 420 locomotive 220 leads an eastbound commuter train
departing Mill Neck enroute to Oyster Bay on a summer evening. A heavyweight commuter
club car is the first car in the consist.
Photo courtesy of Spencer F. Ritchie

An exclusive club on wheels. The most relaxing and enjoyable way to travel between home and work.

ROSTER

Number Name Class History Disposition
2001   Built by Pullman in 1924, lot 4764, plan 3410, as 12 section 1 drawing room sleeper MCEWEN. Sold to PRR and leased back to Pullman 12/31/1948. PRR 8872 MCEWEN. Withdrawn from lease 5/15/1957. Acquired by LIRR 19?? Operated as private commuter club car. Wrecked 19??. Presumed scrapped.
2002   Built by Pullman in 1924, lot 4762, plan 3410, as 12 section 1 drawing room sleeper BELFAST. Reclassified to plan 3410A on 5/29/1935. Sold to PRR and leased back to Pullman 12/31/1948. Withdrawn from lease 5/15/1957. PRR 8736 BELFAST. Acquired by LIRR in 19?? Operated as private commuter club car. Retired 19?? (presumably mid 1970s). A January 2005 report notes it has been sitting along the south side of Austin Road in Norvell Township, Jackson County, Michigan for at least the past 12 years. A July 2016 Google Earth image reveals that it has been installed next to a private residence at 13491 Austin Road, in Norvell Township, approximately 5 miles west of Manchester, Michigan.
2003   Built by Pullman in 1924, lot 4762, plan 3410, as 12 section 1 drawing room sleeper WALTERSBURG. Reclassified plan 3410A on 6/07/1935. Sold to PRR and leased back to Pullman 12/31/1948. PRR 8968 WALTERSBURG. Renamed J. FINLEY WILSON on 12/10/1952. PRR 8968 J. FINLEY WILSON. Withdrawn from lease 5/15/1957. To LIRR approximately 1957. Operated as private commuter club car. [NOTE: The San Antonio Register of 1/09/1953 includes an article "Pullman car dedicated to late J. Finley Wilson"; he died 2/18/1952.] Retired 19?? (presumably mind 1970s). June 2007 report notes it is awaiting restoration as part of permanent collection at Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati in Covington, KY.
2004   Built by Pullman in 1914, lot 4329, plan 2417A, as parlor-buffet ANDRICO. Acquired by New York Central in September 1942 and converted to coach-buffet at their Beech Grove, Indiana shop. Acquired by LIRR circa late 1950s; redesignatd LIRR 7500. Converted to club car LOCUST VALLEY in 1958 or 1959. Renamed SYOSSET in 1973 after previous SYOSSET (LIRR 2001) was wrecked. Operated as private commuter club car. Retired 19?? (presumably mid 1970s). Stored on New Hope & Ivyland at New Hope PA. Plans are to refurbish this car for for service at some future date.

 

The primary reference sources for this roster table are:

(1) "The Pullman Project" database by Thomas C. Madden. An authoritative online reference on Pullman cars derived from countless hours of research into Pullman Company records now in the collection of the Newberry Library in Chicago IL..

(2) "The Route of the Weekend Chief", by Mike Boland, published in the Autumn 1995 issue of The Keystone (journal of the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society). Copy provided by Ed Frye.

(3) "Steel Cars of the Sunrise Trail", a roster compiled by E. M. Koehler, Jr. sometime in the 1970s. Copy provided by Tim Darnell.

(4) An article on the Long Island Rail Road's roster, written by Sy Reich, printed in the April 1963 issue of Railroad magazine.

(5) "Parlor Car East" by H. Stafford Bryant Jr., published in May 1968 issue of Trains. The article contains a roster. Copy provided by Ed Frye.

(6) Lehigh Valley Railroad Modeler website, edited by the late Ed Schaller, now hosted by the Antracite Railroads Historical Society, Inc. This website includes a roster of LV passenger equipment that provided information on LV 1000, which later became LIRR 2037 TUSCARORA CLUB.

(7) Terry Link's Canada Southern Railway website, which includes roster information on New York Central 2800 which later became LIRR commuter club car LOCUST VALLEY and then LIRR 2004 SYOSSET.

Updated on 7/22/2016