DUNMORE, Pa. – The Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society’s ex-Delaware, Lackawanna & Western diner 469 is on its way over Norfolk Southern and Delaware-Lackawanna from Collierville, Tenn. to Scranton, Penn.
The Budd Co. built the car in 1949 for the DL&W’s premier train, the Phoebe Snow. Renumbered 769 after the merger forming the Erie Lackawanna in 1960, the car also ran on the EL’s version of the train. The society purchased it in 2010 from the Tennessean Dinner Train, a stationary restaurant in Collierville that closed in March 2009.
Upon arrival in Scranton, the society plans to return the operational car to DL&W colors, and perform minor maintenance on the kitchen and dining area. The group is raising funds for No. 469 through the DL&W 469 Club, and the sale of reproduction Phoebe Snow pattern china.
In what will likely be a growing trend for preservation groups, the society has partnered with Capital One to develop a credit card program to raise funds. Cardholders can personalize their card with one of three photographs of dining cars. When an individual signs up, the society receives $50 on the first purchase with the card, a two percent donation on all gas and grocery purchases, a one percent donation on all other purchases, and up to 10 percent on select merchants.
The society owns three other cars: Erie Lackawanna diner 770, ex-DL&W 470 and a sister car to the 469; EL diner 741, built in 1925 and currently undergoing restoration at Mid-America Car in Kansas City, Mo.; and Nickel Plate Road sleeping car 211, City of Lima. The sleeper was used in through service between Hoboken, N.J. and Chicago, in conjunction with the Lackawanna and the Erie Lackawanna from 1950 until the end of this service in 1963.
For more information on the society go to www.eldcps.org.
The Budd Co. built the car in 1949 for the DL&W’s premier train, the Phoebe Snow. Renumbered 769 after the merger forming the Erie Lackawanna in 1960, the car also ran on the EL’s version of the train. The society purchased it in 2010 from the Tennessean Dinner Train, a stationary restaurant in Collierville that closed in March 2009.
Upon arrival in Scranton, the society plans to return the operational car to DL&W colors, and perform minor maintenance on the kitchen and dining area. The group is raising funds for No. 469 through the DL&W 469 Club, and the sale of reproduction Phoebe Snow pattern china.
In what will likely be a growing trend for preservation groups, the society has partnered with Capital One to develop a credit card program to raise funds. Cardholders can personalize their card with one of three photographs of dining cars. When an individual signs up, the society receives $50 on the first purchase with the card, a two percent donation on all gas and grocery purchases, a one percent donation on all other purchases, and up to 10 percent on select merchants.
The society owns three other cars: Erie Lackawanna diner 770, ex-DL&W 470 and a sister car to the 469; EL diner 741, built in 1925 and currently undergoing restoration at Mid-America Car in Kansas City, Mo.; and Nickel Plate Road sleeping car 211, City of Lima. The sleeper was used in through service between Hoboken, N.J. and Chicago, in conjunction with the Lackawanna and the Erie Lackawanna from 1950 until the end of this service in 1963.
For more information on the society go to www.eldcps.org.
