The last surviving Norfolk & Western American Car & Foundry 12-4 sleeping car arrived at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in March, where restoration work is expected to begin in the spring. The car was acquired last year by the Norfolk & Western Business Car 300 Preservation Society, a nonprofit that previously saved its namesake office car. 

The nonprofit’s new car was built in January 1950 for the Wabash Railroad. It joined the N&W fleet in 1964 and was later assigned to the railroad’s business train in 1972. There, it was named Hollins College. 

Earlier this year, the car moved from its previous home on the Morristown & Erie in New Jersey to the Hoosier Valley. The 900-mile move from New Jersey to Indiana was made possible with the help of M&E, Dover & Delaware River, Norfolk Southern, and Chesapeake & Indiana Railroad. The nonprofit plans on holding Sunday volunteer sessions beginning in April. 

For more information, visit the Norfolk & Western Business Car 300 Preservation Society’s website.