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Conrail Historical Society Moves Boxcar to New Home

The Conrail 86-foot-long auto part car is one of the largest railcars to ever be moved by road in North America. Photo Courtesy of CRHS.

Conrail Historical Society Moves Boxcar to New Home

By Railfan & Railroad Staff

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — With the help of a local moving company, the Conrail Historical Society moved a massive 86-foot-long boxcar from Chambersburg, Pa., to its new home in Shippensburg this weekend. The car will become home to the new Conrail Museum & Archive. 

Last year, CRHS announced it had acquired an ex-Penn Central/Conrail auto parts car from CSX Transportation. A year after that donation, the group finally moved it from its temporary storage on the Pennsylvania & Southern Railway in Chambersburg to the site of the future museum. The exhibit will be placed next to the Cumberland Valley Railroad Museum, which is housed in a Penn Central boxcar, and the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail. The project is expected to cost $134,000, much of which will be covered by a $100,000 tourism grant from the Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau.

The group plans on restoring the car to its brown Conrail scheme and have it insulated for visitor comfort. It will also have heating and air conditioning. There is no timeline for the museum’s opening. 

CRHS officials said they believed the car (currently numbered 243880) is the largest railcar to ever be moved over a road in North America. The car was moved with the help of Dave’s Truck Repair. 

For more information, visit CRHS.org

This article was posted on: August 24, 2021