By Eric Berger

A set of seven stainless steel Budd passenger cars that helped introduce the stainless steel streamliner era on New York Central’s New York–Cleveland Empire State Express are now in Indiana with the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and will eventually add hundreds of seats of capacity to the group’s excursion trains. Though handled with care during nearly four decades of operation with the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, the cars need a variety of upgrades and repairs and thanks to a $50,000 matching grant, any donation of $250 or more made during December will be doubled. The group has set a goal of putting at least one of the cars in service in 2024.

The cars were officially acquired in 2022 from the Rochester museum, which had deemed them surplus to its own collection. “Rochester’s care and stewardship in preserving this equipment through the years means the cars will be enjoyed by thousands of people every year,” said FWRHS President Joe Knape.

Billing the revamped Empire State Express in advertisements as “The World’s Newest and Finest Streamliner,” the railroad scheduled a Sunday debut for the gleaming cars and streamlined 4-6-4, thinking it would make the front page on a typically slow news day. Instead, news from Pearl Harbor completely overshadowed the train’s unveiling on December 7, 1941. The cars would long serve in Central’s Great Steel Fleet, but were eventually rebuilt for commuter service, serving on Penn Central and subsequent New York area commuter trains operated by Metro-North until being purchased by the Rochester Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, progenitors of the current museum, in 1987.

One of the Empire State Express coach interiors, as renovated during its time in Rochester. Built as 56-seat cars by Budd in 1941 by Budd, New York Central rebuilt them into 108-seart commuter coaches in 1966 as the demand for long-distance service diminished. They remained in service on Metro-North lines until 1985. The set of six coaches were purchased by Rochester Chapter NRHS in 1987 and sold to Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society in 2022. —Courtesy FWRHS

Six of the fluted stainless steel coaches were part of an order for 16 luxury coaches built specifically for the new Empire State Express, including Railway Post Office car Alonzo B. Cornell. The coaches included many modern conveniences of the era, such as air conditioning and flourescent lighting, and were originally accompanied by dining and parlor cars. Most of the cars are named in honor of past governors of New York State including 2571 Hamilton Fish; 2572 David B. Hill; and 2578 Charles Whitman.

Fort Wayne has plans to rehab each of the Empire State Express cars for regular excursion train service in the coming years. While in service in Rochester, the Railway Post Office car was used to house a HEP power generator as well as a small on-board gift shop, and will be converted into a full-service concession car by FWRHS with an estimated cost of $160,000. Coach 2571 Hamilton Fish will be converted into a parlor car, while coach 2578 Charles Whitman — previously gutted and used as a workshop in Rochester — will be converted into a dining car at an estimated cost of $250,000 each. Coaches 2566, 2567, 2568, and 2572 David B. Hill will be renovated with upgraded electrical and environmental systems as well as new restroom facilities at an estimated cost of $200,000 each.

Powered by Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 765 and restored vintage diesels, Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society began operating excursions over host Indiana Northeastern in 2022 as the “Indiana Rail Experience” running round trips over former New York Central track. This past summer, FWRHS announced the acquisition of the depot in Pleasant Lake, Ind., as part of their expanded excursion operations.

For more details or to donate, visit greatsteelfleet.org.

—Updated December 4, 2023