| Budd 1949...Ex-MARC 142, exx-SEMTA 112 Pleasant Ridge, exxx-PC/PRR coach 1537, nee-PRR 21 roomette sleeper 8258 Franklin Inn. Owned by National Railway Historical Society.In 1963, the Pennsylvania Railroad needed coaches to replace an aging fleet of P-70 coaches for the Northeast Corridor. Additional cars would also be needed for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Work on converting fifty of the Inn-series cars into coach lounges began on April 3, 1963 and was completed by December of that year by the Budd Company. With the rebuild, the cars were designated as Class P85L coaches. Forty-eight of the cars had 64 coach seats and a small, twelve-seat lounge at the end opposite the vestibule, and were renumbered 1500-1547. Two of the cars had 64 coach seats with a six-seat snack bar lounge; these were numbered 1548 and 1549. Southeast Michigan Transportation Authority, SEMTA purchased 12 of the 1500 series cars, in 1976, rehabbed them at Mechtron Industries in Wilmington, DE after the cars came to Detroit (and were stored in Windsor, Ontario before the purchase), and were used in SEMTA commuter service on the Grand Trunk Western until Oct., 1983. In 1984 SEMTA leased these cars to Metro North (MN). At some time after that the Michigan Dept. of Transportation took over ownership of the cars, and the lease, until MN no longer needed the cars.last saw service as a commuter car, rebuilt for MARC train service, serving as part of MARC's Heritage Fleet. MARC applied the former PRR name to the car in 1994, at the time when they went through major rebuilding of the fleet. The MARC Heritage fleet cars were retired from service in 2001 and were stored at MARC’s facility in Brunswick, MD. In November 2008, MARC passed title to the National Railway Historical Society, Washington, D.C. Chapter, Inc (DCNRHS). The car was released to the NRHS Chapter in early August 2009. |