Moffat Road Railroad Museum

1905 Passenger Coach

The car was built in 1905 by the American Car & Foundry Company, who also built the same model for David Moffat’s railroad. We are still working on the restoration; however, you may enter the empty car. The 1905 Central Vermont Passenger Car was transported from Rhode Island and arrived at the Moffat Road Railroad Museum in June 2012.

This car was one of several similarly designed cars for use in a single first class train of the period. The car, formerly No. 382, is the sole survivor of the series, having outlasted its sisters through demotion to work train service and use as a rider car with the wreck train. The car was built in 1905 by the American Car & Foundry Company, who also built the same model for David Moffat’s railroad. The car weighs 80,000 lbs. and is 90′ long. The trucks (wheels) are wood-cast and steel and weigh 16,200 pounds.

The car has a wood body and a steel under frame with truss rods. Windows are paired with a single arched pane spanning each pair of operable sash. All operable sash have storm windows. The car has a vented but enclosed clerestory, and open vestibules, which were originally closed, the original vestibule doors having long since disappeared. Most of the car remains intact including its inlaid mahogany paneling, smoking compartment and toilet compartments at each end. A single corner lavatory with its faucets and piping remains of the original plumbing fixtures.

Other original fixtures in the car include brass wire luggage racks, brass window hardware, two mirrors and a few match-striking pads in the smoking compartment. Although two upholstered walkover seats came with the car, it is doubtful that either of these is original to the car, but may be of an even earlier period as both have wooden seat frames. The car rides on its original six-wheel wood beam passenger trucks and still maintains its original draft gear and couplers. The car is equipped with air brakes.

Moffat Road Railroad Museum