Knox & Kane ping-pong coaches for sale

I heard the pings are forsale what numbers are they and how much are they selling them for?
Mike Arnold
Secratary
Twin Forks Chapter of the NRHS

if you must ask the price, you can not afford it

If the P54's are in good shape and not too heavily modified, they'd be a good investment for future steam trains on the north fork (or wherever). Lot's were bought up at the retirement date, but I'm sure not many still exist. Steamtown had a fleet of them for steam service. I wonder if Long Island companies would sponsor (buy) individual coaches for either of the steam restoration groups?

I am 21 so i would save up for it.
mike

Richard Glueck wrote:I wonder if Long Island companies would sponsor (buy) individual coaches for either of the steam restoration groups?

I like the idea very much, however, no company would invest in one of these coaches without plastering their name on the side of it. I don't think a P54 with a "Wal Mart" logo on the side would feel the same as the originals.

Oh man! If only I could photoshop a P54 with that. Walmart and Google! lol.

Didn't these things get their nick-names because they bounced around so much? I'm not sure if it was the cars, the tracks, or a joint "effort", but if it was the mechanical aspects of the cars, then I'm not so sure how great they'd be on a tourist type rail service.

I had a bad experience on Cape Cod Central with LIRR Worlds Fair coaches. I mean, I enjoyed the bouncing and rocking, but I highly doubt that many would.

They did they their nickname because the cars were known to really bounce people around; I've heard the ride in one of those coaches compared to a carnival ride. And to think people complained about the M7's swaying!

And if you ever tried to use the toilet compartment when one of those cars was moving . . . . .good luck.

You managed to go everywhere except in the hole.

Those World's Fair cars were streamlined luxury cars compared to the pings!

You felt every seam in the rails. Especially if the car was crowded and you were standing in the vestibule.

Another treat was traveling over the crossover switches at Union Hall Street. You'd swear the wheels just fell off!

In the summer, you tried to open the windows. If yours opened, you were lucky. That was your air supply. There were ceiling fans in the cars but they were not in operation very much.

If you sat next to an open window and the car hit a bump, the window would come down and trap your arm if you had it sticking outside the car!

It dropped like a guillotine!

Here's a ping at Patchogue in 1954. The PELCO plant is in the background:




Dave Keller

I believe they have a minimum of 5 P-54s, here is a photo I found of one in service:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=78136

Plus there's a bunch of them sitting derelict on a siding in Boonton NJ. They've been there for ages, windows painted over, etc. Any idea what the plan was for them and why they were brough to Boonton in the first place?

Why were the LIRR World's fair cars retired so early?

Plus there's a bunch of them sitting derelict on a siding in Boonton NJ. They've been there for ages, windows painted over, etc. Any idea what the plan was for them and why they were brough to Boonton in the first place?

They were used as a mall for a while, but are now abandoned.
Here is how they looked in 1978. (And check out that spelling!)
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=74658

If it's true that the Knox & Kane pings are for sale, they are probably the remaining pings in the best condition. They are still in operable condition and would require little restoration to make them look like they did when the LIRR had them.

That being said, the cost to return them to Long Island would be astronomical. They have riveted trucks, and would not be able to be brought by rail to Long Island. They would either have to be trucked, which would involve two crane moves, lots of overweight permits, and a vary large trucking bill. This doesn't even count the cost of purchasing the car(s) from the Knox & Kane.

Once here, the dream as someone said of them moving on the LIRR on the North Fork is a pipe dream at best. Once again, those riveted trucks will be prohibited to move on the LIRR. I heard a couple of problems with the trucks breaking down on LIRR in the 1970's was one of the reasons they were decommissioned so rapidly.

Th best thing to do, if the museums wished to get them, would be to get one as a static display. Any more would be cost-prohibitive and would have nowhere to run them.

As for the Boonton cars (this discussion rears it ugly head every once in awhile), they are basket cases, are basically totally gutted and are landlocked. The owner was going to convert them to part of his restaurant, but when realizing what's involved to convert a railroad car into a food establishment today, he probably thought better of it.

Jay

Yes, it would be an expensive undertaking to either put them on trucks or load onto flat cars. (purchase price, crane operators, personel, etc.)
Shame they couldn't be easily re-trucked like a locomotive to come by rail.

The Boonton cars are worse, they haven't turned a wheel since leaving LI and are gutted on the inside.

Even retrucking causes problems, as all the Class 1s would have a major problem moving equipment that is that old. It would definitely be considered a hospital move, which would cost upwards of $50+ per mile.

The brakes are also outdated and not suitable for interchange as well.

Jay