LIRR Passenger Cars for Sale

I stumbled upon this site while looking for a caboose to buy. Says they have over 200 old LIRR coaches for sale.

http://www.railmerchants.net/passenger/long.html

Must be a graveyard of MP72/75s somewhere. Next to the Lackawanna MUs and Reading Blueliners, they were
North America's favorite choice for tourist lines and passenger excursions.

I believe the site is very, very, out of date. I'd be surprised if there was much left in that collection by now.

A good portion (at least 50+) of the P72s/P75s ended up in Waldorf, MD back in the 2000s, but they were all scrapped (on-site, I believe) within the last 2-5 years.

RGlueck wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 8:35 pm I believe the site is very, very, out of date. I'd be surprised if there was much left in that collection by now.

You are correct. The principal (Dave Thebodo) behind Rail Merchants International is not a good communicator, something I can say based on personal experience. His website appears to be several years out of date. I believe he has brokered the sale of more cabooses and miscellaneous railroad equipment, rather than passenger cars.

John Suscheck at Ozark Mountain Railcar is much more active in the brokerage business than Dave Thebodo at Rail Merchants International.

Some of us know that Ken Bitten bought almost the entire LIRR diesel hauled passenger car fleet about 20 years ago. Since that time, these cars have been individually sold and resold; others have been scrapped. There have been many legal issues along the way, relating to things such as allegations of hazardous materials and unpaid car storage bills. As an entrepreneur, Ken took on a bold risk in making this investment. Twenty years down the tracks, did Ken make money off this enterprise? One can only wonder.

Here is my current (last updated August 2018) roster of the disposition of LIRR P72/P75 passenger cars. As always, updates are appreciated.

http://www.dominionrailvoyages.com/jhd/ ... lasses.pdf

Mr. Deasy: Thank you for the reply about this subject...

I remember that Ken Bitten had purchased the old LIRR diesel car fleet back in 1998-99
and from what I recall being told is that the LIRR leased some of these cars back during
the transitional period - the last of the old fleet was retired in Summer/Fall of 2000.

I remember spotting the cars that ended up in Waldorf, MD purely by coincidence
as MMM mentioned during a visit to friends from that area back in the early 2000s.

Many of us have taken note that some of the former LIRR cars and power units have
gone either into other subsequent services or preservation in a wide variety of places.
The 2900 series cars with their individual generators would be the most practical cars for
tourist or other rail operations. Four 2900s remained on LI - they are at RMLI in Riverhead.

Does Ken Bitten still deal in rail equipment? I agree that a purchase such as the LIRR fleet
had a risk factor. I do not believe that this sale would have happened without knowing
about the condition of the fleet or where these cars could go eventually in service.

MACTRAXX