Osgood Bradley “American Flyer” Cars

Thanks to my trusty 126 Instamatic! A 1974 photo, hope it helps!
http://trainspot.rrpicturearchives.net/ ... id=4485585

Yes! Thanks: http://www.trainsarefun.com/lirr/Osgood ... radley.htm

Kelly&Kelly wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 8:19 pm My memories match Tom Doyle's above. The cars had very tall windows that were tinted green. They had balloon roofs and were very structurally sound cars.

LIRR P74B #7547 (Votava-Boland)

workextra wrote: ↑Thu May 28, 2020 12:12 am Hi, does anyone have Interior photos of these cars when in service on the LIRR and also when they were inservcie for the B&M.
While in LI service, we’re they all coaches with their original B&M seats?
If I’m not mistaken, I think the LI may have put the same flooring down as on the modified P72s and MP54s at the time. Did they also change the seats?
Also does anyone know how the cars AC work?
Thanks.

Workextra:

I see you have many detailed questions here.

I'll try to provide a few answers based on my experience as an owner of three (2 Budd + 1 Pullman) lightweight passenger cars since 1987.

I recommend you find a copy of the Official Pullman-Standard Library, Volume 10. It covers NH, B&M, MEC, BAR, Erie, DL&W, LV and LIRR lightweight passenger cars. Builder's exterior/interior photos, floor plans, technical information, etc. These "American Flyer" cars that LIRR acquired from B&M and BAR are in that volume.

You may want to look at my LIRR Parlor Cars website, which also covers the lightweight cars that LIRR acquired "second hand" from B&M, BAR and other railroads. Here is a direct link to that page: http://www.dominionrailvoyages.com/jhd/lirr/page4.html

Electrical: 32 VDC and 64 VDC were the most common electrical systems in that era. An axle driven ("Spicer drive") generator (or a belt driven generator) produced DC to charge the car's DC storage batteries and provide power for lighting and mechanical air conditioning. The car operated off the batteries. Special light bulbs to provide the correct wattage illumination at 32 or 64 volts. Air conditioning compressor motor, condenser fan motor and blower fan motor were DC motors operating at battery voltage; heavier gauge wiring was used to handle the higher amperage needed at lower DC voltage. Some passenger cars had a device to produce a small amount of 110 VAC power from lower voltage DC power, for things such as an electrical shaver outlet in a toilet annex/restroom. Some cars with higher electrical loads had their own self-contained power supply, with a diesel generator system, or a propane fueled Waukesha engine-generator unit; some cars had a Waukesha “ice engine” to power the air conditioning system.

Plumbing: Usually a pressurized water system, with potable water storage tank(s) under the car, pressurized with reduced pressure regulated air drawn off the air brake line. Potable water storage tank(s) were protected from freezing by steam heat. The only place I recall an interior overhead water tank that could operate on gravity was in the kitchen of a dining car and the kitchen of a business car.

Air: Lower pressure air was used to pressurize the plumbing system, for supplying water to toilets and sinks. On some other railroads, pressurized air was also used to operate end doors. When Amtrak converted their DC/battery/steam cars to 480 VAC HEP, they converted the communicating signal air line to the main reservoir air line.

Jhdeasy,
Thanks for your input. That’s the direction I was going.
I’ll look for the PS publication.

In 1969-1970, I was a reverse commuter, catching a westbound at Hicksville for a speedy ride to Jamaica. If memory is correct, I would sometimes stand in an American Flyer bar car, which I mistakenly thought was from the New Haven. The ceiling lights had square covers, as I knew from the NYNH& Hartford. The photo previous on this thread is ten or fifteen years older, perhaps 1950, in some piece of equipment from a LIRR train in steam territory. I remember those light fixtures and the cardboard signs that could be turned, either "No Smoking" or "Smoking permitted." Of course, memory is not dependable.
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bellstbarn wrote: ↑Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:11 am In 1969-1970, I was a reverse commuter, catching a westbound at Hicksville for a speedy ride to Jamaica. If memory is correct, I would sometimes stand in an American Flyer bar car, which I mistakenly thought was from the New Haven. The ceiling lights had square covers, as I knew from the NYNH& Hartford.
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Although LIRR’s “American Flyer” cars were acquired from B&M and BAR, the New Haven owned 170 “American Flyer” cars, so it would be easy to be mistaken as to the previous owner of the LIRR cars.

Pullman also built similar cars for Frisco, KCS, LV and SAL.