1930 Brill gas-mechanical motor car on the Bel-Del

I finally got around to riding the "Delaware Turtle", the 1930 Brill gas-mechanical motor car that was rebuilt by Edwards Rail Car (Mount Dora, FL) to a gas-hydraulic-mechanical motor car. Its large block Chevy 396 V-8 is connected to the original mechanical transmission by a Chevy Turbo 400 slushomatic, which is used to choose between neutral and drive. Forward or reverse is changed with great difficulty by the engineer with the mechanical transmission.

I rode the 1 PM trip on Friday August 27, and found it delightful. The engineer and conductor were, not surprisingly, very customer-friendly.

Here are links to photos of the Delaware Turtle:

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_01

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_03

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_05

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_07

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_10

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_12

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_14

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_15

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_16

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_17

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_21

http://www.subwayspot.com/gallery/album58/04_08_27_23

chuchubob wrote:I finally got around to riding the "Delaware Turtle", the 1930 Brill gas-mechanical motor car that was rebuilt by Edwards Rail Car (Mount Dora, FL) to a gas-hydraulic-mechanical motor car. Its large block Chevy 396 V-8 is connected to the original mechanical transmission by a Chevy Turbo 400 slushomatic, which is used to choose between neutral and drive. Forward or reverse is changed with great difficulty by the engineer with the mechanical transmission.

Thanks for sharing Bob. Great photos as usual. The interior is quite nice. I'm quite surprised by it. The seats actually look kind of like the unrebuilt Comet II seats- of course these aren't orange though.

Nick,

Actually the seats looked more like the original Comet I seats with the metal handle bars...The Comet II's as I can recall had the plastic handles......

Steve

njt4172 wrote:Nick,

Actually the seats looked more like the original Comet I seats with the metal handle bars...The Comet II's as I can recall had the plastic handles......

Steve

OK. I knew I recognized them from somewhere. I've never experienced the original Comet I seats or the flippable Comet II seats. Just seen them or seen pictures of them.