More Ping Pongs

[newkirk]

1) Restaurant at the old Water Mill station. I heard this car is gone. Can anyone confirm ?
2) Harbormasters office at Sag Harbor. Is this car still there ?
3) #921 by the L.I.E. before being used as a tourism office.

[Crabman1130]

The Water Mill car is gone.

[railfaned]

I'd like to add my 1976 pings at Mitchel Field and at Montauk. 1632 and 1391 were at Mitchel Field and 921 and 1900 were at Montauk.

1391 at Mitchel Field
LIRR 19760007.jpg (1.72 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

1632 at Mitchel Field
LIRR 19760008.jpg (1.61 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

1632 at Mitchel Field
LIRR 19760009.jpg (1.69 MiB) Viewed 2120 times

[railfaned]

The Montauk Pings in1976.

921 at Montauk
LIRR 19760033.jpg (1.73 MiB) Viewed 2113 times

1900 at Montauk
LIRR 19760034.jpg (1.53 MiB) Viewed 2113 times

[MACTRAXX]

RF (Ed):
The pictures that you posted were of the two 1976 LIRR Bicentennial exhibit trains:
Two MP54 MU cars for Nassau County and two ping-pong coaches for Suffolk County.

The Nassau County train had two MP54 MU cars -
the majority of LIRR NC routes being electrified.

The Suffolk County train was two ping-pong coaches.
In 1976 there were only six SC stations that were in
electrified territory: Amityville-Babylon along with
Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington.

The cars contained historical exhibits about both counties and the LIRR.
The Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter of the NRHS as example was involved
in this 1976 Bicentennial project...MACTRAXX

[newkirk]

Three photos of arch roof "ping pongs" at the former flea market at the Boonton, NJ station.
The property owner of whom I spoke with, had trouble with local youths setting fire and hanging in in some of the cars.
He decided to have all the cars scrapped on site and even tried to reach out for some museum to take them away for free, but there were no takers.

[ConstanceR46]

First time hearing about the Sag Harbor one - I don't think it remains, however.

[railfaned]

Having left Long Island over 7 years ago, I was wondering what the status of the Ping in Port Jeff Sta on Rte 347 and Rte 112?

[Pensyfan19]

Having left Long Island over 7 years ago, I was wondering what the status of the Ping in Port Jeff Sta on Rte 347 and Rte 112?

LIRR 1398 is alive and well thank you very much. I pass by it almost all the time, but I can't find any recent images of it.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=4160818

[MACTRAXX]

Having left Long Island over 7 years ago, I was wondering what the status of the Ping in Port Jeff Sta on Rte 347 and Rte 112?

LIRR 1398 is alive and well thank you very much. I pass by it almost all the time, but I can't find any recent images of it.

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=4160818

RF and PF: The Port Jefferson Station car #1398 is a MP54 MU combine.
This car is NOT a "ping pong". This topic actually shows the distinct differences
between MP54 cars (the Nassau County 1976 Bicentennial cars) and the "pings".

"Ping Pong" cars had round roofs W/a line of vents along with minimal trucks.
MP54 MU cars (Ex: the NC and PJ cars) had chlestory roofs (primarily) and had
larger motorized trucks. MP54 cars are PRR designed - third rail and overhead
catenary versions on LIRR and PRR electrified routes respectively.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRR_MP54

Remember - "Ping Pongs" got their nickname because they were lighter and
smaller than either MU motors or heavyweight cars when they were used in
trains because they tended to "bounce around" in service between heavier cars.

MACTRAXX

[railfaned]

Remember - "Ping Pongs" got their nickname because they were lighter and
smaller than either MU motors or heavyweight cars when they were used in
trains because they tended to "bounce around" in service between heavier cars.

As a teenager in the early 60's I would hang out at the Bayside Station around 4:55 in the evening and watch the Great Neck express speed through. It was an all MP54/Ping train, and yes the pings would really sway from side to side.
Some years later, I think it was around 1969, I was on a west bound express that had a ping hop the track just west of Flushing.
Yet still more memories in the early 70's I commuted from Ronkonkoma, on cold mornings the Suffolk pings having belt driven generators to charge the old batteries, would have dim lights and no heat until the train got moving.
I was told that those cars could be converted for electric service, though, I don't know if the LIRR ever did convert any.

[ConstanceR46]

I think some were - not sure if it was a ping but i remember a LIRR car that was converted from steam to electric trailer service than back to loco-haulage

[photobug56]

I don't know what a Ping is, but I started commuting out of East Northport by 1993 on the old rust buckets, some with engine/generators hanging under the cars, some lit and heated by the 'power packs'. The former sort of worked when someone remembered to fill up their tanks, but the heat was horrible down by the floor (and I think the window bottoms). You could easily melt a shoe if it touched those heaters, but with no insulation in the car wall you'd broil your feet and freeze your torso and head. And they were not fun in summer, either. When the experimental BITANIC (Japanese double decker with a beautifully built FL9AC on each end) went into service (with senior Conductor Peter Walsh usually in charge), they could be far more comfortable when everything was working. Between horrible maintenance including failure to replace the worn out emergency batteries (until I made a huge fit about it to LIRR Manglement), doors constantly broke, lights failed, AC units had clogged drains that would leave the vestibules flooded at times, along with the experimental magnetic inter car wiring connectors (eventually replaced with conventional wiring), plus the tendency of the inverters to fry, it was often out of service. It didn't help that only 2 of the 3 engines were usable, so if one of the 2 died, the train got pulled.

One Friday, on a M3 into Huntington, we were told that the line to PJ was closed for no known reason, that we would have 2 or 3 school buses to carry all E/B passengers the rest of the way, I just waited on the platform to see what would happen, figuring that I'd eventually call my wife for pickup. Then I heard a loud train horn blast from the East, and I suddenly realized the Bitanic was speeding westbound (for weekend repairs), when it was apparently put into emergency, stopping about half way past the station. Peter Walsh had figured out that a lot of passengers had been stranded by the mystery outage. He got the train all the way into the station, opened up every car that had workable doors and AC, loaded up and went back East all the way to PJ, eventually taking the train back West for the needed repairs.

Finally the new C3 plus DE or DM fleet sharted showing up (after focus groups worked on the coach interior but then had most of their recommendations reversed on them), roomy but painful seats and all, and the Bitanic was sold off and / or scrapped. Why they scrapped the historic locos I've got no clue.

[RGlueck]

Photobug, the Pings were long gone as operating cars during the times you described. Pig pongs were steam heated passenger cars of 1908-1914 vintage, and they were hauled but steam and later Diesel locomotives at one end. They were reliable old beasts, but long outlived their days of quality operation. A few remain on various tourist roads, and the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum has one in good condition.
The FL9s were ex-New Haven locomotives which got spread around the northeast after the Pen Central folded up and blew into the wind. Those FL9's got rebuilt six ways from Sunday, and a few remain in service, while most survivors remain in museums. The specific FL9's you wrote about may have suffered massive failures or simply gave up the ghost. When the powers that be finally condemned them, they were lined up and methodically taken to the torch. At the time the New Haven was absorbed into the Penn Central, the FL9's were nearly beaten to death and divided up by the state of Connecticut, the MTA, Amtrak, and PC. They were about the newest passenger power available at the time, and having prime mover/generator capability a well as 3rd rail, made them unique for New York city service.
Thus endeth the lesson.

[MACTRAXX]

Everyone: The last "ping pong" coaches were retired in the middle 1970s.

Most of the old MU fleet was retired when the M1 cars came to the LIRR.
The "lone holdout" was the West Hempstead Branch - which was the last
to get high level platforms in 1973 completing the MU fleet conversion.

They were replaced by the conversion of the Pullman-Standard MP72/MP72T and MP75
"zip" cars from MU to diesel hauled cars along with the "power packs" during the early
1970s that were displaced by the 770 car M1 MU fleet (built late 1968 to 1972).
The MP72/72T cars were built in 1955-56 and the MP75 cars in 1963.

PB: The cars you remember: 2900 series that had their own individual power plants.
They were converted during the second half of the 1970s from steam to electric heat.

Going off topic - the C1 cars were an experimental group of 10 cars built by the
Tokyu Car Company of Japan. These cars had 3/2 seating and MU car end couplers.
There were three FL9 locomotives rebuilt (300,301,302) for use W/this prototype train.
MACTRAXX