January 27, 2009
History of the Business Car #7

Ted Church had expressed an interest in purchasing an NYC office car to friend (and MR&NKP member) George Payne. In about 1971 or 1972 George learned through the infamous grapevine railfans are privy to that there was a NYC car stored at Fort Monmouth, NJ. It seems that the mayor of Red Bank, NJ, a town adjacent to the fort, had purchased the car from Penn Central and had obtained permission from General Foster, the general commanding Fort Monmouth, who was also a railfan, to store it on the base. General Foster also gave permission for the car to be hauled to wherever the mayor wanted when he decided to use it as a hunting or vacation facility. The general allowed noncommissioned officers (sergeants) to live in mobile homes on-base and was easily convinced that railroad cars were just heavy mobile homes. A number of retired PC coaches had been converted into apartment units (2 in each car) for senior NCO housing.

When George told Ted about this, he was sent to check it out, which he and Marcia did. After reporting back to Ted and armed with pictures, Ted and Sarah purchased the car, had a COT&S done on it and rode the car home. It came off the Shore Line, through Oak Island, and then on to Erie on Penn Central. The car was stored on the East Erie Commercial Railroad. Later the car was shipped to Georgia where it served as Ted and Sarah's winter home for several years before coming to Bellevue and our museum. This dead-head trip is one that Dennis Brandal rode and I'm sure he has some fond memories of the time he spent coming home.

By the time the car arrived in Bellevue, Ted and Sarah were getting to the point where they couldn't do much manual labor any more, so they asked Bill to manage their fleet of cars. He handled the mechanical updates, leases, etc. on all of their cars from then on. We were fortunate enough to be able to use the #7 on a few of our excursion trains and Ted & Sarah proudly rode with us, answering many questions in their knowledgeable way. Upon Ted's passing the car was left to the museum. Unfortunately, for the last several years of Ted's life he didn't want to spend much money on fixing up #7 as he saw little possibility of leasing it and recouping his investment. It has deteriorated some, however is still very solid and is basically in need of some TLC.

Carl Nourse from Delaware, Ohio has reached an agreement with the museum for a temporary lease, taking the car to his facility and giving it a bit of a face lift. Nothing historical will be altered. The main plan is some deep cleaning and cosmetic repairs. In a few years, at the end of his lease, it will be returned to the museum , along with TSCX 5688, the Roaring Camp, which he has also leased and made significant improvements to.

Thanks Carl for helping keep Ted & Sarah's dream of having the #7 on display here in Bellevue alive. Eventually when it its returned we will be proud to show it off in all it's splendor.

By Ruth Fuehring with info supplied by George Payne.

Additional pictures of the interior of the business car.