LIRR P72 coaches... where'd they go?

I live in Illinois, I know a fellow retired LIRR Conductor who belongs to a group that is involved. One of these days Ill hop over to indiana and visit him and our old "friends"...only 157 miles away.
Here are some more ex lirr coaches in Georgia..

http://brscenic.com/
Ex Zip car, worlds fair car, the third coach. You can even see the emergency escape windows The LIRR put in. They are the windows with the lighter blue around the frame.

Ex 72's even looks like the old watch the gap sign is still in the round window on the door.

They destroyed it!
Well not that bad, At least it's still in service!
I wonder how the floors are holding up with the open interior with no window?
Here is a video on you tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5PlvIEB ... re=related

That blue with gold pinstripe has a real Wabash feel to it. Wabash was a PRR subsidiary like LIRR, and ran a fairly passenger-intensive operation up to and through the N&W/WAB/NKP consolidation. At that point, N&W and NKP ran few if any passenger trains.

Good to see them in good shape in Wabash blue.

workextra wrote:They destroyed it!
Well not that bad, At least it's still in service!
I wonder how the floors are holding up with the open interior with no window?

Although it is not a former LIRR class P72 coach, the former LIRR 2182 coach (originally a DL&W Phoebe Snow coach) is now an open air sightseeing car (GMSR 37 NANTAHELA) on the Great Smoky Mountains Railway in North Carolina.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1944166
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=557149
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=557148

I just came across more P72's for sale as well as old NJT comets. Here is the website, http://www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/ They are offered @ $17,000ea for P72's. It says in the description coaches, parlor cars, bar cars are avaliable. The comets are $70,000 Ea (trailers) and cabs are $70,000ea. There are 3 cabs and 8 trailers. Here are the pics.

$60,000 more for the Comets?!!

Thats what the ad says.

98% of the P72s that left LI were total pieces of s#%^. Hence, there cheap.

Ðauntless wrote:98% of the P72s that left LI were total pieces of s#%^. Hence, there cheap.

Well the Comets were literally cracking from the loads it took. I would rather take a P72 and cross my fingers then spend $60,000 more.

I would take the P72's too. Never got to ride one when they were running on LI as they were retiring them. I did see them run though as I lived on the Montauk Branch and when I would go to the city.

As said by others, most of the p-72's were in pretty bad shape towards the end. They were becoming rust buckets, especially after the decision was made to go with the bi-levels. I suppose their attitude was why bother maintaining equipment that was to be retired.
Even when Gabreski was President, he made a comment in the media about the diesel equipment, "Some of it looks like its been around since the Boer war" ( That was 1899). Leave it to a military man to come up with a comment like that.
The only exception was the Equipment that went to Long Island City. Most of the LIC trains made one round trip a day, one in, and one back, and sat in the yard all day. That equipment was very well maintained and in good shape. Most of it was the old Conventional equipment with the non-electric doors.

I think the question of which car (retired LIRR P72/P75 or retired NJ Transit Comet car) represents better value to a propsective owner/operator depends on how they intend to use the car.

For some, the x-LIRR car may be a good starting point. It may be easier to work on (especially metal work) than the Comet. I would inspect closely for corrosion deterioration, especially collision posts, side sills and structural members.

For others, the Comet car represents a more advanced starting point. For example, they are wired for 480 VAC 3 phase HEP. That makes them electrically compatible with many sources of HEP and other HEP'd passengers cars. It would be costly to create the identical electrical capability in the LIRR cars. As a negative, I do not like the small windows in these cars.

For what its worth, to date no x-LIRR P72/P75 has attained the status of an Amtrak or Via certified private car.

There were some pretty good photos posted of the restoration of HVRM's P72, and they show extensive metal work done to replace rusty side panels. If you think it's a bargain at $17k, remember you've got a year of metal repair to do or $20-30k worth of contracting just to get the side panels from disintegrating. That doesn't address making sure the wheels turn, brakes stop, lights turn on, doors open, etc...

Someone's making a few bucks. The Long Island sold them for $2,000 each.

The LIRR probably got ripped off for the cars OR the new owners are selling them for a huge mark up on the cost.
What would a railroad value the cars at today? (to operate)
what would a scrap dealer value them at today? (to recycle)