LIRR Old Diesel Interiors

Everyone: I saw the topic here about interiors and I had to put my two cents in. I remember the diesel car interiors well. Dick Makse's shot perfectly illustrates this before the 80s overhauls: Does anyone remember that 2854 was the first car redone with the M1 seats,carpet on the walls and the center partition in I recall 1982? I recall the old seats facing the car ends 50/50 style with the words STATIONARY SEATS stenciled above the windows. I also recall the end doors that you would have to manhandle sometime. Scope mentions getting a "hot foot"-it happened to me also-I dozed off once with my left sneaker on the heating duct-I woke up to notice the rubber was beginning to melt. I remember the bulbs used in the vestibules for a time had a warning sticker that said "Attention bulb snatchers: this bulb will not work on household current" with a cartoon character of a bulb with a face sticking his tongue out at the thief trying to steal it-it had a meatball M in the corner. I always liked the door decals with the drawings of the Empire State Building and the Montauk Lighthouse. Dave-Good KO shots in your post also. Memories and observations from MACTRAXX

Here is a P54 coach interior I shot just before they disappeared from service.

Nice shot, Dick!

You younger guys: notice the top right of the car, just below the interior-painted car number. The sign says "Smoking". There's a sliding piece of metal over the word "NO."

If the car was to be a non-smoker, one of the train crew would slide the cover to the left to reveal the entire phrase "NO SMOKING."

If the car was to be a smoker, as this one was, the slide would cover the word "NO."

It replaced the old style sign that either said "SMOKING PERMITTED" or "SMOKING PROHIBITED." The "Permitted" and "Prohibited" were usually very hard to see from a distance and looked very similar so that style sign was replaced with this one.

Also notice the handles I had mentioned in another post for flipping the seat-backs. Also notice the slots visible at the tops of the seats in which commuters stuck their tickets and in which the train crew would stick the color-coded seat checks.

Dave

Were the P54's overhauled? It looks like that one had been overhauled in the 1940's!

The overhauling or "modernization" program began in December, 1954.

A number of cars were not overhauled and retained their original road numbers until taken out of service.

Those that were overhauled were renumbered and also given a "modernization number" in a round circle alongside the car doors. These numbers DID NOT correspond with the car number but were, I believe, representative of the order in which that individual car was "modernized."

And a major overhauling project it was!!!

The P54 cars were renumbered with a "7" preceding their original road number, therefore Dick Glueck's car was originally #129, becoming car #7129.

Dave

Like many commuter cars, these were painted with a cream color, having alternating black and white asbestos tile in a checked pattern for flooring. The cream paint became stained brown from the amount of tobacco smoke that would fill these cars, and it wasn't unusual to have some nicotine addict stand up in a car (if he wanted to smoke) and simply slide the metal piece over the word "NO" and then light up to the detriment of everyone else in the car. I recall riding home with my Dad one night and smelling like an ashtray at the close of the trip. Makes me sick to think about it now.
Also note the window shades. These were either grey or green, and were scientifically designed to jam part way down or up, whichever way you didn't need it.
Alongside the deiling edge, and just above the luggage racks were all manner of advertisements from appliances to funeral homes. It must have generated considerable revenue, because each car was regularly posted with that stuff.
The numerals inside were red paint. The vestibule platforms were legendary, being featured in the LIRR classic book, "Change at Jamaica". Occassionally, they also appeared in MAD Magazine. This car is a classic "ping pong". For those who don't remember them, there were literally hundreds of them, and at least one should be preserved as a static exhibit if not an active piece of rolling stock. We older historians (right Dave?) will tell you that these were the backbone of the fleet from 1908 until 1970. They wore several paint schemes and are THE single coach design most often associated with the LIRR.

Yes, Dick . . . They were the mainstay of the fleet. I used to get a kick out of the ones with the old-style ceiling fans and the decorative (and very yellowed) glass globes over the interior ceiling lights.

And . . . many of those adverts on the car walls were taken down to be used as lapboards by the veteran card players on their commutes in and out of the city.

It became such a problem, that the MTA actually had lapboards printed and handed out on the trains for the card players, so they would leave the advertising posters alone!!!

Welding the seats in all one direction put a real damper on those card players, who would fight for the center of the car where there were only 2 sets of seats actually facing each other any more (one set on each side of the car).

Dave