Owning a set of LIRR M3's

MTA has been using Frontier industries a scrapper in Ohio.

Cinelli Iron & Metal Co. in Jersey won bids in he past also. They scrapped the MP54's and some of the later cars in Corona and Coney Island.

Will keep those scrappers in mind. I am going to wait until the M3's start rolling off long island and than try and get a better deal going through the scrap metal dealer for the M3's instead of going through the LIRR.

Not sure what the current status is, but 9771 (the original M3) was cut off from it's pair car for 9869 after 9870 was destroyed. So that is just a single car at this point.

It's not unheard of to have a private citizen buy old transit/commuter cars. There's a woods full of PCC's somewhere and it seems like half the old South Shore fleet is rotting in peoples' front yards. That said, it's A HUGE MONEY PIT to move and maintain such assets. I recently visited the Forney museum of transport in Denver. Even given a healthy endowment, there was quite a lot of stuff in bad/middling repair. The above mentioned old South Shore cars and PCC's are typically rotting or terribly rotted.

Even if you have the purchase price and full maintenance/transport money - and we're talking something like $25k to buy, $25k+++ to move, and $5k/yr to maintain (nevermind a $50k shed to cover), the money and efforts are best spent at a local museum. IRM is arguably the nation's top museum in terms of volume of stock, operating ability, and funding, and they still need plenty of money and hands to help out. Consider also the sad examples of the well-funded preservationist like the owner of E&LS. Someone stole his BLW Sharknose builders' plates so he hid the engines forever along with a few other passenger cars. Now he's old or passed away and their future is uncertain. Significant railcars/engines are a treasure, a dynamic statement of culture, art, progress, and commerce.

I don't want to rain on your parade - I can see you love this hobby and I do, too - but consider the commitment. Even if you have lots of funds and time, it's most responsible to help somewhere like DRM or Seashore so all can see/ride a well-preserved asset at an institution set up to do so perpetually.

In addition to 9946, you don't want 9945 either, those of course are the Colin Ferguson cars which used to be 9892 and 9893.

9771 of course is the original M3, and I was looking at the other numbers and saw 9770, and I'm thinking that's a M1 car, the last.

In addition to that, does anyone know what the current status is on M7 #7001?

Peanut1: I recommend you download and read this booklet. http://www.aaprco.com/ownership/AAPRCO_intro_v26.pdf It was prepared by the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) to educate people, like yourself, who are considering purchasing one or more passenger cars for private use.

Purchasing a set of M-3 cars and then operating them somewhere becomes more complicated because they are also self-propelled cars, they have transit couplers, and they don't have traps with folding stairs for boarding/detraining.

After the DL&W electric multiple unit cars were retired by NJ Transit and widely dispersed among many new owners, I remember the FRA enforced locomotive regulations until the new owners of these cars operating in excursion service removed the traction motors from their car(s). That would not apply to non-operating units on static display.

The only possible use for such cars, particularly if you are a sole owner, is to have them in your back yard, or as a camp, or as a museum piece. Owning them as running vehicles is almost 100% out of the question. I would suggest you check out Youtube's "The Man with a Train in his Basement", and another one about a guy with a Diesel cab in his bathroom. Then there' the guy with an F unit cab in the basement. It's all good, but it's difficult, requires planning, and resources. I would think the VIA car in the basement is not beyond this gentleman's quest, and it's pretty cool, but doing it implies you are good with carpentry, have talent and vision. Without those, you have so many pounds of junk. Snagging a cab set up would be pretty easy, assuming the scrapper is agreeable.

MattAmity90 wrote:In addition to 9946, you don't want 9945 either, those of course are the Colin Ferguson cars which used to be 9892 and 9893.

9771 of course is the original M3, and I was looking at the other numbers and saw 9770, and I'm thinking that's a M1 car, the last.

In addition to that, does anyone know what the current status is on M7 #7001?

You got the numbering system wrong, LIRR starts with 01(thus 01-02; 03-04, etc). 9771 was paired with 9772, and 9770 was an M1.


And what about M7 7001? Last I checked it is somewhere between the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic.

Okay, what's the story about the M7 #7001 and the ocean?

RGlueck wrote:Okay, what's the story about the M7 #7001 and the ocean?

If it's between the Sound and the Atlantic then it's on LI.

SwingMan wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote:In addition to 9946, you don't want 9945 either, those of course are the Colin Ferguson cars which used to be 9892 and 9893.

9771 of course is the original M3, and I was looking at the other numbers and saw 9770, and I'm thinking that's a M1 car, the last.

In addition to that, does anyone know what the current status is on M7 #7001?

You got the numbering system wrong, LIRR starts with 01(thus 01-02; 03-04, etc). 9771 was paired with 9772, and 9770 was an M1.


And what about M7 7001? Last I checked it is somewhere between the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic.

I know the numbering system:

M1:#9001-#9770
M3:#9771-#9946 (#9945 and #9946 are the Colin Ferguson cars #9891/#9893? and #9892)
M7:#7001-#7836
C1: #4000 Series?
C3: #5001-?
DC30's: #401-#5??
I wonder what the M9 cars will be numbered? I know it won't be in the #9000 series.

Nice riddle by the way!

RGlueck wrote:The only possible use for such cars, particularly if you are a sole owner, is to have them in your back yard, or as a camp, or as a museum piece. Owning them as running vehicles is almost 100% out of the question. I would suggest you check out Youtube's "The Man with a Train in his Basement", and another one about a guy with a Diesel cab in his bathroom. Then there' the guy with an F unit cab in the basement. It's all good, but it's difficult, requires planning, and resources. I would think the VIA car in the basement is not beyond this gentleman's quest, and it's pretty cool, but doing it implies you are good with carpentry, have talent and vision. Without those, you have so many pounds of junk. Snagging a cab set up would be pretty easy, assuming the scrapper is agreeable.

These cars were in fact going to be for static display, I was thinking of doing one married pair and seeing if there is an unmarried car available and using the unmarried car for my HO scale model train layout. They weren't going to be used for travel purposes or anything like that.

jhdeasy wrote:Peanut1: I recommend you download and read this booklet. http://www.aaprco.com/ownership/AAPRCO_intro_v26.pdf It was prepared by the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) to educate people, like yourself, who are considering purchasing one or more passenger cars for private use.

Purchasing a set of M-3 cars and then operating them somewhere becomes more complicated because they are also self-propelled cars, they have transit couplers, and they don't have traps with folding stairs for boarding/detraining.

After the DL&W electric multiple unit cars were retired by NJ Transit and widely dispersed among many new owners, I remember the FRA enforced locomotive regulations until the new owners of these cars operating in excursion service removed the traction motors from their car(s). That would not apply to non-operating units on static display.

I will take a look at the link, these cars were going to be used for static display only.

MattAmity90 wrote:

SwingMan wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote:In addition to 9946, you don't want 9945 either, those of course are the Colin Ferguson cars which used to be 9892 and 9893.

9771 of course is the original M3, and I was looking at the other numbers and saw 9770, and I'm thinking that's a M1 car, the last.

In addition to that, does anyone know what the current status is on M7 #7001?

You got the numbering system wrong, LIRR starts with 01(thus 01-02; 03-04, etc). 9771 was paired with 9772, and 9770 was an M1.


And what about M7 7001? Last I checked it is somewhere between the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic.

I know the numbering system:

M1:#9001-#9770
M3:#9771-#9946 (#9945 and #9946 are the Colin Ferguson cars #9891/#9893? and #9892)
M7:#7001-#7836
C1: #4000 Series?
C3: #5001-?
DC30's: #401-#5??
I wonder what the M9 cars will be numbered? I know it won't be in the #9000 series.

Nice riddle by the way!

With the M7 series the numbers stop at 7836, I thought the M7 series went in the 79's?