As part of the 100 Year Anniversary of Grand Central Terminal, the Grand Centennial Parade of Trains will take place May 11-12, 2013 from 10am until 4pm at historic Grand Central Terminal. ELDCPS will have a booth inside Vanderbilt Hall featuring our dining car reproductions, books, videos and other interesting items! Please stop by and visit us during this amazing two-day event featuring historic train cars (including MTA Metro North's two former-Phoebe Snow Tavern-Lounge cars), model trains, railroadiana, performances and kids events.
Leadership Lackawanna is northeastern Pennsylvania's premier leadership and professional development program for emerging professionals, and they have selected ELDCPS and Diner 469 as their 2013 "core" group project. Leadership Lackawanna will assist ELDCPS in our marketing and fundraising, and will organize and host a launch event for Diner 469 in early June. The Leadership Lackawanna name for the project is "The Phoebe Snow Diner". We look forward to working with this fantastic group to bring the dinner in the diner experience back to the Friendly Service Route!
Just a few months after DL&W Diner 469 returned home to Scranton, our other two dining cars, Erie Lackawanna 741 and Erie Lackawanna 770, have now arrived in Scranton.
Diners 741 and 770 departed Kansas City, MO on the afternoon of July 9, 2012. Norfolk Southern delivered the cars to the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad in Portland, PA on July 17, and the DL delivered the cars to Scranton later that night.
The cars will soon be moved to our Maple Grove worksite in Scranton.
We would like to express our gratitude to Norfolk Southern and Delaware-Lackawanna for delivering these two cars back home where they belong.
More details about the move will be posted soon.
Former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Diner 469, built in 1949 for The Phoebe Snow, has arrived at our Maple Grove worksite in Scranton, PA! 40 years after the car was sold by the Erie Lackawanna, the car has returned home.
The car was picked up from its former home in Collierville, TN last week by Norfolk Southern, and arrived at the Delaware-Lackawanna interchange in Portland, PA on 4/17/12. After overnighting on home rails in downtown Scranton, the D-L spotted the car to Maple Grove on the afternoon of 4/18/12.
The car is in excellent physical and mechanical condition, and we will now compile a punch-list on what needs to happen to make the car operational. After a thorough clean-up, some kitchen work, and a return into Lackawanna colors, Diner 469 will soon become our first dining car to enter service.
To help raise the funds needed to get the car painted and operational, we are selling reproductions of the famous Phoebe Snow pattern china used on the car. We have also started the DL&W 469 Club, a special fundraising program for premium donations. Visit the Diner 469 page more more information.
ELDCPS has entered into a lease agreement for a secure location to continue working on our cars in Scranton. Nicknamed "Maple Grove" after the surrounding trees (and a tongue-in-cheek nod to Amtrak's Beech Grove car repair shops), this industry track is located in South Scranton. This new location offers us improved access to our equipment, lots of parking, and space to work. ELDCPS volunteers have been working hard to return this previously out-of-service track back into service. For the latest updates, visit our Members Blog.
ELDCPS has partnered with Capital One to introduce the ELDCPS Capital One Visa Credit Card. As part of Capital One's Affinity Program, ELDCPS will automatically receive a percentage of all purchases made with the card. ELDCPS receives 2% from purchases at gas stations and major grocery stores, 10% from select merchants, and 1% from all other purchases. Select from three EL images for your card design.
All proceeds earned by ELDCPS through this program will go towards the restoration of our cars.
African Americans played a critical role in Railroad Dining Car and Pullman operations, and we intend to research this history as part of our project. If you or a family member was employed in these historical dining car or Pullman operations, we would like to hear your personal history.