The Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society, in cooperation with the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, will be running special railroad excursions on Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11, 2011. Each trip will be a round-trip excursion lasting approximately one hour.
Trains will run from East Stroudsburg and Delaware Water Gap on Dec. 10, and from Cresco and Tobyhanna on Dec. 11. Tickets start at $13 for adults and $7 for children under 10.
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.
Our three Comet I commuter cars, known as Dieseliners when delivered to the Erie Lackawanna in the early 1970s, have arrived in Scranton and have joined City of Lima. ELDCPS would like to thank NJ Transit, Norfolk Southern and the Delaware-Lackawanna for their assistance in moving the cars from New Jersey to Scranton.
ELDCPS is very happy to report that we have acquired former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Diner 469, built in 1949 for The Phoebe Snow. Diner 469 is in excellent physical and mechanical condition, and will quickly become our first dining car to enter service once we bring it home to Scranton and repaint the car.
To help raise the funds needed to get the car painted and operational, we will be reproducing 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.
Thanks to our members who have helped us raise $12,000 towards the restoration of Diner 741 through the Adopt-a-Window Program. As of December 5, 2010, all 16 windows have been adopted!
Do you like the Erie Lackawanna Dining Car Preservation Society? Visit our new Facebook page and officially "like" us today! Our Facebook page will contain news updates, trip announcements, store specials, and more! Post photos of past ELDCPS trips and events, and communicate with other ELDCPS members and fans of the Erie Lackawanna. Share our page with your friends and family and help us build our membership and raise funds for our project.
The Society was saddened to learn about the passing of member Ronald C. Wallace on August 23, 2010. Ron was a lifetime member of the Society, and the owner of RonRail Pictures. In the early days of ELDCPS, Ron launched RonRail Pictures and offered us the opportunity to sell his DVDs with most of the proceeds going towards the Society. Ron was a true believer in our project, and a tremendous supporter of the Society. In his final act of generosity, the family has requested donations in his name to be made towards ELDCPS.
In appreciation of Ron's overwhelming support of ELDCPS, we will be honoring him with a special dedication on one of our dining cars. If you would like to make a contribution to ELDCPS in Ron's name, please visit our Donation Page.
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.
ELDCPS will be producing a Dining Car Calendar beginning in 2011, and we are looking for photographic submissions. We are looking for both interior and exterior photos of dining car operations from any railroad. If you are interested in contributing, please contact us using the link below. Digital submissions are preferred, but we can accept slides and prints as well. Contributors must have rights to their submissions.
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.