City of Lima (Nickel Plate 211)
Nickel Plate 211 was built in 1950 by Pullman Standard as part
of a fleet of 13 sleeping cars with a configuration of 6 bedrooms
and 10 roomettes. These cars were named for communities along the
Nickel Plate Road with number 211 being named the City of Lima.
ELDCPS accepted donation of this car in March 2003.
This sleeping car operated in through service between Hoboken and
Chicago in conjunction with the Lackawanna and the Erie Lackawanna
from 1950 until the end of this service in 1963. With the decline
in Nickel Plate passenger service both before and after the 1964
merger with the Norfolk & Western, the City of Lima
was sold in 1965 to the Illinois Central and renamed the Cynthia.
In 1969/70, the car was purchased by the Michigan Railroad Club,
and was kept at the Brush Street Station in downtown Detroit.
After
passing inspection by the Grand Trunk Western, the car was run
on many weekend trips to Chicago by the club on GTW's Mohawk.
Upon the end of GTW passenger service, the car was moved to the
GTW shops in Port Huron, MI. The car was used by the MRC for excursions,
as well as the GTW as part of their business train. In the late
1970s, the car was sold to Hogtrain, Inc, who painted the car in
MoPac "Eagle" colors, and operated the car in excursion service.
In 1985, the car was sold to the Chicago & North Western,
renamed
Lake Michigan , and assigned to their business car fleet.
Shortly after the Union Pacific–CNW merger the car was again
sold to a private individual - and finally donated to ELDCPS
where the
car would be restored to its Nickel Plate Road appearance, once again as the
City of Lima.
NKP Sleeper 212 & EL Diner 741 - 1962, Hoboken, NJ
Photo by Lance Erickson
The car is in excellent condition and will require a small amount
of work to return it to service. After completing exterior work
on the car, Midwest Locomotive repainted City of Lima into
Nickel Plate colors in August 2006. The car was moved to Illinois
Transit Assembly Corp. (ITAX) in December 2006. ITAX installed new carpet and upholstery,
in addition to some minor cosmetic work.
City of Lima is now based out of Scranton, PA. While the car is now available for service, there are still a few minor repairs that need to be addressed. In addition, funds will be needed to maintain the car. To complete
these tasks the ELDCPS is offering supporters of this project to
have chairs, roomettes, and bedrooms named in their honor based
on contributions to the project as described on the donation page.
We have also started a special 211 Club for
friends of the City of Lima. More information can be found on
the donation page.
Photo Album
Donation Page
Special thanks to Tom Moisan for helping us with the history of
the car
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