Conrail OCS 27 - Amtrak 800458 - Coach Car

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Conrail 27 was one of three Budd streamlined cars that were officially used on the Conrail Office Car Special. The others were Conrail 12 and Conrail 55. Conrail 27 was never painted in blue (neither was Conrail 5 or 55); instead, these cars were painted in Conrail green.

Based on an internet thread from Charlie Murphy, it appears that Conrail purchased as many as 11 Amtrak coaches and one of those cars was Conrail 27.

The official Conrail Business Car roster from Conrail (dated September 1988) lists the following coaches:

Conrail 5197 - Former CN 5197, Built 1937 (Conrail lists the builder as Canadian)
Conrail 5306 - Former CN 5306, Built 1941 (Conrail lists the builder as Canadian)
Conrail 5653 - Former NYC 2922 / PC 2922 / Amtrak 5653 (Budd 1947)
Conrail 5655 - Former NYC 2926 / PC 2926 / Amtrak 5655 (Budd 1947)
Conrail 27 - Former NYC 2949 / PC 2949 / Amtrak 5667 (Budd 1947)

In contrast, the Conrail Business Car roster from Conrail (dated September 1997) has these two coaches listed:

Conrail 27 - Former NYC 2949 / PC 2949 / Amtrak 5667 (Budd 1947)
Conrail 5671 - Former NYC 2955 / PC 2955 / Amtrak 5671 (Budd 1947)

The other coaches were sold relatively quickly to other buyers (VIA being one of them). The 5671 was never converted for their business car fleet and was sold either in late 1999 or 2000. There are photos of 5671 still at the Miscellaneous Shop 2 in Amtrak paint in October of 1999. This car eventually made its way to KCS and became theater / track inspection car number 1859 “Arthur E. Stilwell” in 2005 after Pete Messina’s passenger shop worked on the car (the same shop that later worked on NS 4 ex-Conrail 4’s conversion to a sleeper).

Knowing that, let’s take a look at a brief history of Conrail 27. The only date that may be off is the actual purchase of CR 27.

Norfolk Southern 26 “New York” - (6/1/99)

Conrail 27 - (88)

Conrail 5667 - (86)

Amtrak 5667 - (74)

Penn Central 2949 - (68)

New York Central 2949 - (47)

Conrail documentation provides the following history for this car: “Built by the Budd Company in early 1947 as a 56-seat coach for the New York Central Railroad, 2949 was part of a large postwar order for new cars to create the ‘Great Steel Fleet’ of passenger trains. The car served the New York Central for over 20 years.” After the PRR and NYC merger in 1968, the car became Penn Central 2949. Amtrak purchased the car in 1974 for coach service, renumbering it to Amtrak #5667. Conrail purchased the car from Amtrak in 1986 “for coach seating on its special trains, extensively refurbishing the car.” A Reading Car Shop schedule of work dated December 31, 1988 lists the car’s conversion from Amtrak 5667 to Conrail 27.

The Conrail Reading Shops were a busy place in the 1980s. Conrail 27 was one of the cars being worked on during that time and some interior updates were made during the rebuild process. The as-built configuration had a men’s restroom at the vestibule end of the car and a women’s restroom at the other end. During the rebuilding, the men’s restroom became a kitchen/serving area complete with sink, cabinets, storage, and a serving window that opened into the coach area of the car. Installation of the serving window required that two of the seats be removed, taking the car down to 54 seats. The women’s restroom was split into a men’s and women’s restroom. The Conrail diagram in the gallery below is from an Office Car Trip Booklet and provides the original configuration of the car, so it is outdated.

At a later date, TVs were installed for the riders to see down the track from the E8As. TVs back then were HUGE (not the flat screens of modern times). On the wall outside the restrooms was a large photograph of the Conrail Office Car Special crossing the Susquehanna river. In addition, the car seems to have had its seats reupholstered from their blue fabric to a lighter tan color.

Conrail 27 could be seen on all types of Conrail Office Car Specials, including Operation Lifesaver trains and Board of Director trips where the car would be used for the crew and visitors. Typical placement of Conrail 27 in the consist would be before the Conrail 55 full-length dome car, placing the three Budd fluted streamliner cars together (Conrail 12, Conrail 55, Conrail 27). Of course, this wasn’t always the case, but rather a frequent line up. If train capacity were particularly tight, Conrail would borrow an Amtrak Amfleet car, but this wasn’t preferred.

Norfolk Southern acquired the car in 1999 and renumbered it 26, with the name “New York”. According to the Norfolk Southern published Business Train booklet, “a 2012 renovation added new exterior windows and an audio-visual system that includes a 50-inch main screen and two 32-inch side wall screens.” In April/May 2015 the interior of the car reportedly underwent another update, this time with reupholstered seats.

The Norfolk Southern 26 eventually ended up at the North Carolina Transportation Museum and was still there in 2020 along with the NS 29 coach. At this time, I am not sure what the arrangement is with NS and who they are owned by.

For those interested in the technical aspect of the Conrail 27, I will provide the only information I have:

Truck Class - R-10-XR

Brake Style - 26L

NYC Floor Plan - P-54612

Average Weight - 119,000 lbs. (lightweight)

Conrail 27 Coach Diagram

Conrail 27 Erie, PA 1998

Former Conrail 27 outside Misc 2

If you are interested in Conrail passenger operations, read about how Conrail operated their OCS train, including stories from those with first hand knowledge. Check back soon for other Conrail Office Car articles by Wes Reminder.

- sources: Conrail trip booklets, Norfolk Southern business train booklet, Charlie Murphy on Railway Preservation News. Special thanks to Chip Syme for allowing me to use his photos.

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