Have any ACL modernized conventional passenger coaches survived?

-- Merrill D. Crissey, Sr. (mdcrissey@juno.com), October 07, 1998

Answers

Merill-

I know of a ACL coach #1116, that is in storage at the Florida Gulf Coast Railroad Museum. I have not seen the car in person, because it is parked about 12 cars away from the yard and in some heavy weeds. It is impossible to walk back farther than 3 cars, So I have not seen it, however there is a picture of when the museum aquired it on their website at www.FGCRRM.org. As of right now I know the car is in whorible condition. But I do know that in the near future the car will be pulled out of the weeds to get some seats out of it for another car at the museum. I will be there when the cars get pulled out, so if you would like a photo or two of the car email me at FGCRRM@hotmail.com and let me know so I can send ya a picture.

-Mark Wonderly

-- Mark Wonderly (FGCRRM@hotmail.com), October 08, 2001.

Another modernized ACL coach resides along US-52 in Cades, SC, about 25 miles south of Florence on the former ACL mainline to Charleston. It wears faded Pullman Green, and is named "Florence". It is lettered for ACL in an inaccurate lettering style and has larger sized windows It has also been modified with an open observation platform at one end. I took some pictures of it, and the cars at Ft. Meade FL. on a recent trip. If you could use some, let me know. BTW- the ACL cars in Waycross, GA are located at the Okefenokee Heritage Center outside of town.

-- bob venditti (bobvend@bellsouth.net), October 16, 1998.

Several coaches from this series exist. A display train in Fort Meade, Fla. includes one of the semi-streamlined rebuilds (the cars with turtleback, square-ended roofs and wide windows). Coaches with the smaller windows are in the Heart of Dixie NRHS chapter collection, and at Waycross (display at a park). There may be others but these come to mind at the moment. "Somebody" needs to restore one of these cars to its rightful purple splendor....

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), October 08, 1998.