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‘Hickory Creek’ Pullman observation car restoration
Great paint job! Beautiful colors.
Many years ago in Niagara Falls, NY I had the opportunity to interview with the circus as a “roustabout”. The specific job would be loading, unloading and preparing waybills for materials being shipped on their train, a nice job I thought. I went to the “office”, which turned out to be the “Hickory Creek”. At that time the car was set up as an office for the superintendent of transportation and others involved in the operation of the train. I was interviewed in what had been what I figured was one of the two “Master Rooms”, which were reconfigured as offices, with a birth remaining in the room as it had been built by Pullman-Standard. At that time, the car was largely original, but inside the bedrooms and master rooms, well, they were just offices. The observation was still slightly elevated with the seating as NYC and Pullman had designed them. The circus used this space for meetings. I thought the interview had gone well, but I wasn’t what they wanted, I guess. But, I had seen the interior of a Twentieth Century observation/lounge bedroom/master bedroom.
My hat is being tipped to you folks who are bringing a piece of history back to life.
Particularly to Fred Heide for recording the restoration for all to see.
A wonderful job of restoring this historically important car, not just making it look good but making it functional again too so new generations can admire and enjoy it. A hearty well done to all those who worked toward bringing it back to life!
Nice going, Fred.
Fred Heide is a quiet and unassuming fellow who has been a big part of many railroad restoration projects in the State of New Jersey as well as having served on the management team of the United Railroad Historical Society, Inc. (URHS), and as a past president of the Jersey Central and Tri-State Chapters of the NRHS. He’s also followed steam and passenger railroading all over the world. It’s nice to see Fred get a little recognition in print, as he’s earned it. Thanks, Fred.
Lucious (Sp?) Beeb would love you! Great Job!
Thank You for sharing this wonderful set of photos of this restoration project. Everyone who participated has my profound respect. Wish I could be a part of something like this!
Fond memories of riding in the car on the Century sitting on the rear facing couch with a drink in hand.and nice complimentary hors d’oeuvres . Wonderful to see it come alive.
Great photographs. I always enjoy reading about equipment restoration and the more photographs there are to document it the better. My hat’s off to the skilled craftsmen who put this car back together.
Wonderful job! Now that it’s completed; how much of the car is original P-S construction? 50% 80% ?? Regardless, it’s a great accomplishment and I hope to visit the car some day in the near future. Are there any public locations where it may be viewed planned for 2015?
Wow what a fantastic job, outstanding shots of all the work what was done on the car. Great to see we can still find the time and the love to bring this car back to what it was in its hay day, would love to see it one day. Keep up the great work.
the pictures are fabulous … the results are remarkable … but the true joy is riding in today’s hickory creek.
don’t think about it: get some friends together and charter the car!! ride up the hudson along the right-of-way
it was built for; cruise down to washington at 110 mph on the corridor (or head all the way to florida!). it is
a once-in-a-lifetime chance to re-live history, in a setting maybe better than the old days. fred, ray clauss
and many others put blood, sweat and endless frustration into this project, with surpassing results. as
someone who never rode the century (but would have loved to), i can tell you there is nothing like stepping
up to the lookout lounge, selecting a chair (ANY chair) and drinking in the view - both inside and out.
great job car looks fabulous
I imagine a restoration of this magnitude would end up costing as much as a locomotive to restore?
I wish I could have this crew re-do my Model “A”!
Georg Dobslaw from Germany
My very respect to the working men in rust and dust. I hope for them, the isolation of the roof in the first picture is not asbestos. Normally I like the surface of rusty iron, but what is to be seen on the seventh image is unbelievable. Working on without frustration is only possible with a imagination of a great target. A very fine documentation from the restauration of car which type is nearly unknown here in Europe and it looks a little strange but interesting to us.
It is with deep regret that I inform you all that Mr. Heide passed away this past Monday (26 Jan). Fred was an invaluable asset to this project and many others that he has worked on with us over the years. Most of all, Fred was a great man and a great friend. He will be missed by all that had the honor of knowing and spending time with him.