Volunteers from the Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad take on various restoration projects around the railroad, from coach restoration, to open-air car building, and tie replacement just to name a few.

Project #1: Coach 1158 Restoration
Status: In progress

With the success of the open-air car excursion car behind us, the Friends have purchased former Reading Company commuter car #1158 for restoration. Coach 1158 was built in January 1925 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company. It was used up until July 1965 for daily commuter passenger service. George Hart’s Rail Tours, Inc. was the next owner of the car and used it for tourist excursion service before being sold in the late 2000’s to the Stewartstown Railroad. It has since been sold to the Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad, Inc in January 2018.

Efforts are currently underway to rehabilitate the coach and get it back into service. The Friends received a very generous $10,000 grant from John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust in April 2018. These funds are being used to purchase materials needed to carry out the restoration of coach 1158. We sincerely thank the John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust for their support. Volunteers are currently working to fabricate new windows over winter 2018-19. Walls and seat pedestals inside the car are being stripped and scuffed over winter 2018-19 in preparation for paint. Once completed, the car will be added as a second coach to the excursion train to serve as a demonstration car from the 1920s showcasing urban commuter passenger service.

Workdays are held most Saturdays. Please contact us to be added to our workday email list.

For Stewartstown Railroad Company workdays, please visit this page for their most current work schedule.