Our Historic Train
COLONIAL HEARTH
The kitchen car was built for the U.S. Army as number “89643” in 1953 by the St. Louis Car Company. Before the development of the jet transport aircraft, large troop movements were handled by Troop Trains. Kitchen cars such as this one were part of these trains to provide hot meals in transit. In 1986 this car was acquired by The Valley Railroad and restored for use in our dinner train.
ESSEX CLIPPER
Vintage GE Diesel-electric locomotives, such as 0901, is used to power the Essex Clipper Dinner Train. These locomotives have two diesel engines which drive generators which, in turn, produce electricity to run four large motors, one attached to each axle. All modern diesel locomotives operate this way.
WALLINGFORD
The Wallingford was built by the Pullman Company of Chicago, in 1927, as a 36-seat parlor car for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad’s Merchant’s Limited. It was later sold to the Kansas City Southern Railroad. Purchased by The Valley Railroad Company in 1978, it was our first-class car on the steam train consist until 1991, when it was reconfigured as a dining car for the Essex Clipper Dinner Train.
MERIDEN
In 1924, the Meriden was built by the Pullman Company for service on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad’s Merchant’s Limited, between New York and Boston. Originally named Provincetown and later Plymouth, this car started out as a 32-chair, one drawing room parlor car. In later years it was used in work train service and, when acquired by The Valley Railroad Company, was a rusting, gutted hulk. It was restored by Valley Railroad as a dining car and renamed Meriden.
GOODSPEED
The newest addition to the Dinner Train, the Goodspeed was built in 1927 for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Originally christened DaCosta, the car was assigned to the PRR’s Congressional, which carried political dignitaries and elite business clientele between New York City and Washington, D.C. Like most railroad equipment of its day, the DaCosta was transferred to maintenance of way service before being sold to the Toledo, Lake Erie & Western Railroad. When the car was purchased in 1988 by the Valley Railroad, it was a rusted, guttled hulk. After a complete restoration, the car was placed into parlor car service for our holiday and fall excursion trains. In 2022 the car received several mechanical upgrades, including the installation of its own central air conditioning system, and was added to the dinner train fleet.
