WHIPPANY, NEW JERSEY - The Whippany Railway Museum is the recipient of the "2021 Significant Achievement Award - Passenger Car" by the HeritageRail Alliance (HRA) https://heritagerail.org/ for its complete restoration-to-operation of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) Subscription Club Car No. 2454. The award was presented to the Museum during the HRA Fall 2021 Virtual Conference on October 28, 2021. Museum trustee Terence Mulligan accepted the award on behalf of the Museum. Each year HRA celebrates and recognizes remarkable accomplishments in railroad preservation.
DL&W No. 2454 was the subject of a massive seven year, half-million dollar restoration project undertaken by Museum volunteers, with mechanical and heavy metal fabrication, and exterior painting conducted by contractor StarTrak, Inc., as well as additional work carried out by a host of other sub-contractors and volunteers. The project cost was underwritten with grants provided by the NJ County Transportation Officials Association (CTA) and Liberty Historic Railway, Inc.
As described by retired executive director of the Morris County (NJ) Department of Transportation, Frank Reilly (also a long-term CTA official), the restoration of No. 2454 is "...the rebirth of New Jersey's most historically significant railcar." Reilly went on to say that, "It is no ordinary railcar - it was built in 1912 by the Barney & Smith Car Company of Dayton, Ohio for special service on the Lackawanna Railroad. No. 2454 was a plush club-parlor car used exclusively by wealthy commuters on the "Millionaire's Express" that ran between Gladstone and Hoboken, NJ."
In the late-1920s, the DL&W began an aggressive suburban electrification program that would result in No. 2454 being refitted in 1930 for electric service - (celebrated New Jersey inventor Thomas A. Edison rode as a guest onboard 2454 on Sept. 22, 1930) where it continued to serve in its role as an exclusive club / parlor car, until it was retired in late-August 1984.
Museum president, Steve Hepler said: “The HeritageRail Alliance award confirms what our volunteers are capable of accomplishing.” Frank Reilly noted, that "Terence Mulligan of the Museum was put in charge of the 2454 restoration project. He is a very knowledgeable and dedicated gentleman with great drive and persistence for excellence." It was through Mr. Mulligan's guidance that the restoration of No. 2454 was completed with outstanding results.
Hepler added that there are new restoration projects awaiting. “This is the perfect opportunity for interested people to join the Museum as volunteers and get involved. We have a a number of projects coming up that will require work, but the end results will be very rewarding.”
About the Museum
Founded in 1965, the Whippany Museum is a 501(c) 3 non-profit, educational organization dedicated to the preservation of New Jersey's railroad history . The Museum, staffed by an all-volunteer membership, educates the public through interpretive displays and its excursion trains that operate between April and October each year.
Additional information about the Museum can be found online at www.WhippanyRailwayMuseum.net