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Metra 553 Single-level club coach

(former C&NW 553 and C&NW 6514)

Metra 168 GM EMD F40PH-2 diesel-electric locomotive "Village of Maywood" pulls Metra 553 Single-level club coach (former C&NW 553 and C&NW 6514) and its scoot from the Chicago Passenger Terminal.

(METX 168, METX 553, METX, GM EMD F40PH-2, Metra locomotives, Locomotives, METX varnish, Passenger cars, Built by ACF, Ex CNW, photographed on 1 September 1999 at Chicago Passenger Terminal). Image size is available.

Metra car 553 is privately owned. It was a single level former lounge car 7901, built by ACF in 1947 as Chicago & North Western 553 for trains between Chicago and the West Coast, and rebuilt for commuter service in 1961. Metra car 553 is normally used on a rush hour round trip between Chicago and Kenosha (Wisconsin). [Courtesy of Metra Railfan Page]

C&NW 6514, PS [Pullman-Standard] lot 6818, plan 7587, serial number PS49-1346-002, 9 cars, 22-seat Parlor, Drawing Room, built 11/49. Length 82' 6" coupled. [with floor plan, side view drawing, exterior and interior photos] [source: {The Official Pullman-Standard Library, Vol. 9 Chicago & North Western, W. David Randall & William G. Anderson, Railway Production Classics, Godfrey (Illinois), 1990]

C&NW 553, Built: 1949, Built by: P.S.C.M.Co., Class: Club-Lounge, Car number: 553, formerly 6514, A.A.R. Class "PL", Ownership: 1, Over buffers-coupled 82' 6", Truck centers: 57' 0", seating capacity 68, light weight 106,660, width inside: 9' 6", lenght over sheathing: 78' 4", Width over grab handles: 19' 7", Height-top of rail to top of roof: 13' 6-1/2", Construction: Steel, Roof: Steel. [source: {The Official Pullman-Standard Library, Vol. 9 Chicago & North Western, W. David Randall & William G. Anderson, Railway Production Classics, Godfrey (Illinois), 1990]

In August of 1946, the Chicago & North Western railway ordered nine 22 seat parlor cars with 5 drawing room and 8 seat smoking lounge for service in the Twin-Cites and Dakota 400's. All nine cars were delivered in November of 1949 as lot 6818, plan 7587. They were built using the Pullman-Standard girder construction with smooth sides and the C&NW's yellow and green paint scheme, including a green roof. The cars rode on 41-N trucks and were equipped with Waukesha Ice Engine air condintioning and Waukesha 7-1/2KW Enginator. Three of these cars were converted to commuter lounge cars in 1959, and a fourth was also so converted for service with bi-level cars in 1961. These forur cars, when retired between 1961 and 1975, were either converted to work train service (2), sold (1) or donated to a museum. The remaining five cars were retired in 1965 and 65 and sold to dismaltlers. [source: {The Official Pullman-Standard Library, Vol. 9 Chicago & North Western, W. David Randall & William G. Anderson, Railway Production Classics, Godfrey (Illinois), 1990]

Chicago Rail Photographs collection updated 7 August 2024 at 15:01. Photographs and text copyright © 1998-2000 Harold A. Driscoll, All Rights Reserved. Email address is provided exclusively for personal contact, but emphatically not for use for SPAM net.abuse.