WOODSTOWN, N.J. — The Woodstown Central Railroad will see another expansion to its excursion fleet, this time in the form of a favorite among tourist railroad circles: the open air car.
Former Lehigh & New England Railroad composite gondola No. 10301 will debut on May 10 as part of the Woodstown Central’s Scenic Rambler between Swedesboro and Mannington, N.J. The new accommodation will coincide with the debut of ex-Reading Co. EMD FP7 No. 902, scheduled to operate the excursion that same day [See “Woodstown Central steam locomotive sidelined” News Wire, May 1, 2025].
In a May 6 post on the Woodland Central Facebook page, restoration work on the car took place throughout 2024 in a collaboration between the tourist railroad and parent company SMS Rail. The post states: “Our shop forces cut no corners as this car was stripped to the frame, replaced any questionable steel, rebuilt the trucks, replaced the flooring and sides, built brand new benches, added new end gates, railings and applied a new paint job in the as-built 1934 LNE livery.”
The gondola was built in May 1934 by the American Car and Foundry Co. and is believed to have hauled slate from the quarries along the Lehigh & New England, according to the Woodstown Central and Kurt Bell and Bob Losse, Sr. Life after the LNE would see No. 10301 used on multiple tourist railroads throughout the Northeast as an open air car, before eventually acquired by Woodstown Central and SMS Rail in April 2024.
Visit the Woostown Central Railroad website for more information.
