Category Archives: EJ&S #2

Mid-Continent Railway Museum excited to announce $5,000 Grant from NRHS

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Mid-Continent Railway Museum has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the National Railway Historical Society. This grant will be utilized for the reproduction of 16 seat bottoms and back cushions needed to complete the restoration of the East Jordan and Southern No. 2 combination car. This car is the oldest in our museum’s collection, and we are thrilled to be able to begin the last step of this car’s restoration journey.

#2 while in service. Date unknown. Location is alongside the EJ&S’s East Jordan depot. Date unknown; L.B. Herren photo; Ted Schnepf collection, from Paul Swanson.

About the East Jordan and Southern No. 2 Car

East Jordan and Southern No. 2 was originally built in Nov. 1864 as first-class coach No. 112 for the Grand Trunk Railroad of Canada and operated between Detroit and Port Huron. The coach was renumbered 585 and received a major rebuild in 1889 to update its appearance and give it new mechanical gear. After refurbishment by Hicks Locomotive and Car works the coach came to the EJ&S in April 1902. In 1919 it was rebuilt as a baggage coach combination car by the EJ&S. The combine remained in service until 1961 when the line was abandoned. East Jordan and Southern No. 2 was acquired by the museum in 1963 and it has been at Mid-Continent for the past 60 years.
EJ&S No. 2 is one of the oldest passenger cars surviving in the United States. While the exterior has been considerably altered by two significant rebuilds, the interior of the passenger section still has the character and woodwork of the 1864 car. The plan is to restore the interior to that of an 1860s car which will be unique among the collection at our museum. No seats were in the car when it arrived at the museum. We must reproduce seats typical of the time which have cast iron frame parts and cushions made with plush mohair upholstery.
Restorations on the EJ&S No. 2 has been progressing since its start in 2014. Work thus far has included replacement of the side sills. Along with the rebuilding of the “east side” wall structure, windows, baggage doors, steps, and end platforms. The siding has been replaced thanks in part to a 2015 grant from the NRHS, and as for the interior woodwork, it has been stripped and is waiting to be refinished.
The remaining work includes installing canvas roof covering, clerestory screens, as well as installation of the window, doors, blinds, and interior hardware. The last step is reproducing and installing the seats in the passenger section of the car, and with help from this grant, it can now move closer to being completed.

How to Help this Project Move Forward

Thanks to the NRHS, we have some additional help in finishing this project. However, the full cost of this project still exceeds the amount we’ve been given. In total, the full cost of the seats will be around $30,750. If you would like to help us reach this goal, please donate at the link below.

Donate to East Jordan & Southern #2 Project
(credit/debit card or PayPal account)
Donate to East Jordan & Southern #2 Project
(printable donation form)

About the National Railway Historical Society

The National Railway Historical Society is a non-profit organization that supports the preservation projects of trains, railways and stations with thousands of dollars awarded in Heritage Grants. This organization was founded in 1935 by rail historians and has since grown from a small group of 40 founding members. Today, they have over 13,000 members, who include men and women of all ages. Thus, making it the largest rail preservation and historical society.

About the Mid-Continent Railway Museum

Mid-Continent Railway Historical Society–also known as Mid-Continent Railway Museum–is an outdoor, living museum and operating railroad recreating the small town/short line way of life during the “Golden Age of Railroading,” with operating trains, educational exhibits, and displays of restored rolling stock. In 2023 Mid-Continent will be celebrating its 60th anniversary of sharing railroad history with museum visitors.

EJ&S #2 2021 Year-End Restoration Update

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Update by Peter Becker

We had a productive year working on the East Jordan & Southern No. 2 in 2021.

Exterior Work

The year started out with Owen making a new lettering stencil for the car so he will be ready to letter the car when the time is right.

East Jordan & Southern #2 stencil.

A lot of time was spent cleaning up the trucks and truss rods.  They were then primed and painted.  We ran out of warm weather so there is some painting left to be done.  Also under the car, the north end draft gear was put back together with new spring followers, the plates that transfer force from the draw bar to the car body.

EJ&S #2 truck and truss rod.
Un-rusted new spring followers mounted in draft gear.

All four platform steps are now functional.  This required everything from a complete rebuilt for the southeast step to straightening the metal side of the northeast step to simply replacing the treads of the southwest step.

Straightened and repainted northeast steps.

The platform deck boards were replaced also.  The work required the removal of the door thresholds and some repair around them.  On the south end this also required repair of the rotten platform sill.

New platform deck boards.

Repair work on the sound deafening ceiling, the boards attached to the underside of the car body frame, was started.  The deafening ceiling was partially removed in the past to facilitate repair work so it is now piece work to fit replacement boards in.

Under-car deafening ceiling.

Other exterior work included fastening the lower roof drip rail in place, repairing the south end canopy, straightening the north platform hand rail and installing a hand brake shaft and wheel on the south end platform.  An additional post for the south end hand rail was also found and installed.  The following two photos show the south platform with the roof drip rail, the new wood on the canopy corners and the installed brake wheel and hand rail post.

EJ&S #2 southeast corner.
EJ&S #2 south end.

Interior Work

The project last winter was to clean the clerestory windows and mount them in new sash that was built some time ago.  There are 30 windows and 28 are now done.  Two stained glass panes are missing which is delaying completion of the final 2 windows.  There are 2 patterns of glass which are shown here in new sash.

One of two clerestory window patterns.
One of two clerestory window patterns.

Most of the interior work this year was stripping paint and removal of the headliner sheet metal. The next two pictures show the current state of the interior.  The plan is to repaint the baggage section in the reddish color and the passenger section will be stained and varnished.

Wood revealed after stripping paint.
In this picture, you can see the truss plank cap and the lower wainscot board were installed.

Finally, the original examination of the car interior found evidence that the partition between the baggage section and the passenger section was 6 windows from the north end of the car.  In the process of stripping paint we realized the partition was originally next to the baggage door.  Since we plan to use the original partition location, additional coach seats are needed.  We ordered 5 mores sets of cast iron seat parts and they finally arrived just after Christmas.

Peter Becker holds up new cast iron seat parts which arrived at the end of 2021.

All this work was accomplished by Dave M., Owen H., Jeff H., Jim B., Bill B., Dave W., Tom B., Richard P. and I am sure a few others that I am sorry to miss. Thanks for the help.

EJ&S #2 Awarded Grant from Tom E. Dailey Foundation

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Mid-Continent Railway Museum is happy to announce the museum has been awarded a $1,500 grant from the Tom E. Dailey Foundation. This grant will assist Mid-Continent with creating reproductions of the original coach seat design to appear in the historic East Jordan & Southern #2 passenger car, the oldest railcar in Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s collection.

EJ&S No. 2 was originally built in 1864 as coach 112 for the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It was purchased in 1902 by the EJ&S and was operated on that railroad until abandonment in 1961. After purchase by a private party, the coach was donated and moved to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in 1963. Exterior restoration is nearly complete after five years of volunteer work. Attention is now turning to the car’s interior. Blinds and window sash have been reproduced and refinishing of the interior is now in progress.

The next step in the restoration, and the most costly, is the production of replacement seats. Reproduction coach seats are required because all seats were removed when the East Jordan & Southern ended regular passenger service in 1946.

The seat ends are ornate cast iron of a design patented by George Buntin which is different than the seats found in other cars at the museum. Volunteers plan to build the wooden frames for the seatbacks and seat bottoms. Finally, upholstery work will be done professionally by a skilled contractor. This grant from the Tom E. Dailey Foundation will help begin the process of making the seatbacks and bottom cushions. After work on the wooden frames for the seat cushions is completed in 2021, the upholstery will be done in time for seat installation in 2022.

East Jordan & Southern #2 was among the first cars acquired by Mid-Continent Railway Museum and was used as a ticket office during the museum’s first year of operations at North Freedom as seen in this 1963 photo. The car is currently receiving a comprehensive restoration in Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s Car Shop. Ron Jones photo.

ALSO SEE:  Mid-Continent’s Equipment Roster page for EJ&S #2 

EJ&S #2 Restoration Update – November 11, 2020

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Even with the somewhat shortened restoration work season volunteers made significant progress on No. 2. Starting with the exterior, the west side letter was completed with the filling of screw and nail holes, sanding and priming. The east side letter board required patching, installation, and fabrication of the north end extension which was missing. That was followed by filling, sanding and more priming to complete the letter board. The north end drip boards were also installed.

Three of the four platform steps have been taken apart and are in the process of being rebuilt. Work was also started on cleaning up the trucks. We were surprised to fine remnants of pinning striping probably dating to the 1902 refurbishment by Hicks Locomotive and Car.

North end truck. Note pin striping with the blue tape protecting more.

In the last half of the summer work moved to the interior. The east side wall boards had previously been dismantled. The paint was stripped from the boards and the wall is in the process of being rebuilt.

East side interior. The wall is rebuilt below the window sill and work was started above the window sill.

Much of the paint on the west side wall has also been removed although the wood needs to be cleaned up with chemical stripper. Also work was done on the floor to replace some bad wood and missing boards.

West side interior. Pink primed board is a new replacement.

Finally, all the clerestory windows were removed. The stained glass will be remounted in new frames during the winter months.

I have plenty of work to do a home over the winter. Hopefully we will have more in shop work time next year.

Update provided by Peter Becker

EJ&S #2 Restoration Update – Oct. 22, 2019

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The Mid-Continent Car Shop is just about done for the year so this is a final post for the EJ&S No. 2 for 2019. We made some good progress this year as you can see from the photos of both sides of the No. 2. The east side work was finished off except for the letter board and it now has two coats of primer. The west side had new siding, board and battens, and window lintels installed, and the letter board was reinstalled. This side also has two coats of primer now except for the letter board which still needs to have some screw and nail holes filled.

The completion of the exterior (except for the roof) is now in sight. Next year we look forward to having the finish gloss paint on and the lettering applied.