NHVR Excursion Cars

When the railroad museum at Bonsal began operating in the early 1980s, a simple question arose: what do you use to carry passengers? Most people would answer, “Passenger cars, of course!” That would be ideal—but the organization did not have the funds to purchase such equipment. Instead, the group searched for an affordable alternative and discovered two flatcars that fit within their modest budget.

These flatcars had originally been built for the U.S. Marine Corps during the 1940s to transport Sherman tanks. Their heavy-duty design meant they were certainly capable of carrying a full load of passengers. The cars were located at Cherry Point, North Carolina, making transportation to Bonsal relatively inexpensive. Once acquired, they were numbered 100 and 101, numbers they still carry today.

During the early years of operation, the cars looked quite different from what visitors see today. They had no superstructures or permanent seating. Instead, a simple railing was installed around the edges of the decks, and passengers often brought their own lawn chairs for the ride. While this arrangement worked for a time, it was far from ideal. To improve safety, the group decided the cars needed a more substantial enclosure. Member Jack Landcaster designed a basic “body” for the cars—without seats or a roof—and trains operated this way for a while.

One day, however, the shortcomings of this design became very clear. The train departed Bonsal under sunny skies, but by the time it reached New Hill, heavy rain was pouring down. With no roof and few umbrellas, everyone aboard was thoroughly soaked by the time the train returned to Bonsal. Among the passengers that day was a Wake County Commissioner, who asked why the cars had no roofs. When he learned the organization simply could not afford them, he helped arrange matching funds from the Wake County Recreation budget. Those funds provided materials while volunteers contributed the labor to construct the roofs.

Seating had also been a challenge since the earliest days of railings and lawn chairs. When the first car bodies were built, simple wooden benches were installed. About a year later, one of our members located sheet-metal benches large enough to run down the center of the cars, mounted back-to-back. Unfortunately, these benches were far from comfortable. They were hard, hot, and with no roof overhead, the Carolina sun turned them into something resembling a griddle. Once roofs were added, someone suggested using surplus seats from school buses, which is a much more comfortable solution that has remained our standard seating ever since.

A few years later, the museum decided to acquire additional flatcars. Federal surplus listings showed several dozen available at Camp Lejeune. These cars were originally identical to the 100-series flatcars and had been built around 1950. After the Korean War, however, the Department of Defense rebuilt most of them, extending their length from 50 to 60 feet and replacing their four-wheel friction bearing trucks with six-wheel roller bearing Buckeye trucks featuring articulated side plates.

One of our members met with the chief car inspector of the Southern Railway at Camp Lejeune and selected the three best cars available. They were lettered NHVX and the necessary paperwork was completed. Shortly afterward, Amtrak requested the entire group of surplus cars for maintenance-of-way service and relettered them for their own use—including ours. However, the base surplus officer determined that our organization had already been awarded the three cars, and Amtrak ultimately chose not to contest the matter.

The cars were shipped to Fuquay-Varina, where they sat for several months because they had been marked for Amtrak. Eventually, permission was granted to store them at the Shearon Harris Generating Plant. Southern Railway moved them to the CP&L Steam Plant at Moncure, where the plant switcher moved them to the CSX coal receiving yard. From there, the CSX Apex local delivered them to the Shearon Harris plant.

In March 2006, the decision was made to bring the cars to Bonsal. The CP&L plant switcher moved them as close as possible to a side road off Bonsal Road, where they were loaded onto trucks for the short trip to Bonsal Yard. Over the following year, volunteers constructed new superstructures—most of them designed by member Dave Chasco. These rebuilt cars became numbers 200 and 201.

The next time you visit Bonsal as a passenger or crewmember, take a moment to think about the history behind these cars. Originally built for military service, they now carry families and railfans on enjoyable rides up and down the line. From wartime duty to happy excursions, they continue to serve us well.