Old train car to get some TLC

With exterior work done to the outside of the Jamaica parlor car adjacent to the Wantagh Museum, attention will turn this year to restoring the inside.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Preservation Society Vice President Bob Meagher will be doing much of the work, including securing the windows.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

The old kitchen in the train car will be overhauled.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Bob Meagher is hoping to get the inside of the train fixed up by the end of the year to open it to the public.

Andrew Hackmack/Herald

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At first glance, the old red train car tucked away between Wantagh Avenue and the Wantagh Parkway may look a little out of place. It’s a mile away from the train tracks, but it’s the centerpiece of the Wantagh Preservation Society’s museum, and its opening to the public is less than a year away.

Bob Meagher, the vice president of the Preservation Society, is spearheading an effort to restore the interior of the 1912 parlor car, the Jamaica, which was once part of the Cannonball Express that ran from Penn Station to Montauk. It was donated to the society by the Long Island Rail Road in 1972, and sits on a piece of county-owned land that also houses the old Wantagh train station, now a local history museum, and the community’s first post office.

“It’s a great museum,” Meagher said about the complex, “and the people that had the vision for it were amazing.”

The train car had been open to the public in the past, but was closed about a decade ago because the interior was falling into disrepair and the floor was rotting away. Meagher plans to spend the coming months getting it back in shape.

The first room in the train car from the east end, which faces Wantagh Avenue, is the solarium. Meagher said it was essentially a lounge for passengers, with couches and easy chairs. It is the only room the public has been allowed into in recent years when Santa greeted children there during last year’s holiday program.

In the solarium, Meagher is looking to restore the lower walls and windowsills, and repaint the ceiling. He noted that the upper walls are metal, but were finished to look like wood, and he would like to freshen that up, as well. Federal law in 1912 required that the train be made out of steel, but Meagher can use wood for the restoration process.

There is then a narrow hallway, with windows looking out at the museum. On the other side are three staterooms, which were sleeping quarters. Most of the old furnishings and carpets remain. The third stateroom is used to display old railroad equipment such as lanterns, signs and conductor hats.

There is then a dining room, which is the width of the train. Another narrow hallway goes past the kitchen and to a door that would have been used to pass through to the next car.