Non-Reading
Ex-PRR Flat Car 45501
Background & History
Ex-PRR flat car #45501 arrived in Leesport in 1997 along with the Wreck Crane. The Flat Car was originally a Pennsylvania Rail Road car and went through the transition to Penn Central, then to Conrail. Conrail used the PRR flat car as the idler car for the crane, so they arrived as a package deal. Fortunately for the RCT&HS, we had already acquired the original idler car used with the crane so they were paired together. With the Ex-PRR Flat car now being extra, it was set aside for other uses.
Ex-PRR Flat Car #45501 – now in Conrail Paint as the crane idler car.
Close up of the Ex PRR Flat Car used as the idler car for the crane.
It was quickly pressed into service when the Society was able to rescue the turntable from Saucon Yard. The flat car being all steel with a steel deck, would become the ideal carrier for the rescued turntable. Its use for the turntable we knew would be long term, and we would not have to deal with a rotting wood floor on a smaller flat car.
The Ex-PRR flat car and the turntable it carries remains along the tracks at Hamburg near the R&N shop building. It was renumbered as RCTH 550. It is likely to remain that way for a while longer, as we gather funds to finally reassemble the turntable at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum at Hamburg.