Along SR78 just across the Noble/Monroe County line between Summerfield and Lewisville to this day sits OR&W Combination Car #29. Truckless and butted against a small room addition. Combine #29 has set here since 1929. E.P.Gaynor Co., the scrappers of the western two thirds of the line pulled her to this location at the buyers request, removed the trucks, and moved the body across the road to its present resting place. The OR&W acquired this combine in July of 1914 and sold it to Gaynor Co. as scrap - value $118. Gaynor sold it to a coal miner needing a cabin to live in the winter of 1928 and delivered it in early spring as the rails were being taken up along this stretch of the railroad.

I had the opportunity to meet the Newsome family recently (the present owners of Combine #29), photo-graph, and investigate Combine #29 on one of my spring visits to the area. The car has not been occupied for many years. Mr. Newsome is 81 years old and had a stroke about 10 years ago. He had to move from the combine to the adjoining house to live with his son Randy and daughter-in-law.

The Combine is in relative good shape (considering). The east end (see photo) and road side have the coach door and hardware still in-place. The east coupler remains. The baggage door is complete with windows, rollers, slide channel, and locking latch. The letterboard and curved duck bill ends remain. The interior partition separating baggage from coach remains. The west end is enclosed by the house addition (living and bedroom space). The back and roof have been covered over with tar paper against the weather. The clerestory has been covered over both outside and in but remain intact. The original coach windows have been covered over and filled in with plywood. Missing are the end platforms, trucks, the west coach door, and interior seating and finishes. The coach served as a miners home being the kitchen, dining and bath.

Randy has had offers to buy the car and remove it from the site and out of Southeastern Ohio. So far, fortun-ately he has resisted. He is interested in restoring the car himself by removing the house addition and interior non-railroad finishes. A good start.

If any of my fellow Mini-Bunch members have had experience in car restoration, contact me and I will put you in touch with Randy. Combine #29 is the only one of four remaining passenger cars relatively intact on the OR&W.

WRLogan