Chapel Hill
Location
Ohio
Capacity
Day 8, Night 8
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Description:
The Chapel Hill was built in 1922 by American Car and Foundry for E. F. Hutton and his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post. Originally christened the Hussar, the car was used for both Hutton’s company business and the couple’s personal travel between their principal residence in New York City, their winter estate in Palm Beach, and their summer retreat in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. The car was also used extensively for entertainment, as Post was known as a lavish hostess.
The Huttons divorced in 1935, and the Hussar became a part of Post’s settlement. In 1937, she sold the car to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The Chessie renamed the car Office Car #3 and modernized it with a brand-new Pullman air-conditioning system. Number 3 remained in active company service as a business car for railway executives into the early 1970s. With the advent of Amtrak in 1971, the car might have been scrapped if it were not for rail aficionado DeWitt Chapple, Jr. Chapple purchased the car, renamed it after his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, and refurbished it in 1972. The car currently accommodates eight passengers with one master bedroom, two double bedrooms, a single room, a convertible sofa bed, shower, dining room, observation lounge, and open rear platform.
Chapel Hill Corporation
DeWitt Chapple, Jr.
207 Alamo Road
Middletown, OH 45042
E-Mail: dewittchapple@gmail.com
Website: chapelhillrail.com
Tel: (513) 267-0947