Coal tender finds new track at Lewes railroad display
Two-year old Cirdan Lyter loves trains.
His grandpa, Jay Lyter, brought him along April 10 to see a piece of railroad history arrive in Lewes.
“Let’s bring the tracks back and the bridge,” Jay Lyter said, as they watched a vintage coal tender being put into place at the Lewes Junction Railroad and Bridge Association’s display in Stango Park.
The 40-ton tender arrived before dawn on a flatbed truck from Pennsylvania.
The truck backed down the grass, parallel to the Lewes-to-Georgetown bike trail, to the end of the track that is home to the red caboose.
Then, the tricky part began.
The moving company crew and LJRBA members had to align the flatbed with the rails so the tender could roll right off.
They used a piece of equipment called a rotator to lift the trailer into position.
The tender was unchained from the flatbed, and a truck pulled it onto the track.
LJRBA member Randy Voith said seeing the job done is a relief.
“Bringing it home is the hardest part,” Voith said. “Getting everybody lined up, timing, permits, working with the city. It was not as smooth as we wanted, but it was as smooth as it could have been.”
The coal tender was built by the Mellinger Manufacturing Co. in Willow Street, Pa.
The top half was built from scratch, based on original plans.
The lower half, including the wheels, is original and came from another tender that was taken out of service in 1952.
A tender is a large piece of rolling stock that holds the coal and water to feed the steam engine.
“[The tender] is up so high because that’s how high the locomotive is. A person would be standing up there, shoveling into the boiler as it’s barreling down the tracks,” said David Ludlow of the LJRBA.
In the next two weeks, a Delaware sign company will stencil Pennsylvania Railroad titles on the sides.
The LJRBA will dedicate the tender Saturday, May 10.
A 1913 steam locomotive is expected to join the display in a year and a half or two years, according to Voith.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
