Following the 1980 demise of the MCC, No. 10 spent the next 14 years in the tomb-like atmosphere of the MCC enginehouse at Newfoundland, gathering a depressing mantle of grime as it awaited an uncertain future.
However, through a series of very fortunate events, in December, 1994, the Whippany Railway Museum was at last successful in its many attempts to return No. 10 “home” to Whippany, where it went on static display.
Early in 1995, the Whippany Railway Museum gained full title to the Railbus, and after several false starts, serious restoration work on the motor, transmission and electrical components finally began to take place in early 1998. Two years later, at the dawn of the 21st Century, a true Morris County transportation artifact from the first quarter of the 20th Century was finally brought back to life as Railbus No. 10 traveled over its “home rails” once again on January 2, 2000.
In the late Summer of 1999 No. 10 was restored to its historic, as-delivered paint scheme… a silver-gray body with black striping. The Morristown & Erie R.R. lettering is imitation gold leaf with a black shadow effect. The paint scheme is taken from archival photographs and documents, as well as the oral recollections of former passengers gathered over the 1985-1999 time period.
The restored bus is 20 feet long, 8 feet wide, 10 feet high and weighs approximately 4 tons. Its four cylinder gasoline-powered motor can propel the bus at 35 to 40 miles per hour. The bus can haul 19 passengers, plus the motorman.
Happily, No. 10, a most unique and important example of New Jersey’s transportation heritage survives today and is now able to operate over the very same historic rail line that it was built to serve back in 1918.
