History
| July 1954 P-S house publication, The Carbuilder. Here is our New Stainless Steel Car. A passenger car design utilizing stainless steel as the principal structural material, has been added by Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company to its present low-alloy, high-tensile steel and aluminum alloy designs. Stainless steel was first applied by Pullman-Standard as exterior sheathing to passenger cars in 1936. Its use has subsequently extended to all exterior surfaces and recently to the entire superstructure of an 84-foot, 72 passenger coach sold to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Line. |  |
 | The J. Pinckney Henderson was built in 1954 by the Pullman-Standard Company for the MKT Railroad. The Henderson, which was a 72-seat coach for service on The Texas Special, was the first all-stainless-steel car constructed by P-S. The photograph on the left shows the J. Pinckney Henderson, named after the first governor of the American state of Texas, in Denison, Texas on August 2, 1964. This was its original paint scheme, as the entire Texas Special was a vibrant red. |
| The J. Pinckney Henderson has the distinction of serving Amtrak during two different periods and in two different capacities. During the 1970's, the Henderson ran in its original coach configuration on such trains as the Empire Builder, the California Zephyr and in Hiawatha service between Chicago and Milwaukee. The car was eventually placed in storage in Amtrak's Sunnyside Yard in New York. |  |
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In 1983, a private owner bought the derelict, vandalized car for scrap value and moved it to Hartsville, SC. It was here that the total renovation began - one that would eventually rebuild, replace or reconfigure nearly everything to prepare the J. Pinckney Henderson for its new role of transportation, restaurant and hotel. | |
| In August of 1991, Amtrak introduced an experimental luxury service called the Keystone Classic Club featuring the J. Pinckney Henderson. The KCC, which operated between New York and Pittsburgh, allowed ten passengers to enjoy delectable meals and impeccable service while traveling through the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside or over the Allegheny mountains. Photograph by Karl Zimmermann |
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| The J. Pinckney Henderson ,which is owned by the Lancaster & Chester Railway (The Spring Maid Line), has operated in continuous charter service (with the exception of the two years with the Keystone Classic Club) since 1989. |
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