During the waning days of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, NJDOT acquired numerous passenger cars, from across the country, to replace the bankrupt railroad’s aged fleet. Among those cars were coaches from western railroads like Union Pacific, and Great Northern, and they were overhauled with commuter seats to double their capacity. These cars were notable to the commuters who rode them, because most went into service without being repainted. This meant that trains looked like veritable rainbows with bright blue, green, and orange paint schemes together with the CNJ’s red and dark blue locomotives.

Among these coaches were many that ran on Great Norther’s famed “Empire Builder,” a long-haul train that ran from Chicago to Seattle. Many still wore their distinctive paint and lettering – earning this fleet the moniker of the “Jersey Builder” cars. Eight of these cars were retired by NJ Transit and donated for preservation to the United Railroad Historical Society of NJ. URHS secured grant funding to renovate them for historic train rides for the public.