Western Railroad Discussion > ATSF Maintenance of Way sleepers

Heading back to East Texas from business in Shreveport, LA i spotted something i never noticed in the numerous times I've passed. Less than half a mile from the Louisiana state line in Waskom TX, i spotted i believe 5 or 6 ATSF sleepers sitting in an overgrown field. These sleepers are near the UP Riesor sub, but no tracks lead up to them anymore. The 2 sleeper #'s i could identify were ATSF 203902 & 203904. Both had "sleeper car men" and "MW" stenciled on them. Internet research turns up not much so I'm hoping y'all here might know their history or how they ended up here. Pictures were taken on phone and the cars are on private property so i couldn't get too close.

1. View of ATSF 203902, you can see the other A/C units on the cars behind it.

2. Same car, but numbers are more visibly seen. You can see another car to the left.

3. View of 203904 from the side.

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View of the 203904 unit with another to the left. There were about 4 more behind the one on the left, including 203902.

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The best I can give is that they are former RPO Baggage cars from ATSF Pass fleet.
Charlie
MP 53 on the BNSF Topeka Sub

nikon1 Wrote:

> The best I can give is that they are former RPO
> Baggage cars from ATSF Pass fleet.

Not even that fancy - they were plain old 74-foot semi-lightweight baggages built by Pullman in 1963 and converted to living cars for MW service. ATSF 203902 is the ex-3905 and 203904 is ex-3917. I think these particular cars were among the last of their type still in use as late as the mid-90's - part of a system steel gang. They had received further upgrades including those rooftop A/C units in the late 1980's, and were painted white instead of Santa Fe's usual aluminum MW scheme.

http://binged.it/SBqUxz

Well i knew i could get something interesting back! Thanks for responding Evan. I didn't know quite their history or how they got there, but abandoned cars like this is always interesting to know about.

Posted from Android

I saw these in Needles back in the 90's, they were used for the Navajo MOW gangs...

I find it rather strange for the two container chassis to be there. From the overhead shot that Evan has posted the link to it looks like whoever owns the property probably owns a truck as well from the tire tracks that are visible.

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR