Nostalgia & History > Three Very Different Northern Pacific Passenger Cars

1. NP North Coast Limited Observation Car 390 at St. Paul on June 14, 1964. Built by Pullman Standard in 1948 as 85 foot "Rainier Club" and now is at the Lake Superior Museum of Transportation according to the NP Historical Society. Jerry LaBoda's page* says she is (ex-Rainier Club) light weight, 4 double bedroom, 1 compartment, buffet lounge observation rebuilt from 5 double bedroom, buffet lounge observation. The other car in the picture is SP&S 366 built by Pullman Standard in 1948 as "Portland" as a 8-6-3-1 Pullman according to the NP Historical Society.

2. I found this old guy, NP Coach 1923, in St. Paul on June 9, 1964. I can find very little on this car. It was at the now defunct Kettle Moraine Scenic Railway which shut down in 2001. I hope someone has further information.


Enjoy,
Marty Bernard


*http://passcarphotos.info/Indices/NP.htm



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/14 16:58 by MartyBernard.

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Great stuff. Please do not slow down on your delivery of NP equipment.

Rick

Thanks Marty.

Equally interesting is the SP&S 8 Duplex Roomette, 3 Double Bedroom, 1 Compartment, 6 Roomette Pullman as the next car forward!

Hu

Also, I believe the NP sleeper obs 390 is the only one of the class that received the experimental "lobster bib" treatment of the narrow white stripe widening out at the obs end to highlight the drumhead.

Great stuff. There's quite a few closet NP folks on here.

Some of them refer to it as the RR before the MRL. It's all good.

After doing a great deal of digging, I found that you are correct, Marty,
the NP 1923 was at the Kettle Moraine Scenic Railway as of 1996. It was
listed as a coach. According to Jerry LaBoda the car had been an instruction
car on the NP. I did some checking in my NP materials and found that
NP converted a number of 16 section sleepers to coaches during the 1920s.
By the window appearance it appears to be a prior to 1908 Pullman product.
I also noticed what appears to be screens on the windows .... just a guess,
but I would say this car spent the last years of its life on the NP as a
coach on locals in Northern Minnesota (where the mosquitos have 1/2 inch
drives! On the photos at North Lake, WI, in 1996, the screens are gone.
Thanks again, Marty, for sharing the good stuff!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/14 19:20 by SR2.

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> 1. NP North Coast Limited Observation Car 390 at
> St. Paul on June 14, 1964. Built by Pullman
> Standard in 1948 as 85 foot "Rainier Club" and now
> is at the Lake Superior Museum of Transportation
> according to the NP Historical Society.

Yes, the 390 is in service at Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth.

-John

Topfuel Wrote:
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> Also, I believe the NP sleeper obs 390 is the only
> one of the class that received the experimental
> "lobster bib" treatment of the narrow white stripe
> widening out at the obs end to highlight the
> drumhead.

Correct about the stripe. As Marty noted, car 390 is now in the Lake Superior Museum of Transportation in Duluth, MN. Following are a couple pictures I took in summer 2013 when visiting there; I apologize, but the lighting and angles were very poor. As you can see, the car is now painted in the narrow rap around stripe similar to the remaining five cars.

Marty --- keep them coming! These are fantastic, thanks so much for posting them.

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Topfuel Wrote:
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> Also, I believe the NP sleeper obs 390 is the only
> one of the class that received the experimental
> "lobster bib" treatment of the narrow white stripe
> widening out at the obs end to highlight the
> drumhead.

Kuebler's book on the North Coast Limited has a photo of CB&Q 483 also with the bib, but indicates that car only wore the bib for about three years.

BSB

Thanks for more great pictures, Marty. This is the first time I have seen the so-called 'bib' on the NP obs. and I think it looks sharp. I will pay even more attention to NP passenger photos now. Their paint design is first place in my book! Thanks also for the interesting link.

Rich

TCnR Wrote:
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There's quite a few closet NP folks
on here.

Yes. Yes there are. When Mary Ann and I went up to Yellowstone in Sept. 2002, I made sure we kept going far enough west (St. Regis and beyond) to experience -- and photograph -- the remaining active semaphores along the Clark Fork River route.

Finding a motel room in Missoula on a Saturday night -- during Homecoming -- was an adventure in-and-of itself!

Terrific trip!

Pat from Littleton, CO.

Is this the same car? This was an excursion on the Escanaba & Lake Superior RR August 30, 1987.

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mp51w Wrote:
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> Is this the same car? This was an excursion on
> the Escanaba & Lake Superior RR August 30, 1987.


Indeed it is. John Larkin of the E&LS is a major
supporter of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, and
is on its Board.