Nostalgia & History > F Unit Friday: Spirit of Washington Dinner Train

Another 2 slides purchased on eBay, from the same source as the slides I posted earlier of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar, the Empire Builder, and the Coast Starlight, taken in Fall 1996.  These 2 slides show the Washington Central's Spirit of Washington Dinner Train consist parked at the Renton station in the early morning.

1) F7A's #100 and #102.  A little history on these 2:

The #100 was built in June 1952 as B&LE F7A #723A (Order No. 3105, Serial No. 16595, Frame No. 3105-A9).  It was later transferred to US Steel as USSX #723A (the "A" was later dropped) and assigned to the iron ore line in Wyoming.  It was later acquired by Texas Southern in approx. 1987 as #100 and painted in the Warbonnet-inspired paint scheme, and was later repainted for the Transcisco Texan operation--when Washington Central later purchased the unit for use with the dinner train, the Transcisco paint job was mirrored in WCRC black and red.  The #100 was later sold to the Carrizo Gorge Railway sometime after WCRC began using ex-B&O/MARC F9PHA units #82 and #84.

The #102 was built in June 1952 as B&LE F7A #724A (o/n 3105, s/n 16596, f/n 3105-A10).  It was later transferred to US Steel as USSX #724A (the "A" was later dropped) and assigned to the iron ore line in Wyoming.  It follows the same ownership and paint scheme history as the #100.

Transcisco's Texas operation also used a B unit, the #101, which is now also owned by the Carrizo Gorge RY.  The #101 is still in the Transcisco paint scheme, with MCHX reporting marks, which apparently currently belongs to "Trinity Rail Management".  I don't know if this unit came directly from Texas, or if it was also acquired by Washington Central and sold to CZRY at the same time as the #100 and #102.

2) Passenger car consist, including former Santa Fe short dome lounge #501, former Milwaukee Road full dome lounge #59, and UP short dome diner #8000.  Also visible is an unidentified diner, a former Santa Fe chair converted to a table car, and a round end observation originally built for the Reading's Crusader.  Seen at far left in front of the AT&SF dome is another former Santa Fe chair converted to an open car.  Not seen is a former NYC #91xx-series end door baggage car rebuilt to the HEP generator car.  These 2 cars can be seen behind the F Units in the first photo.

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That was a fun operation. I prefered the B&LE units over the "sort of" ex B&O F's.

One of the highlights of the operation was the street running in Renton on Hauser Way. Here is the B&LE set leading the "Spirit" north on the road.

Brian E

 

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Just a small correction to add to Rainier_Rails post,

The 100 and 102 plus the 101 B unit were never owned by Carrizo Gorge Railway.
They are owned by East County Dirt Works, a privately owned company and leased to
CZRY.

I spent many hours running and maintaining these units while working for CZRY!

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the correction on the current ownership of the #100-#102!

Another nothing paint scheme; the designer must have practiced with SILVER FOOT.