Passenger Trains > Rock Island

Rock Island Pullman-Standard Cars. La Quinta, La Jolla and Observation Car. Anyone know where these pictures were taken?

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More Pictures...

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Don't know where they are, although Kansas would be a guess. They look to be in pretty good shape though - if I'm not mistaken, these are cars originally built for the never-launched Golden Rocket that spent most of their working lives on the Golden State instead.

Dave

DavidP Wrote:
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> Don't know where they are, although Kansas would
> be a guess. They look to be in pretty good shape
> though - if I'm not mistaken, these are cars
> originally built for the never-launched Golden
> Rocket that spent most of their working lives on
> the Golden State instead.
>
> Dave

La Jolla and La Quinta were once owned by Finlay Fun-Time Tours based in California. The obs may also be the ex-Frisco car that they owned.

Hate to see nice cars parked out in the open.

Bob

I found these passenger cars a while back (3 years to be exact) on a winery tour in the Paso Robles area of California. These were parked out in the back of the Sylvester Winery. Below are two image captures from Google Earth showing the railcars at the Winery and the location of the winery with respect to the city of Paso Robles. I assume that nothing has changed since I took the photos. Definitely a pleasant surprise in what I thought would be a day indulging my wife in one of her passions.

bnsfbob is correct in that these seem to be previously owned by Finlay Fun Time Tours - you can still see the outline of this on the side of the car in the last photo. It would be interesting to know a little more about the history of these cars. The sleepers seem to be in pretty much original condition.

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That's an interesting little bridge under the La Quinta - not 100% sure, but it looks like about six feet of unsupported rail. Am I right in thinking that there is no way you could move that car without jacking up that section first?

BNSF Bob is correct. These cars were once owned by Finlay Fun Time Tours. The obs is ex SLSF 1350 Joseph Pulitzer built by PS in 1948. The Rock Island cars were, as stated, built for the
Golden Rocket. The Rock Island cars were the only ones built for the train before the order was canceled. The cars ended up as part of the Golden State consist, but continued to carry Golden Rocket on the name boards for many years. When the cars were owned by Finlay Tun Time Tours, they carried the names Elihu C. Redfield (Joseph Pulitzer), Stones River (La Quinta) and Glen Annie (La Jolla).

At least they shouldn't get tagged at the winery.

We visited this location just yesterday (2/22/09). Here are a few more pics:
http://www.jf2.com/pbjrr/090222.html

At the bottom of the same page are a few pics from another winery about 15 minutes away that also has some railcars on display at the property - Pomar Junction Winery, Templeton, CA.

To shiny rails,
Jamie