Passenger Trains > ACME Tonopah's Regina Wendt and Company

The three cars of ACME Tonopah were at San Bernardino on December 27, 1991. It was the first run of Santa Fe 3751. Can anyone tell me the history of these three cars and if they are still running today?

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I don't know if the cars are still around, but I can give you an educated guess as to their ancestries:

The first car is a Pullman-Standard built 10 roomette/6 double bedroom sleeper; from the window shape, I'd guess a former New York Central "River" series car.

The second car is an ACF built 6 section/6 roomette/4 double bedroom sleeper, probably a former Union Pacific "American" series car.

The third car is a Pull-Standard built former Canadian National 2 bedroom/2 compartment/buffet lounge "Cape" series car.

Would love to know if they're still running, and if my guesses are on the mark.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.

I was on that train.First excursion run of the 3751 LA to Bakersfield and back.One of the engineers was a retired SP engineer, Vince "The Godfather" Cipola! Ran steam on the SP.Coming back from Bakersfield,the 3751 lost its footing in one of the tunnels on Tehachapi and spun out.Blew all the accumulated soot off the over head and got all over those two FP45s helpers.Spent most of the night in Barstow cleaning them up!

Paul Bliss
Oxnard CA

The Cape Brule is indeed running as the FRA " Safety " Car you see on the boards with the test
car on the rear. The car is now Penna. Tuscan Red. I do not know the whereabouts of the other cars
but the NYC sleeper was sold to CN RR then to VIA then to me, then to the Lowe Family of
Southern Cal. Charlie and his son were very active members at Perris ( Orange Empire ). The other
car was a former UP American Series car from the Finley Fun Time Tours equipment list if my memory
serves me correctly. I hope this will be of assistance. Cheerio
John Baldwin

The NORMA PETERSEN was originally built by Pullman Standard in Sept 1948 to March 1949 as NYC 10 roomette - 6 double bedroom #10213 HOCKING RIVER. Sold to CN in 1965, renamed SASKATCHEWAN RIVER #2087. Transferred to VIA. Sold to John Baldwin. Sold to Hartwell-Lowe Co., converted to 8-6 NORMA PETERSEN. Sold to Black-Wong Railcar Leasing. Donated by Brad Black to Western New York National Railway Historical Society in 2002. It has been kept in excellent condition and will be returned to original NYC colors in the near future. On display and stored at the Medina Railroad Museum in Medina, New York. See photo at http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/passenger.htm

Kevin Moore
Clarion, PA

The Regina Wendt is in fact at Orange Empire in Perris, CA.
It is ex Union Pacific National Scene 6/6/4. It was donated by the
Lowe family. Here is a pic from the OERM website.

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Will be nice to see another River series sleeper back doing the Central proud.

The Two Rivers, formerly the NYC Scioto River and the CN Hay River about a year ago at Seattle's King St Station. And yes, stripes, still to come...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/10 21:02 by Pullman.

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Saskatchewan River in Vancouver, not my photo was copied off trainorders last year

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