Nostalgia & History > Al Chione Dupe Slides: GN Passenger Cars, Part 5

After a month-long hiatus on this series of posts, here are the next 4 slides (#17-#20), of a total of 244 Al Chione dupes of passenger cars I've acquired on eBay.  Just to review, the first 60 slides are GN cars, then the next 80 are CB&Q, followed by 60 AT&SF, 40 PRR, and 4 slides of NP, CB&Q, and GN cars in that order.  When I acquired these slides, there were no description sheets save for the last set of 20 PRR slides, which lists the location and date, but not the original photographer.  So, applying to all of these slides, if anybody can identify who took these slides, when, or where, this would be very helpful!  Thanks in advance!

For anybody who's interested, here are the first 4 GN parts and a single PRR slide I had posted:

PRR 11DB sleeper Elberton

GN Passenger Cars, Part 1

GN Passenger Cars, Part 2

GN Passenger Cars, Part 3

GN Passenger Cars, Part 4

Anyways, here are the first 2 slides for this post:

Photo #17: modernized heavyweight 78 seat coach #952.  Built in 1914 by Barney & Smith in Lot #3666 as GN double-vestibuled 84 seat coach #4502, 1 of 30 such cars (#4500-#4529) built in that Lot, which were later renumbered to #950-#979.  #4500-#4509 had 84 seats and #4510-#4529 had 85 seats.  The #952 was modernized in 1935 with ice-activated air conditioning and a women's lounge, with seating reduced to 78 (still the original walkover coach seats).  By 1966, the 10'6"-wheelbase trucks with 5"x9" journals had been replaced with cast steel 11'-wheelbase trucks with 5½"x10" roller bearing journals.  By the November 1968 diagram folio, the #952 and several other cars from this Lot which had been modernized, but not streamlined, were no longer on the roster.  Some of the cars which had been streamlined were also retired by that point in time, including the #955 featured in Part 3, Photo #9.  The 1968 folio only lists 6 cars from this Lot, 5 of them streamlined: #954, #956, #959, #961, #964 (modernized, but not streamlined), and #966.  In comparison, the January 1966 diagram folio still listed #951-#966, #969, and #974-#979.  The #952 was 1 of 4 cars from this Lot which were later acquired by a private owner and stored at the industrial park in Pasco, WA.  (Pasco is 1 of 3 cities which make up the Tri-Cities.)  This private owner uses/used the NRE reporting mark, for "Northwestern Rail Equipment".  The 4 cars from this Lot which were NRE owned were the #952, #970, #973, and #978, all of which were in MofW red paint, but at this time I don't know the GN or BN MofW numbers for these cars.  Beginning last Fall, I began receiving reports and seeing photos which confirm that the NRE collection of GN heavyweight and lightweight cars stored both in Pasco (heavyweight) and Walla Walla (lightweight) have been or will shortly be scrapped.  The only NRE cars which have evaded the cutting torch are: heavyweight business car #A26 (moved to Portland c. 2005, damaged by fire set by vandals in April 2006 and since sold to another private owner who plans to restore the car), #973 (moved to Portland c. 2005; I don't know for certain if the #973 is still in Portland, but likely stored somewhere in the metro area), and 16 duplex roomette-4 double bedroom (16DXR-4DB) sleeper #1186 Pumpelley Glacier, built by P-S in 1950 in Lot #6890 to Plan #4108A, which was acquired by a private owner (who lives in Ft. Worth) in 2011 and moved to Iowa for planned work, which has since been put on hold/cancelled.  Anyways, this photo of #952 was identified by Railway Preservation News (RYPN) forum member "HudsonL" as taken in "Two Harbors, MN, on a DM&IR fantrip."  Notice the NP arched-vestibule-door heavyweight in Loewy Two-Tone Green to the right of #952.

Photo #18: wood (with steel underframe) 30' RPO-baggage-express #83, 1 of 22 such cars (#72-#93) built by AC&F in 1913, originally #800-#821, later renumbered (before 1930) to clear the #8xx-series for coaches built by B&S in 1910 which were previously in the #41xx-series.  The 1952 diagram folio shows that several cars were steel-sheathed: #73 (applied in 1926), #78, #79, #82, #84, #92, and at least one other car that had been stricken from the roster.  I don't have specific disposition info for the #83, but at least 7 cars were later transferred to the MofW department.  Location of this photo is unknown.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/15 19:36 by Rainier_Rails.

Next 2:

Photo #19: Ranch Car #1244 White Pines Lake, 1 of 6 such cars (#1240-#1245) built by AC&F in Lot #3445 for the Mid-Century Empire Builder.  This Lot was ordered in October 1949 and cars were delivered between October 1950 and March 1951.  These cars had a western/ranch motif and decor, with a 14 seat lunch counter, a 12 seat dinette (consisting of 2 4-seat tables and 2 2-seat tables, all angled), and an 18 seat lounge.  #1243 Iceberg Lake was one of several cars transferred to CB&Q ownership in 1953 as part of mileage equalization.  #1240 Crossley Lake was retired in 1971 and scrapped and the #1244 was retired in 1971 and sold to Arvid Benson in Moorhead, MN.  The remaining 4 cars were sold in 1974 to Amtrak as #8150-#8153, which replaced the dinette and lounge sections with 34 dining seats.  Anyways, Benson later sold the #1244 to Ralph Day for the Biddeford Station in Biddeford, ME.  Day was a board member of the Seashore Trolley Museum, and had planned Biddeford Station to be the terminus of Seashore's demonstration/main line.  When the items at Biddeford went up for sale several years ago, the #1244 was purchased by Barry Fromm for the Depot Conference Center in Columbus, OH.  RYPN member "Don C." identified the location as the "Racetrack", specifically, Naperville, IL.

Photo #20: 4 section-8 duplex roomette-3 double bedroom-1 compartment (4S-8DXR-3DB-1C) sleeper #1264 Bad Axe River, built in 1950 by P-S in Lot #6889 to Plan #4181, 1 of 16 such cars (#1260-#1274 and SP&S #702) built in that Lot for the Mid-Century Empire Builder.  This Lot was ordered in October 1949 and cars were delivered between November and December 1950.  One of the duplex roomettes was always assigned to the car's Pullman Porter (roomette #1, lower roomette, "aisle side", towards the vestibule, seen in this photo directly above the #1264), so many of the source materials, including GN diagrams, list these cars as 4-7-3-1 instead.  In 1953, 3 of these cars (#1266, #1269, #1273) were transferred to CB&Q ownership as part of mileage equalization.  In 1963, 5 of the still-GN-owned cars (#1260, #1262, #1263, #1264, #1274) were rebuilt to Plan #4181A, with 8 duplex roomettes, 6 double bedrooms, and 1 compartment (8DXR-6DB-1C).  In 1974, 3 of the rebuilt cars (#1262, #1264, #1274) were sold to Amtrak as #2400-#2402, which classified the compartment as a 7th bedroom.  Of the other 2 rebuilt cars, #1260 Skykomish River was renumbered/renamed in 1976 to BN #A22 Stevens Pass (2nd) for use as a dormitory car in the business fleet, and the #1263 was retired in 1971 and transferred to the MofW department.  The 3 cars transferred to CB&Q in 1953 were retired in 1970 and sold: 1 to Steamtown, 1 to NRM (Green Bay), and 1 to the Lake Shore RHS.  Concerning the other 8 cars, all of which were retired in 1971: #1271 Fraser River was sold to NdeM as #647 Barcelona, SP&S #702 Snake River was sold to the Wyoming State Historical Society, and the remainder were transferred to the MofW department.  Back to the #1264/#2401 Bad Axe River: Amtrak retired the car in July 1981, and it was sold in 1982 to the Anbel Corportation (ANBX) in Brownsville, TX, which brokered/prepped numerous cars for use in Mexico.  However, the Bad Axe River is not listed in Robert J. Wayner's "The Cars That Went to Mexico," meaning that the car was either scrapped or sold to an unknown party, either in the U.S. or Canada.  Does anyone have further info on the disposition/further sale of the Bad Axe River?  Thanks in advance!  This photo was taken in Denver, date unknown.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/15 22:35 by Rainier_Rails.