Nostalgia & History > old ATSF lounge car

I've already posted several pictures that I took of old Alcos. These were mostly old RS1s and RS2s that were sitting dead in a scrap yard west of El Paso in a community named Vinton Texas, in about 1977 or so. Across the road in another storage yard was this ex Santa Fe lounge car, and it still looked servicible at that time, and not in any kind of peril in getting cut up and melted down. I think that this car is someone's PV today.

Con

---

I asked and received permission to cross under the barbed wire fence that surrounded that yard to take a couple of pictures. Here is a shot of the interior of that car as it appeared that day. If I took any notes on the number of that car, I can't find them. I'm a heck of a historian I guess.

Con

---

Could that be Navajo? I don't recall the antenna being on the roof and the decor is not as delivered but these things could have been modified over the years. I think I'm correct that only the earliest Budd cars had curtains instead of blinds? Anyone?

pecosvalleychief Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Could that be Navajo? I don't recall the antenna
> being on the roof and the decor is not as
> delivered but these things could have been
> modified over the years. I think I'm correct that
> only the earliest Budd cars had curtains instead
> of blinds? Anyone?


I think this is one of the six 1390-1395 bar lounge dorms built in 1946 for the Super Chief. The cars were ordered from Budd before the war but were not delivered until '46. The cars were ordered in anticipation of making the Super Chief daily but arrived two years earlier than the full complement of cars making a trainset.

Although the cars had ornate interiors (the above car has been stripped and heavily modified) they were not as splendid as the 1937 lounge cars on Super I. The P-S lounges later built for the Super were even less ornate (I would even call them spartan in appearance).

The car has been re-equipped with Commonwealth OSH disc brake trucks which is somewhat of anomaly for pre-war Santa Fe cars. Apparently, this car is the 1391 as the other cars in the series were sold for scrap in the late 1960's. The oddball car went to Amtrak in 1971 and became their 3382. The car was eventually retired and later sold in 1982 to John Threadgold, Houston TX. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Bob

Is the car still around? Nice photos. Too bad it is almost 30 years ago. I wonder what the car looks like today? Nice car!

The Navajo is at the Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden, Colorado

There was a guy that worked for the Georgetown Railroad that had obtained a former Santa Fe lounge car not too long after I took these photos. He stored it on an old grain mill siding in Georgetown for a long time. The last time that I talked to him about it, he said that he was trying to sell the car. I haven't seen the car now for 3 or 4 years, so I reckon that he was successful in selling it. I've often wondered if this fellow's car was the same car that I'd seen and photographed at that scrapyard, but I never asked him where his car had come from. It seems like he might have said that it had been with Amtrak though. This guy's first name was Mark, but I don't want to reveal his full identity here. Those of you who are familiar with the GRR or old passenger cars will probably know who I'm talking about. Neither the car that Mark had, nor the car that was in that scrapyard had any traces of Amtrak paint on them that I can remember, so who knows?

Con

This car is the former AT&SF 1393. It was one of the 3 cars from the series (out of 6) that was refurbished for service on the Texas Chief circa 1955. They were the 1390, 1392, & 1393. It is believed that the OSH disk brake trucks were added at that time since all 3 of the Texas Chief cars received the OSH trucks. These cars were built with double drop equalizer inside swing hanger trucks. The Texas Chief cars retained the original floor plan, with the exception of the lounge which was re-decorated with wood grain formica wainscotting and window sills, new chairs and tables, and earth-tone paint colors. The interior photo of the car shown by xtra1188w shows the lounge area that is in fact fairly intact and un-modified from it's Santa Fe days at that point, with the exception of most of the Texas Chief furniture missing, as well as several other odds and ends decor-wise such as the prickly pear cactus speaker grill that goes on the front of the bar.

All but the 1391 were retired by AT&SF and sold for scrap after the big blood bath in 1968. There are 4 of these cars that are known to survive. The 1390 and 94 are believed scrapped. The 1391 went to Amtrak and is now privately owned in Southern California. It is being heavily modified into a private car configuration. The 1392 is in Syracuse, NY after having been partially gutted by Speno for use as a dorm car. It is for sale but needs lots of work. (Make offer) The 1395 had the dormitory bulldozed years ago and is now in tourist service on the Verde Canyon Train. Other than the dorm having been gutted, it is fairly original, having not been converted to a Texas Chief car.

The car in question, the 1393, continued to sit at El Paso Iron and Metal until 1988 when it was purchased by a passenger car enthusiast from So Cal. It was somewhat more vandalized between 1977 and 1988 - with the requisit bums living in it, etc, but was still remarkably intact, considering it had been left wide open for years at that point.
Since purchase, many of the missing parts have been replaced and the car is undergoing a slow restoration. It still retains the crew dormitory and the former barber shop area turned stewards room (with shower). There are no current plans to bring the car up to Amtrak standards but the owner does plan to restore the Steam Ejector AC system and operate it on occasion just for fun. It is stored on the LA Junction RY in the City of Commerce and is in very good hands.

As an aside, the car that was on the Georgetown RR was actually owned by the President of the RR. It has been operating on the Austin Steam Train for a number of years. It is one of the PS 1950 Super Chief dorm lounge cars (but without a bar - that was in the Pleasure Dome car). It also was converted to a private car configuration. The dorm was gutted and replaced with 2 bedrooms.

After 37 years I think the law of limitations is probably in your favor and even if you didn't get permission to cross a fence nobody here will rat you out. I promise I won't after tat many years, glad you got the photo.