Since interesting topics sometimes pop up buried in unrelated topics, I thought this one should have its own thread. Especially since it was buried in a thread about a diesel preservation project, in which some here have a decided lack of interest. Passenger equipment, on the other hand, seems to be a universal interest even if only because it is pulled behind steam. (Insert smiley face here.) Below the summary is Stuart's original text, requesting information on the equipment owned by his family, some of which was brokered to the Waccamaw Coast Line (WCLR) in Myrtle Beach, SC.

IC RPO from Fulton, KY bridge crew (to Fillmore & Western)
Southern Ry HW coach 1066 (to WCLR)
Southern Ry HW coach ???? (to WCLR)
IC 2619 Gravier(sp?) used on City of New Orleans, orig. LW 64 seat coach converted to bunk car (to WCLR)
IC 2242 HW coach converted to bunk car (to Shortline Enterprises to Fillmore & Western)
IC 2904 HW coach converted to kitchen car
Pullman Mount Ouray (to WCLRR)
C&IM combine (to Monticello Railroad Museum)
N&W coachs (x2 at Illinois Railway Museum?)
L&N coach (to somewhere in Georgia?)
HW Observation from Mobile, AL (to Shortline Enterprises)
IC HW rebuilt Obs Paducah (to WCLR)

I think this is everything from the original text. Stuart, please correct or add info as you think appropriate.

Any help locating these pieces of equipment would be appreciated.



For some background history of us.... My brother and I's railroading interests stem from our dad, who passed away last year. After taking early retirement from the phone company and moving back to KY, dad thought it would be neat to start a living history village in Western Ky. He started aquiring vintage RR equipment in the 80's with the first piece of equipment being an x ICRR RPO that was used by the bridge crew in Fulton, KY. If I remember right, he purchased 2 x Southern Coaches from the TVRM bankruptcy. One was the 1066 and I don't remember the others number.

After that he bought 3 more IC cars that were used in the Carbondale, Ill wreck train. One was the former 2619, "Gravier(sp)" which was used on the City of New Orleans and was a 64 seat, lightweight coach originally. The other two cars were the 2242 and the 2904. Both were heavyweight coaches. The 2619 and 2242 were converted to bunk cars and the 2904 converted to a kitchen car. The IC cars were stored on the J&J RR in Hardin, KY and the IC RPO and Southern 1066 went to the C&J RR in Hopkinsville, Ky. He also tried to get the two wooden cabooses from the Cadiz RR, but they were cut up when the last 2 miles of track were donated to the city and converted to a walking trail (the first in KY I believe). The IC RPO and Southern 1066 were practically stolen when the C&J shut down and after learning of their departure from Hopkinsville, without dads permission, they were diverted to another RR for storage and ended up being sold. The 1066 went to Waccamaw Coastline as well as the other Southern coach and the IC 2619.

During this time, dad brokered the Mt Ouray to WCLRR and took the trucks in lew of commision as he had located an IC heavyweight diner that needed trucks. This car was cut up after CSX Jacksonville Mgnt gave the car to the newly formed nonprofit that dad was on the board of. Seems the local Yard wanted it off the property and didn't know what Corporate had planned for it.... Anyway, that's how the trucks were acquired. They were delivered and set off the truck and remained there until removed by Terry Kohler, Allen, Stephen and I. They were overgrown and one truck had a tree growing up through it.

Dad also owned a couple cabooses and bought Frisco 1506, a cafe-lounge and a heavyweight scribed sided observation car out of Mobile, AL. He ended up trading the observation car to Shortline Enterprises for putting 1506 back on live rail and turning the journals. He also sold IC 2242 to SE.

IC 2242 (last I heard) was on the Fillmore and Western as was the x IC RPO. Dad also owned an L&N coach that was bought for the possibility of using on another tourist railroad. When that fell through it was sold in route and went to somewhere in GA. I'm probably forgetting something, but I've probably bored all of you enough.

Dad came close to owning a couple steam locomotives, an E-8, a 65 ton Whitcomb and we also owned quite a collection of motorcars and other collectibles. The 20 ton Davenport was the last piece of equipment Dad worked on with me and the 44 ton GE was the last piece of equipment that we bought.

Dad also had a couple of other cars, like a C&IM combine and a couple N&W coaches. The combine was donated to Monticello RR Museum after dad decided it would never be moved and got tired of paying storage on it and the N&W coaches were claimed for storage by IRM.

Now, through all of this, my brother and I went through many railroad cars on Class 1's and various other locations, back when you could go in a yard without being harrassed and could go into a yard office and tell the yardmaster who you were and ask for permission to look at what you wanted and usually be granted permission. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of stuff you don't see anymore in yards on railroads.

I've tried for a couple years to find out what happened to various cars dad owned and the ones that interset me the most are the ones that went to Waccamaw CoastLine. There was a big group of cars that went there with some unique cars that wer rebuilt by the IC. One was the Obs Paducah. I belive I know where the Padcuah is, but I have yet to find out what happened to the two Southern coaches, the 2619 and the Mt Ouray which was a C of G observation. If any of you know, I'd like to know. As Stephen said, a group of cars were listed by DF Barnhardt for sale in North Carolina that were all in the process of being restored. They were in red oxide primer. One was a smooth sided coach of IC heritage and one was an observation car, and there were one or two heavyweight coaches and possibly and x NC&STL all steel baywindow caboose. I've heard that these cars were scrapped, but have never confirmed it.

Carolina Southern occasionally uses the two Southern coaches when they run excursions, I believe. It's been a while since I've braved the beach traffic over that way, but the one time I rode the line in Conway they were using two GP18s and two SOU coaches. The cars were in excellent condition.

SCRM was supposed to get the L&N coach at one point. In fact, last time I saw it it still had "SCRM" spray-painted on it. We were unable to move it. The reason I heard was that it had some strange kind of couplers that are barred from interchange, and we would have had to pay extra for a special move. This occurred back when we were really strapped so the car stayed put.

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for reposting. Just a clarification...

Dad didn't actually own the Paducah, but last I saw it was being used by the Carolina Southern.

IC 2904 was just sold to Aiken, SC as well as Frisco 1506 and a Seaboard M-5 caboose for a depot reconstruction project and display.

I think the other Southern Coach was the 1200. It had a damaged coupler at the time dad purchased it, best I remember.

The L&N coach had sharon couplers if I remember right.

Thanks,

Stuart

These two cars, N&W 1801 and 1804 if memory serves, were in extremely poor condition. After about 15 years of trying to give them away to anyone who would take them, IRM scrapped them around a month ago. Usable parts were retained for other restoration projects.

Matt,

A few years back I went up from Savannah to Myrtle Beach and then over to Conway following the Carolina Southern. There was a HW L&N coach in Conway, I believe. In any case, it was at the same location where the Carolina Southern keeps their trainset, including the Paducah.

Is this coach the same car as the one that was to go to SCRM, or did another L&N HW coach survive? I don't recall seeing "SCRM" painted on the car, but that doesn't mean anything. The car, in faded blue paint as I recall, was sitting unused on the same track as 2 cabooses. I'll have to find my photos and notes to get the numbers, if they were visible.

The two Southern heavyweights, 1204 and 1205, that are used by the Carolina Southern were formerly owned by the Roanoke Chapter NRHS. They were sold to Waccamaw in the 80's.

That's probably it. Last I saw it was a few years ago when CS did some short trips in downtown Conway. It was stored at the Conway depot along with a PV. The "SCRM" was just spray paint, it's probably faded off by now.

At the time it was offered, we were still running with cabooses and needed some sort of coach. If the CN cars hadn't come up we probably would have worked harder to find away around the problem with the Sharon couplers. While I would like to have a traditional heavyweight coach, a L&N coach wouldn't be much more appropriate on a SC shortline than the CN cars. The Canuks were a better deal because we could get four instead of just one (although the original plan was for just two), and they were interchange legal while the L&N car wasn't.

Anybody know if the SOU coaches we sold to Napa Valley to finance the move from Charleston to Rockton are still extant? That was before my time, so I'm not sure how many there were. I'd sure rather have them than those Canuk things, though.