More Rolling Stock Up For Grabs At Royal Gorge Scenic, Co.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu Jan 04, 2018 5:16 pm

Reposting this from a Facebook post this morning by Wasatch Railroad Contractors; there was a former Southern Pacific NW2 at the site successfully claimed from an earlier post, so I'm happy to repost this here, with additional notes by me:

Quote:

WRC, in participation with the Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Canon City, Colorado, has a number of items that need to find new homes. Items include older (60s-70s) rolling stock and:

• One (1) 50 ft. double-door box car, DRGW 63376
• One (1) 40 ft. wood-deck flat car, CRRX 5046
• One (1) baggage car [SP "Econo-Bag," 2010 photo at http://kantrak1.rrpicturearchives.net/s ... id=2179496 ] [UPDATE: The "for sale" status of this car is disputed below....]
• Two (2) bi-level commuter coaches [ex-Chicago Metra, nee-C&NW]
• One (1) open air car - partially finished conversion project from a passenger car.
• One (1) full-dome car, former Southern Pacific [home-converted by SP 1954 from 1938 car using Budd kit, technically considered "3/4-Dome" car by purists--in very derelict condition]

If you are interested in any of the items shown, please email: info@wrrc.us

DO NOT CONTACT THE ROYAL GORGE ROUTE RAILROAD DIRECTLY!

In order to acquire an item, please send us a formal purchase proposal for the item, as well as proof that you can move the item quickly off the property. Purchased items must be removed within 30 days. All reasonable offers will be reviewed and considered. Some of the items may become railroad-worthy and capable of railroad interchange. Others may need to be trucked or loaded on flat cars for transport. Acquiring organizations can work on the RGR property as long as they have proof of insurance and list RGR as additional insured.

Items not purchased may end up being scrapped on location. Contact WRC today!

The Facebook post in question, which includes photos of all but the open-air conversion car:
https://www.facebook.com/Wasatch.RR.Con ... 6420416799

All appear to have roller bearings.

Let's put in the usual disclaimers: I have no financial interest in these, I know nothing about condition, clear ownership, close cover before striking, objects in mirror are closer than they appear, yada yada yada.

NS 3322 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 04, 2018 7:22 pm

Did Royal Gorge sell the yard to a developer?

Lincoln Penn · **Joined:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:40 pm **Posts:** 788

NS 3322 wrote:

Did Royal Gorge sell the yard to a developer?

Royal Gorge never owned the yard. It was leased from an entity who suddenly decided to sell the yard area and RG had to vacate the property quickly.

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 568

Here's what the dome looked like in the fifties (not sure if any of these photos are of the same car):

Crescent-Zephyr · **Joined:** Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm **Posts:** 125

That's a really cool type of dome car, I wasn't aware that this type ever existed.

EJ Berry · **Posted:** Thu Jan 04, 2018 11:46 pm

These domes were interesting; Espee had clearance issues and couldn't use standard domes. Instead they built their own design domes on the frames of older cars.

New-build domes have two levels with a step-down under the dome. The SP domes were on old frames and could not be bilevel; the passage through the car went through the raised floor of the viewing part the dome. The dome ran the full length of the car and the lounge in the 1/4 area was at usual floor level with the dome above as a high skylight.

Even Amtrak used these cars on #5-6.

Phil Mulligan

Ddatrainman · **Joined:** Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:08 pm **Posts:** 33

More some interior pictures from the 50(s?) for the dome

http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/dome2.html

Pass car photo index says (ex-AMTK 9374, exx-SP 3605, nee-10312) SP LW 3/4 dome rblt. from LW tavern - lounge.

Certainly an interesting dome only sitting 15 feet and a couple of inches tall very versatile

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 568

Ddatrainman wrote:

More some interior pictures from the 50(s?) for the dome

http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/dome2.html

Pass car photo index says (ex-AMTK 9374, exx-SP 3605, nee-10312) SP LW 3/4 dome rblt. from LW tavern - lounge.

Certainly an interesting dome only sitting 15 feet and a couple of inches tall very versatile

Here it is as an Amtrak car in 1975:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mbernero/23764333230

Thomas Cornillie · **Joined:** Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:19 pm **Posts:** 73

This website has a list of the dispositions of all of the home-built SP dome cars:

http://www.trainweb.org/web_lurker/SPf/

I suggest taking a look at the link for SP 3603 for photos of an extensive rebuilding effort carried out in the early 2000s.

softwerkslex · **Posted:** Fri Jan 05, 2018 1:45 pm

You mean 3/4 height. When I first read that, I thought, "Looks more like 7/8 to me."

Topfuel · **Joined:** Sun Aug 29, 2004 4:49 pm **Posts:** 370

"You mean 3/4 height. When I first read that, I thought, "Looks more like 7/8 to me."

The commonly used "SP 3/4 dome" does refer to the length of the dome section, not the height of the dome. It also really refers to car 3600, which was the prototype the SP built prior to the 6 production cars. The dome area really did cover about 3/4 of the length of that car. The 6 production homebuilt SP domes were more accurately 7/8th's domes, as their dome sections covered about 7/8ths of the length of those cars.

car57 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 05, 2018 9:59 pm

It should be noted that the SP baggage is NOT included in the sale, but the British Columbia 'Lions Bay' cafe car is included, whilst heavily vandalised it still has a real air of greatness inside.

Lincoln Penn · **Joined:** Wed Feb 02, 2011 9:40 pm **Posts:** 788

car57 wrote:

It should be noted that the SP baggage is NOT included in the sale, but the British Columbia 'Lions Bay' cafe car is included, whilst heavily vandalised it still has a real air of greatness inside.

The SP car is listed as for sale in the OP

car57 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 06, 2018 10:45 pm

I was advised by the owners that the baggage is not for sale.

Mtn3781 · **Joined:** Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:30 pm **Posts:** 41

So is the SP dome car still interchangable? If not what would it take? Ballpark figure on what it would cost to have it moved to GA?

Are there any other cars that had atriums in them? And of the 7 it appears there are only 2 left. Is that right?

Anybody have the floorplan with the dimensions or where would I find them? I hear windows on train cars are expensive. How much are you looking at just to get the windows fixed? What's under the raised up section, just storage?

If you are kicking the tires, what else do you want to know or to look for?

More Rolling Stock Up For Grabs At Royal Gorge Scenic, Co.

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