One of a group of heavyweight passenger cars acquired by the late Jim Bradley in Connecticut that were moved to his property. This photo shows one being moved after donation to what is now the Railroad Museum of New England.http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ydate%3A61

There were six Pullmans in Jim's backyard; four went to RMNE, this one was bought by Valley RR (and was the first to move) and the last car was given by RMNE to a private owner, who moved it to his property in eastern Connecticut. The first five cars were moved during the first week in April 1991.

Dear Bob:As Howard noted, the GREAT REPUBLIC is owned and operated by The Valley Railroad as an extra fare car on it's trains out of Essex, Connecticut.Jim Bradley did a pretty good job of protecting the GREAT REPUBLIC. The roof was kept tight and windows repaired as needed.When we received the car it was nice, but not serviceable. Work on the car included rebuilding and reglazing all of the window (automotive safety plate), flush welded repair sections of the window posts and corner posts, rebuilding the platforms and traps, new vestibule doors, new diaphrams, sand blast, prime and paint the exterior (we have been able to conserve most of the interior paint), install new carpet, reupholster all of the chairs and install an RV toilet. We removed the shelves from a baggage storage area and installed a small bar. The alcove where the Porter had his seat now contains a small refigerator.Jim Bradley's nephew David painted a portrait of the namesake clipper ship. It is mounted in the car in the same location as the original portrait (long since missing).The car was used in the Spike Lee film "Malcom X", appropriate since Malcom X had worked as a Parlor Car Attendent and probably on the GREAT REPUBLIC.J.David