Recently, while looking through an old issue of Trains Magazine from 1983, I found an ad from the Henry Ford Museum, advertising the reproduction combine and coach for sale. The ad says the cars were patterened after an 1865-built Jackson & Sharp coach, built for the BAR. Is this the BAR coach that is on display at the Henry Ford today? How did this car survive so long, before being purchased for the museum?

Also, what became of the two cars (combine and coach) the museum was selling? Were these the cars that ended up in Utah?

I dont know for sure, but I am thinking that that is the one at Henry Ford. Coupled to the observation end of Henry Fords personal railway car, Fairlane, is a combination car...

The combine coupled to the Fair Lane is a Detroit & Mackinac car donated in 1979 by the D&M.
There is only one BAR coach in the museum which is open for storytelling during the holiday season.
I believe that the remaining coaches still reside in Utah.

These cars were used for a train pulled by the Sam Hill/ President/ Satilla as you can see in this 1929 video.

Thanks Chris for the video. Very interesting.

Not to hijack my own thread, but I've noticed in your posts on updates on restoration activities, you've shown photos of an all-new leading truck being made for the 4-4-0 under restoration. Why is a new truck being made?

The new lead truck for Detroit & Lima Northern 7 is more flexible than the older one. The track at Greenfield Village contains some sharp curves so a swinging bolster will add some flexibility.


Old Truck


New Truck

The smaller 4-4-0 "Edison" has this same style lead truck as does Michigan Central 254 which is on static display.

Chris,

Thanks for the photos. My interest came from reading John White's article on the Edison's real origins. In the article, he stated that the lead truck wasn't that functional. I assume this was corrected.

The new one is a beauty!

The repro cars did end up in Utah. I have a newspaper article somewhere that says the owner was dealing with the Wasatch Mountain Railway to move them up to the Heber Creeper operation in the early 1980s. This never happened. They are supposedly in storage at Thanksgiving Point between Provo and Salt Lake City, but I've never seen them nor been able to find them there. Perhaps they're in storage.

Jeff Terry