I was recently reading a book on the SP where someone mentioned seeing two former SP "Shasta Daylight" triple-unit diners stored in the houston area.

They were still painted in "Daylight" red, orange and black until 1972. What I wanted to know is, are these cars still in existence? Or did the SP scrap them? IF they did or didn't? How would anyone know?

calgrizzly@gay.com

South of Tyler, Texas is the little community of Flint. Outside Flint is the Whistle Stop Ranch owned by B.B. Garrett (not sure if still alive). There is a triple section lounge car but not sure if it is one of the SP type. One section was used for dining while one was for crews quarters/kitchen and the last section was for a lounge/bar. This info is from "Texas Trains" by Richard K. Troxell but I have driven by the location and the equipment is still in place (with a lot more!).

retsquid@tvec.net

> South of Tyler, Texas is the little
> community of Flint. Outside Flint is the
> Whistle Stop Ranch owned by B.B. Garrett
> (not sure if still alive). There is a triple
> section lounge car but not sure if it is one
> of the SP type. One section was used for
> dining while one was for crews
> quarters/kitchen and the last section was
> for a lounge/bar. This info is from
> "Texas Trains" by Richard K.
> Troxell but I have driven by the location
> and the equipment is still in place (with a
> lot more!).

Mr Garrett has quite a collection of equipment. He has the SP Triple unit diner, as well as some ex Amtrak from a derailment in the past as well as some SSW wooden cabooses. He was a SSW/SP agent. There was a second articulated diner that sat in Tyler by the old Bordon milk plant. I saw it several times and tried to photograph it once. Most of the windows were out. I was told it was sold to Lone Star Steel of Dangerfield? and they were going to make an employee clubhouse out of it, but it was scrapped. The last time I was at his ranch 10 to 15 years ago the diner was in great shape on the inside. The one at his ranch was in the silver with red paint while if memory servs me the old one in Tyler was in daylight paint.
John Linda
Waco, Tx.

jlinda@hot.rr.com

The one at the Whistle Stop Ranch is one of the pre-war sets from the Lark. The other one that was owned by Mr. Garrett that was scrapped was one of the Shasta Daylight sets. The only other triple unit set known to exist is the Cascade Club at the Golden Gate RR Museum.

> The one at the Whistle Stop Ranch is one of
> the pre-war sets from the Lark. The other
> one that was owned by Mr. Garrett that was
> scrapped was one of the Shasta Daylight
> sets. The only other triple unit set known
> to exist is the Cascade Club at the Golden
> Gate RR Museum.

I stopped by Mr. Garrett's ranch in 1989 and he was kind enough to give me a tour. At that time he had SP 10277-10278-10279, the 1941 Lark Club there. Other SP cars were SP 2352, 2375, 10408 and the 9008. The other articulated set that was not there that he had owned at one time was the 1949 built 10262-10263-10264.

Rich


CGW407@aol.com

Lark Club is listed for sale on Ozark's site:

http://www.ozarkmountainrailcar.com/det ... Dining-Car

Check out the walking tour!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMmvILKJKZw

Steve

I recall some sort of articulated passenger car sitting in the Tacoma WA tideflats quite a few years ago. It's long gone now, and I don't recall if it was a diner or coach etc. It may have been two units rather than a triple unit.

Anyone recall any details of that, and know which car that would have been? Where is it now?

I would love to see that articulated car restored but I imagine it would be the equivalent of restoring 2 cars at once or maybe more. Restoring a single car probably makes much more sense for most preservation groups.

This reminds me of how FT diesels were originally delivered with drawbars but later converted to single units to help in repairs and maintenance. Also reminds me of the UP Centennial diesels that were later dropped in favor of single units.

The last remaining Cascade Club triple unit lounge/diner/kitchen-dorm is well into a comprehensive restoration at the Niles Canyon Railway. The roof has been patched, rust-damaged side sills are being replaced, car siding is getting fixed, and interior work has also commenced.

http://web.me.com/cascadeclub/Cascade_Club/Welcome.html

The Pacific Locomotive Association also has been working for several years on a 1941 P.S. articulated Daylight coach. It is not getting the Daylight scarlet and orange, however, because the fluted siding was removed in the 60s after the SP had adopted the "Tomato Stripe" scheme.

Unfortunately I am not involved in either of these projects but I was curious if anyone has recreated fluted siding or skirts in a px car restoration? Neither task is currently planned for these cars.

Niles Canyon Railway's S.P. 2473-2474 articulated "Daylight" coach has had a lot of work done in the last 7 months. The roof structure was badly corroded for about 2 feet on each side above the top of the walls. The rotten steel there has been replaced with new steel, and a new multilayer flexible roof coating (good for at least 20 years) applied. Exterior paint is back to shiny stainless steel with a new red letterboard stripe and lettering. The interiors are not yet finished, but major progress (new upholstery, stripping paint, etc) has been made. The car has been very popular on the holiday Train of Lights trains.

- Doug Debs