I noticed this listing posted over on the B&O RR Yahoo group.

http://www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/home/5006.htm

Were these cars used to transport horses or were they used to transport scenery sets for Broadway shows that traveled the country as one Yahoo group person posted?The listing states the car as being a one of a kind car with no known survivors like it.From the photo shown on the listing the car doesn't look that bad from a distance.

I believe these cars were fairly common and were used to transport race horses. Many race tracks had spurs specifically for these cars. At least two other examples of this type of car are preserved at the Orange Empire Railway Museum and at the RLHS display at the LA Fairgrounds in Pomona. Here's a link to a photo of the one at OERM: http://www.oerm.org/images/ATSF%201999%20sm.JPG

And the one at the Pomona Fairgrounds: http://www.trainweb.org/rlhs/collection ... e_Car.html

I think there's also a horse car at the railroad museum in Houston. We saw it a few years ago and it was in much better shape than the one in the pix in the ad.

Is it a bit of a hype to say the car for sale is that unique? Rare might be a better term -- after all we don't get unique mileage, we call it rare mileage !

Bob H

The car at OERM was used in the film Seabiscuit.

Wesley

It was ATSF 1992 that is the horse express car that was used in Seabiscuit. That car is on display at Pomona. It's the only horse express car that did not go into MOW service. In addition to the one at OERM, there are also horse cars at Barstow and Pacific Southwest Railway Museum at Campo. They also were used for transporting sets of traveling Broadway shows, automobiles, and other fancy livestock. (Polo ponies, show horses, etc.)

From what I hear, there's also a horse car at the Coopersville and Marne Railway:

http://www.coopersvilleandmarne.org/Equ ... oster.html

I believe it's the one labelled C&O Baggage Car. Supposed to be in pretty poor condition and as mentioned on that page is likely to be scrapped soon.

Valley Railroad has one, former NYC 8770, perhaps used for either horses or theatrical scenery... J.David

New Hope & Ivyland has one as well, though it may too have been a stage support car. I believe its a former NYC car.

Was operated on the High Iron Trips as and Open car, now used on NH&I as the same.

The car at Orange Empire also did not go into MOW service. Both cars were donated by the Santa Fe at the same time. As I recall, these were the last two Horse Express cars (unmodified) on the Santa Fe.

Anyone know where in Ohio this car is located?

Back in the late 50's, I saw some of these horse transport cars at the old Washington Park racetrack in Crete, Illininois. There was a spur built from the Illinois Central mainline into the park. One could also take an electric IC commuter train special right to the racetrack.

During the 50's, the Chicago and Northwestern was still offering steam-powered specials to Arlington Park racetrack, even though all other service had been converted to diesel by then. I saw shrouded Pacifics and Hudsons pulling strings of streamlined coaches out of the downtown Northwestern station, where I was working at a newstand.

Trolleyguy - Thanks for the posting. Very interesting. I need to clear up one thing however. Washington Park racetrack was actually located in Homewood, Illinois, right next to East Hazelcrest, Illinois. The IC Electric spur cut off from the mainline near Harvey, Illinois ran through East Hazelcrest with a station right at the racetrack. The branch then ran pretty much straight west from there, rejoining the IC main near the Homewood, Illinois station. When the first of the new Highliners came to the IC, that first car was actually tested on the Washington Park branch. Unfortunately, Washington Park burned down years ago negating the need for the electrified branch, and it has been mostly pulled up.

The confusion with Crete, Illinois is that there was (and still is) a racetrack located there. This is Balmoral Park. At one time, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois ran trains from Dearborn Station in Chicago to a stub end terminal there right across Illinois Route 1 from the track. I recall years ago, seeing the umbella train sheds sitting there unused, as Balmoral was abandoned. After the Washington Park fire, and the eventual decision not to rebuild it (mainly because the land was more valuable for other uses), Balmoral Park was restored, and put back into service. It now features harness racing exclusively. Unfortunately, the rail operation to Balmoral was never restored, and I believe that the umbrella train sheds in the stub end terminal no longer exist.

One other point, and to get this back to rail preservation, the very first Highliner (Bi-Level electric commuter car) received by the Illinois Central which I mentioned as being tested on the Washington Park branch (car # 1502) is now preserved at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana.

Les

For those of you playing at home, there is a good view of this class of B&O car on pages 652 and 654 of the 1940s Car Builders' Cyclopedia.

David

A "horse express" car that's still in service, and even Amtrak approved is Pony Express, which started out as a Canadian Pacific car used for transporting horses for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It is now owned by movie railroad expert Stan Garner and has been remodeled into a "party car" for rail excursions. This is a more modern car, compared with the other cars mentioned, which are mostly (if not all) "heavyweights".

As a side note, I refer to main line cars of this type as "horse express" cars to differentiate them from horsecars meaning horse or mule powered streetcars.

Well, at the least.... It is the only B&O car, right?