Greetings:

My wife and I were driving down a road near Last Chance, Colorado and we stumbled upon two rail cars previously used as outbuildings on an abandoned farm. I would like to know a little about the cars. Given just what is visible in the attached picture is there anything you can tell me about manufacturer or even approximate year (decade?) of manufacture?

Thank you,

Doug McPeek
Denver, Colorado

I'm no expert, but those arched windows and arched vestibule remind me of a barney and smith car...

Very nice find, the numbers would be above the doors inside the vestibule, did you make a note of them ? Otherwise we have no real starting point.

Mike Pannell
Car 57 Cheyenne
Car 56
Caboose 2516

Hi Mike,

I plan to go back at some point. I do a little storm chasing and I'm always on the lookout for "found objects" for use in my shots. Maybe I'll take a Sunday drive and try to get some numbers if they are present.

Thank you,

~ Doug

All the builders tended to use the same styling in the same era; car building was highly competitive, and the railroads were as style conscious then as the automakers are today. Off the top of my head, I'd say the semi-elliptical arches date it to the second half of the last decade of the nineteenth century, or the first half of the first decade of the twentieth.

Ok sounds great, more external shots and plenty of internal shots would be great please, you may also find numbers on the inside walls above the doors as well.

Mike Pannell

I took other shots while I was there. The interiors were pretty much gutted. The car in the background appeared to be a dining coach or some such. The one in the picture seemed to be a passenger coach. I'll have to look to see if numbers are visible. If not I may go for a road trip if the weather is expected to be poor.

With the vestibule light vents on the roof end, I would say no later than the mid 1890's.

A fellow volunteer at the Colorado Railroad Museum informed me these are former D&RG cars, as they are cast in some of the remaining ironwork. I have looked for these carbodies but could not find them. Can you tell me what road these are off of Doug?

Hi Jeff,

The cars are located at:

East US-36 to Co Rd 269
South on Co Rd 269
The cars will be on the right

I'd like to hear your comments after you pay them a visit. There are two distinctly different cars. I'd be interested in anything you can glean (I.e., What the two cars are, how they ended up there, and etc...).

Thank you,

~ Doug