Northern Pacific Dining Car No. 1663 is wrapped in gray tarps and standing next to Tacoma Rail tracks on the Tideflats. The 80-foot-long car is the sole survivor of a 15-car fleet built around 1910 by the Barney and Smith Car Co. of Dayton, Ohio.

It is the only piece of historic passenger-rail rolling stock in a town that was built by and for the Northern Pacific. Yet it is in danger of being lost to Tacoma unless Burns can finally get some help from those who share his hopes of seeing it restored and displayed. Tacoma Rail has told him they need the right of way he is leasing to allow the utility to improve tracks for an industrial customer.

That leaves him three weeks to find a new location, preferably indoors, to allow him to keep working on restoring the car. He’d love to attract some help to raise the money to hire experts and craftsmen to complete the work. That’s all part of his dream of having the restored car displayed somewhere in Tacoma.


Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/02/1 ... rylink=cpy

It seems like the restoration facility at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA would be a wonderful fit for this car. They have the expertise and equipment to tackle a wood car.

Of course, there are a few problems with that plan, such as he may not want to sell, they may not have interest and/or funding for the project, the car may not fit into their collection (seems like it would, but I don't know what their master plan is...)

It's such an obvious fit, I'm just about certain he's thought of it, and presumably rejected the idea in favor of restoring the car on his own.

I was wondering how long it would be until this article appeared. I remember reading about when the car was moved from Easton to Tacoma. It used to be a diner at Easton, along with a Harriman car (the Harriman car is still there, and is being turned back into a commercial location again, another eatery IIRC).

Here's a video about the NP car: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvPJAD5WFbs

Before we launch into a long discussion about "why it should go there" or "why it should stay here" or "why did he store it on someone else's property?", I asked the NRM about the car. I was told that the museum knows about the situation, and that no further comment can be made at this time.

So please, let's not start another one of those "speculation and advice" threads. However, if you do have a way to help preserve and house the car, by all means, contact the owner.

Just my $0.02 :)

Bob:

I'm begging your pardon in advance.

Probably seems like I'm stating the obvious and I apologize for doing so, but would there be room at Mineral for this project? Just need to drag it up the hill.

Scott

Scott,

Let me be clear that I don't get to make those decisions.

I can say, for certain, there is no indoor storage space that's not currently being utilized. Is there enough room that it could be stored outdoors on site? Possibly.

There are two potential issues here:

1) MRSR has a world class steam locomotive restoration facility. They do not have the kind of top end wood working shop and equipment required to take on this project. As I mentioned earlier, Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie does.

2) MRSR's mission is to preserve steam logging railroads. This car is wonderful and definitely needs preserved. It is not something you'd find on a logging railroad. As such,it would seem to be outside the focus of our collection.

Am I saying that MRSR wouldn't consider acquiring it? I can't speak for them either way, as I noted, those decisions are made by others. However, given the factors noted above, I am doubtful it would be a good fit.

Could they offer storage space? Again, not my call, but if it would save the car from being scrapped, it would be worth at least pursuing.

My personal opinion, not speaking for MRSR? A place like Snoqualmie or Toppenish would be a great fit for this car.

Oh, and as for "dragging it up the hill"? Well, I think the air may be out of date by now. There's also the small matter of it not having any trucks, making "Dragging it" a far more literal interpretation than you intended.

Definitely a highway move, no matter where it ends up.

Drew,

I'm not trying to start speculation or place blame. I'm just trying to spread the word as much as possible and as quickly as possible. The 3 week deadline he mentioned is quite real, give or take a week or two, and won't change. The car needs to be moved, and moved now, as work will be starting there soon. Trust me on that...

As a short term measure, he may be able to shift it sideways onto adjacent property, at least temporarily, but I don't know if that's possible or who owns it (the Port?).

Man, this reads like a record player, playing a cracked recording of, "Deja Vu's greatest hits":

-A very large and immobile item.
-Single owner.
-Owner doesn't own the ground the item sits on.
-Gotta move. As in, yesterday, or maybe the bulldozers are coming.
-Owner does a fluff piece in the newspaper, and apparently nothing else.
-No apparent plan to move said item.
-Nobody is stepping up with a truck and a piece of property (and even if they do, start this cycle again in a few more years).
-Internet slowly filling bandwidth with, "Someone should do something" messages from someone other than the owner.

Dare I say the obvious? OWN THE LAND before you start your restoration, unless you have the means to move it any time you want!

Bob:

I appreciate the response and I agree on all angles. I hadn't thought of Toppenish but that would be an idea since they are NP focused.

I also assumed it was on trucks and on track on the tideflats. A highway move complicates the situation exponentially.

Again, thanks for the info.

Scott

Lee, you are correct that owning the land is the best option.

He does have a lease for the land it's on. He's done a nice job of storing it, it's secure, fenced and heating. It's beside existing railroad tracks that he had no reasonable expectation would be relocated. It certainly appears he's proceeded in a reasonable manner.

As for what he's done, and what plans, if any, are in the works, it hasn't been made public. He can easily load this on a truck and move it someplace. (I said easily, not cheaply!) I don't think it's in danger of being scrapped, but he does need to find a new home for it. I get the impression that selling it is his last resort, but the deadline is getting close, and it may not sell instantly.

As for buying the land? As mentioned, it's one person. He probably can't afford to buy the land he'd need to store this one.

So far he's done a good job of rescuing and preserving the car. Let's not be so fast to place blame.

Scott, a truck move may well make things easier. Trying to get a car this old moved by rail would be a nightmare, if it's even possible at all outside of a museum operation! I don't know details, so I'm not sure what the frame is made of etc.

Trucking it is simple, and being wood it's relatively light compared to steel cars, making costs lower. The only difficult part is writing all those numbers on the check...

I suspect the car was trucked from Easton to Tacoma already. Trucking it elsewhere doesn't strike me as a logistic impediment, but it's a cost that the owner may not be able to swing at this point.

Toppenish would be a great place to keep it, but they don't have covered space for it, and suspect they may have their own expectations for new objects in their collection; same as the Northwest Railroad Museum--but without the rain.

Michael Seitz
Missoula MT

Silly question, but has the owner actually asked any of these museums for assistance on the storage?

I didn't intend for it sound that way, Bob. My apologies that my writing was confusing.
I am, in fact, grateful that you posted the news. I contacted the NRM right away to alert them, and got the response that I shared above. I meant for my post to apply to the slew of comments that typically follows news like this, which p51 alluded to when he said "Internet slowly filling bandwidth with, "Someone should do something" messages from someone other than the owner."

Fortunately, that typical slew of comments has not appeared, and instead thought-out suggestions are appearing. This is good. And it started with you posting the news and then a good, thought-out suggestion, which I followed up with a call to the museum, which has since been followed with other thought-out suggestions from other RYPN'ers. Thank you to all who have posted, this is good think-tanking. :)

--Drew Black

I know nothing his plans and attempts to find a new home other than what you can read in the article above. He may have done nothing, he may have some agreement in place,. I have no idea.

The only part of things I am certain about is that track construction will be starting in the area in about 3 weeks if everything goes as planned. There may be a small bit of time before the car has to be moved, but not a lot.