I am trying to run down information about four cars that now are a part of the North Alabama RR Museum that carry "Great Western" lettering along with (invalid) PPCX numbers. The cars have been there for a while but have not turned up in any other photos that I know of aside from the ones provided below (if anyone knows of more please let me know). Does anyone know where these cars came from, why they have "Great Western" lettering and what there histories might be? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Great Western PPCX 1

This car is a former Union Pacific American - series PS 6 Section - 6 Roomette - 4 Double Bedroom sleeper which has been converted for use in Maintenance of Way service.

Great Western PPCX 3 Poudre River

Modernized HW coach, possibly ex-Chicago Burlington & Quincy 4500-series, which has been converted to MofW service, either by the "Q" or Burlington Northern.

Great Western PPCX 4
Great Western PPCX 4

This car is a former UP Harriman food service car, possibly a dining car but may have been last used as a cafe - lounge... a very rare survivor considering how few unrebuilt (modernized) cars there are (this being the only one???0.

Great Western PPCX 6
A HW Harriman horse - express that appears to be pretty much original.

As I have said I would greatly appreciate any and all info that can be shared about these cars... especially if their original numbers could be determined.

TIA!!!

From an article in NARM's January 2000 newsletter by Art Mitchell, a club member who happened to live in Colorado and engineered the donation as well as doing much of the prep work to move the cars:

Dining Car - UP 363, Pullman 1914, modernized in 1936 and renumbered 2463; to work train diner UP 904384 in 1953; to Great Western Railway in 1987.

Horse Car - UP 1768, AC&F 1926; converted to postal storage car in 1958; converted to derrick shop car in 1968; to Great Western Railway in 1987.

Sleeper - UP "American Rapids" - 6-6-4 Pullman 1942; gutted for M/W use circa 1968.

Coach - CB&Q 4521, series PC-2, 60 seat, Pullman 1927; modernized in 1954 including shadow line paint, used in local service and on some Burlington steam excursions; converted by BN to bunk car 96801.

The cars were given to NARM by GW sometime in 1999 but didn't move to Alabama until December 2002. Along with some other loose equipment, they were delivered to the museum April 1, 2003, a process that required shutting down Norfolk Southern's main track so it could be cut and swung over to the NARM property - there is no switch connection.

Alan Maples

Alan, thanks so very much for the info... now go get to work getting the information provided worked into the Index (albeit most of it won't be displayed until I update once again... sometime during Summer 2014 unless a flood of new images can be found). I do greatly appreciate it!!

Of the 26 Pullman-built, Specification 230 diners in this group (OSL #369-#370 [1914], UP #343-#348 [1912], and UP #349-#366 [1914]), Don Strack's Utah Rails website lists three others which ended up in museum/excursion collections:

30 seat diner #353/42 seat café lounge #2453/40 seat diner #4053 (1st)/MofW boarding (dining) car #04365/#904365 went to a museum in Hermiston, OR.

30 seat diner #356/42 seat café lounge #2456/40 seat lunch counter (coffee shop) diner #4056/MofW boarding (dining) car #04379/#904379 went to the Deer Creek Scenic Railroad in Heber City, UT, in 1984.

30 seat diner #357/40 seat lunch counter (coffee shop) diner #4057/MofW boarding (dining) car #04367/#904367 went to the Inland Empire Chapter NRHS in Spokane, WA, in 1986.

Sources:

1. Don Strack's Utah Rails UP passenger car roster pages: http://utahrails.net/pass/pass-index.php

2. Inland Empire Chapter roster information: http://inlandnwrailmuseum.com/our-collection-2

_________________
A Very Merry Ninth Day of Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Photo of the #904384 before retirement and sale to Great Western, lettered as "snow plow diner", taken by Fred M. Springer in 1982: https://www.flickr.com/photos/railphotoart/15076509533/sizes/l

Sources:

1. Jerry LaBoda's photo links database: http://passcarphotos.info/

2. 1. Don Strack's Utah Rails UP passenger car roster pages: http://utahrails.net/pass/pass-index.php

I am pretty sure that the diner #904384 was assigned to the Wyoming Division when I was assigned to Green River, Wyoming, in the 1980s. I have some notes from 1984 about it in a work train consist. I don't remember if it was on the derrick in Cheyenne, or the rotary or derrick in Green River, but it was around the area.

Checking UtahRails.net, it shows the car as being in Denver in 1974, and then Cheyenne.

During the early 1980s, Union Pacific had a large number of these M/W diners which were used on work trains, system gang bunk trains, and even for food service for crews during detours or service interruptions. When a bridge washed out in 1984 at Dunphy, Nevada, on the old WP, we brought one in for a week to feed the bridge crews and work train crews. It saved a great deal of time as the nearest food was quite a few miles away.