This car has been mentioned several times in this forum. Last spring I rode her on the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad out of Alamosa, CO. She is a spectacular post-WWII period railroad piece.

I put together a photo essay. Enjoy!

http://railfan44.blogspot.com/2012/09/a ... ide-i.html

Comments and corrections please. Have a good weekend.

Nice work Marty.

From Rio Grande Scenic RR Fact Sheet...

The Mardi Gras started life as a coach for the Illinois Central Railway around 1918. Built by Pullman, the original car number was IC 2188. In the late 1940s IC converted a series of coaches into club & lounge cars. This car was converted to a “round end” observation/club car when it was rebuilt in 1947. The car was renumbered to IC 3305 and named Mardi Gras. (Car was originally built with 3-axle trucks.)

Fond memories of this car in the days when she belonged to the Roanoke Chapter. Glad that she is still in good hands.

Martin

...and to carry the truck conversation a little further, as a coach it was built with 6 wheel, bolt on pedestal, outside side bearing trucks. The 6 wheel OSH trucks it rides on today was one of the "perks" that IC employed on many of its modernized heavyweight rebuilds. Although I want to say that the OSH trucks came along after the modernization (1952?) and that there was a period where some of the cars rode on "upgraded" bolt on pedestal trucks -- upgraded with timken quads and truck mounted cylinders.

I always thought that IC did among the very best, if not the very best, modernization job on its heavyweights. Perhaps their only fault was their stubborn refusal to use comp shoes. I always enjoyed seeing the Mardi Gras on the NS trips, and it is good to see it in the trust of an avid IC fan today.

ETA

I have to agree with Mr. ETA. The IC rebuilds look like something that came from Pullman Standard, save for the three axle trucks.

What a neat car, and very original looking. I am also glad that is in good hands.

Well she rode great. I guess six wheel trucks and I assume still a cement floor, will do that. She had a generator which ran constantly and I assumed it powered the hotel load of the whole train. The noise in the center of the car was obvious, but not particular annoying. The other cars were quiet.

The name Mardi Gras was given to the car by the Roanoke Chapter N.R.H.S., possibly in part or as a favor to the New Orleans Chapter who sold the car to them. As an IC car it did not carry a name.

Wrong. The name Mardi Gras was an Illinois Central application and was on the car when it arrived (in IC chocolate and orange) in Roanoke. The car was later painted into N&W Tuscan Red to match other chapter cars but retained its original name.

Pictures show otherwise...

http://rr-fallenflags.org/ic/ic-ob117ags.jpg
http://www.bcoolidge.com/pictures/City-of-New-Orleans-18th-St.-Chicago-b_9_2_68.jpg
http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2208971

I noticed some interesting comments on the last photo that Jerry posted a link to:

Earl Hampton General This is why I quit the NONRHS! This car SHOULD have stayed in NO but Pete Messina's used car lot got a good sale with this one........ 10/27/2010 11:41:10 AM

Maunsel White General The guys who did all the work on it got tired of all the corrosion and decay. They wanted Stainless steel Budd cars. We got a good price and did some amazing things afterward operating cars all over the country on Amtrak and charters. No regrets. 10/29/2010 8:02:44 PM


I'll add a couple of random thoughts here. Perhaps putting 3305 under cover would have helped? Certainly that might have been cheaper than the Amtrak certification on a car that didn't normally operate in New Orleans? Obviously 3305 looks extremely corroded and decayed, so disposing of it looks like a good move(?) I certainly don't fault NONRHS (Maunsel being a past president I believe) for wanting Budd cars (really I don't, they're my personal favorites most days), but I think IC, Southern, L&N, Rock Island, KCS, and SP (all New Orleans roads) all had Budds they could have "preserved".

I guess my real axe to grind here is not that they selected NYC cars for their "upgraded" fleet, but that they "exiled" numerous southeastern heritage Budds to Canada. To an extent the only reason we have some of the series of Budds that we have represented in preservation today, is because organizations like Bluewater NRHS, and a few others refused to sell when some really crazy money was being thrown around. I recall NONRHS approaching some groups and representing the proposed purchase as a restoration project for the chapter when in fact flipping the car to VIA was the intent all along. There were some well intended folks that simply found out too late.

So at the end of the day, they wanted to play with NYC Budds in the charter business and the rest of it was just a means to that end. Railroad History was just a front of sorts. If you like NYC Budds and wanted to see them preserved, you won BIG. If you like New Orleans rail history (3305?) or perhaps Budds that served New Orleans, you lost BIG. And I'm certain that some folks wallet had "no regrets".

ETA

The car was given the name Mardi Gras when built/rebuilt but IC did not always put car names on the sides...I don't know a whole more lot about it.

I would guess that the numbers were used for identification purposes and the names were a novelty. What do we think...is that a good guess?

T7

Jerry's right: the car is IC 3305, with NO name. I just confirmed that through reviewing the 1952, 1961 and 1971 IC passenger car diagram books. And it looks like none of these obs lounge cars on the IC had names.

And names on cars WERE important to the railroads, and to the men who operated them. If a car was named it was known by that name, and generally not by the car number. In looking through the IC books the named cars are carefully noted all over the books in various places. There's even a section of ex-Pullmans converted into crew dormitory cars, where the former Pullman names (but not car numbers) were noted.

So I have no idea where the name Mardi Gras came from, but according to original source material from the railroad itself, the name sure wasn't from the IC.

3305 carried the name "Mardi Gras" when we bought her in 1978. I went down to "Nawlins" with several others to ride her back on the "Crescent". The car served us well during the days of the "old" NS Steam Program. She evolved over the years. We installed the etched mirror across from the bar, replacing a badly deteriored mural of a riverboat race. We sold her because she is not of regional heritage, which is our current focus, and because Ed made us an offer we couldn't refuse. I still miss her, though. She was a part of my life for 30+ years.

Gary

CMO, Roanoke Chapter NRHS