TAN: Long ago, I remember a newspaper filler paragraph about newly weds who wondered why there were so many holes through the interior walls in their matrimonial home. It had been owned by a retired state policeman who had a large multi-room train layout and liked tunnels between the various sections.

That's an amazing find. And an all-roomette car to boot. I bet, being as how it's in SC, that it is an ex-Jones Properties car.

Most of the cars in that class were retired in 1962 (after only 25 years of service - not a lot by today's standards) and sold to Mexico.

Pardon my ignorance, but why is saving the whole car not being discussed? The car looks to be in much better shape than most things museums start out with. The big question in my mind is are there trucks? Can it be righted and displayed?

One nicely-restored Pullman sleeper on static display, preferably with a mixture of accomodations, is all a railroad museum needs to teach folks about Pullman travel. An all-roomette sleeper is a poor choice for this use. There are no large spaces inside, and it's nearly impossible to lead a tour group through it.

All-roomette sleepers were patronized by businessmen traveling alone on a not-too-generous travel allowance. They're not intended for couples wanting to travel in style.

Sleepers have lower daytime seating capacity than coaches, so they're usually not worth the effort to restore for short daytime out-and-back trips.

Every RR museum I know of has more restoration projects than time. It's hard to imagine anyone rationally justifying saving this car.

- Doug Debs

Ah, thanks. That helps me wrap my head around it.

Doug, I like your analysis on this. A couple thoughts: a) I don't think that just because a praticular car does a poor job of interpreting (in this case the variety of Pullman accomodations), that at least one representative of the type shouldn't be saved. I don't know what other 21 roomette cars are out there, but if this is the only one left, it might in fact be worth the effort. b) I can think of at least one railroad museum that at least on the surface doesn't appear overloaded with projects. Maybe there are others. This group tends to pick a project and complete it, then move to the next.

Steve, thanks for the heads upon this. I know "T" tightlock parts don't interchange with the "H" and these probably should be saved for a rainy day at a minimum.

ETA

As far as I know, the only 21/22 roomette sleepers that survived into the late 1980's were former NYC "Harbor" series Budd-built 22 roomette cars that ended up in Mexico. They were the "Presa" series in Mexico if I remember correctly. There is also the former C&NW PS 1937 COLA 18 roomette sleeper "Rose Bowl" that still exists. So the City of Wheeling is indeed a very rare bird.