And it's no "secret":

https://www.cbs17.com/news/local-news/w ... rain-cars/

Those minimum bids are somewhat "optimistic", I'd say. Great idea, to balance the State budget with sale of old railcars...

Howard P.

...Well, one last possible reprieve for those cars, "ahead of the torch".

This one might be a good deal considering how much rebuild has already been done and the clean out. Wish I had a place to put it. They won't get 75,000 but I would go 50 if I had the place.

https://www.ncstatesurplus.com/NCStateSurplusAuction/Listing/Details/10496392/Passenger-Railcar-Shell-RNCX-400015-Raleigh-NC

When they say no help in co-ordinating it getting out, that is a turn off. How many cars have to be shuffled to get that one out ?


.

That usually means "no cranes, no bulldozers, no trucks, no forklifts, no employee labor, etc. provided on site to load your lots." This usually applies to more typical "state surplus" and auction lots such as a car, truck, shelving, computers, file cabinets, office furniture, scrap metal, dishes, etc.

On the other hand, if they say "*You have 10 CALENDAR DAYS to pay for and pick up items.*" then they damned well BETTER have a switcher (or other means of moving) ready any day to position a car for retrieval!

It's been my personal experience that, in many/most cases of this nature, when you're dealing with something that you can't load into a truck or hook up to a truck and tow, especially if you've actually paid tens of thousands of dollars for the lot, the sellers--even a bureaucracy--CAN be quite flexible, understanding that you don't grab an oversize truck permit or arrange a pick-up by CSX/NS overnight. As long as you are clearly seen to be working with due diligence towards "timely" removal ASAP, they MAY work with you. That "10 days" MAY be routine boilerplate added to every such auction.
(But don't count on that.)

Out of curiosity, what happened to their plans?

I seem to recall that they were going to be buying their first new coaches a while back. Are these being sidelined due to a shift in strategy towards new rolling stock, or perhaps responding to a perceived decline in demand for their services over the next few years due to current events?

The State received a $156 million Federal grant for new passenger rolling stock, eliminating the "need" to rebuild older rolling stock for their passenger service expansion plans.

The acquisition of the RBBX cars was viewed by those who "knew" as a way to hedge bets in case said grant never came through. The total investment on this rolling stock plus rebuild would have been far less than $156 million (probably more like $20 million once state accountants got through with it), but then you'd still be dealing with decades-old car bodies, trucks, etc.

Thanks

I just saw that in the linked CBS news story. I had opened it but had forgotten to read it until noticing it open on my PC moments ago.

It's too bad for those of us that appreciate that 50+ year old rolling stock can still be rebuilt and provide useful and safe service in the 2020's, but certainly is a win for NCDOT to be able to buy brand new coaches.

I wonder if Union Pacific will be interested in any of these. I doubt they're eyeing any expansion of their executive fleet, but there's potentially a lot of useful parts on these like truck components that are probably useful for their onetime fleetmates still at Union Pacific.

The auction photos are a rare opportunity to see what the inside of the RBBX train looked like since inside photos were rare when it was in service.

And NCDOT's done some pretty top notch refurbishing of the ex-UP and ex-KCS coaches it currently operates with. New coaches are better for everyone, but it's kind of disappointing these won't be refurbished as well.

LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN:

https://myfox8.com/news/offbeat/north-c ... rain-cars/

Another bureaucratic boondoggle. Not to worry, it's all other people's money and there's plenty more where it came from.

HERE WE GO AGAIN:

https://www.ironhorseauction.com/catalo ... ate-choice

There is an ex-Northern Pacific baggage car mixed in that was never an RB car:

Passenger Railcar - Full baggage - RNCX 400501 "Manufactured by St. Louis Car Company in 1965.

Originally built for the Northern Pacific Railroad #257. Acquired by NCDOT from Alaska Railroad. • Carbon steel carbody • Interior in original baggage configuration • 26C Air brake valves • Last COT&S 8/2016 • H-tightlock couplers • Trucks o 8’6” Wheelbase – OSH o APEE 6x11 grease bearings o Disc brake equipped with ASF rotochambers"

Located at 862 Capitol Blvd. in Raleigh, NC

A day and four hours to go, and everything appears to be sitting right on "$500" as minimum bid... but it's an absolute auction, so a smaller bid, even $5, might take one of the cars...

There is an ex-Northern Pacific baggage car mixed in that was never an RB car:
[/quote]

And a second car shell that's not RBB. "Originally built for the United States Army as a hospital car. Ex CSX training car, ex Royal Rail. Acquired by NCDOT from Morristown & Erie Railroad."

So it appears that only 3 of the cars are RBB cars. What happened to the others of the 14 that were left from the last auction? I seem to recall hearing about a fire, but not sure how many cars were damaged etc?