Hi,

Follow the link belwo to VIA Rail's surplus sale. They are selling two FP-9's and four of the famous ex Canadian Pacific "PARK" series Budd dome/observation cars!

I hope Cranbrook can get a PARK car!

Rob

http://www.viarail.ca/doing_business/en_entr_doin_

Ooops, looks like 3 of the domes are CPR PARK cars, the fourth is Silver Sky, a CZ veteran, no?


http://www.viarail.ca/doing_business/en_entr_doin_

> Ooops, looks like 3 of the domes are CPR
> PARK cars, the fourth is Silver Sky, a CZ
> veteran, no?

Yes, it is a CZ veteran. However, it was also stripped to the frame in preparation for inclustion in the HEP I program but wasn't included because of funding cut backs. As quoted from http://www.trainweb.org/web_lurker/:

"Unfortunately, this car has suffered a tragic fate that has befallen two (so far) of it's sisters. When VIA acquired the car, they completely stripped it inside and out for a complete rebuild and conversion back to a dome sleeper obs (Rio Grande had removed bedrooms B,C, and D for conversion to additional lounge space and Room A became a large restroom). The skirts were removed and VIA started adding walls where the bedrooms were going to be. The idea was to make it match the "Park" cars as close as possible. Well, as usual, the political winds shifted and VIA experienced budget cuts. Since they were going to be running less trains, they didn't need as many dome obs cars, so the car was shoved outside so it could fill up with snow. (The windows were a long way from being reinstalled). So it sits today, a semi-gutted shell, in Montreal, along with other completely gutted ex-US domes like Silver Patio. (narrative courtesy Jon Clark)"

Hopefully it will be purchased by somebody who wants to have a Amtrak compatable PV, and somebody/group preservation minded will purchase one of the Steam/DC park cars.

Tom Cornillie

Listing of Surviving DRG&W Domes
rrhistorian@hotmail.com

What?!?!?!?

Nobody paid any attention to the fact that the LAST Alco/MLW passenger locos are ALSO on this sale sheet?

True, they were Canadian only (well, Amtrak tried some briefly), and they were basically an anachronism--they scream 70's space-age styling! But the LRC helped led the way for development of tilt trains, Acela, etc.

Has anyone yet saved an LRC for preservation's sake?



One of seven up for sale

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

The following statement was posted on several of the Trainorders forums (too bad they didn't send it to RYPN as a breif item!)

"As many of you have heard, VIA Rail Canada is holding an auction on October 18, 2003 that includes the California Zephyr dome-observation car Silver Sky. At its last meeting, the Feather River Rail Society Board of Directors seriously debated tendering an offer on the Sky. However, we felt, unanimously and with much reluctance, that we could not commit the Society to such a large acquisition expenditure at this time. While we felt that the Sky would be a fantastic addition to our current CZ equipment, the Silver Hostel and 805A FP7, we have many other projects that demand our attention and resources at this time.

That said, the Board did wish to announce that the FRRS is willing and able to provide a home for the Silver Sky should any members and/or other admirers of the California Zephyr wish to join together and acquire the car on behalf of the Society. The story of the Western Pacific is hardly complete without significant attention to the CZ and it is the goal of the FRRS to tell this story as completely as possible.

If anyone would like to join an independent effort to acquire the Silver Sky for preservation with the FRRS and would like details on the auction, please contact Eugene Vicknair, manager of the Zephyr Project, at evicknair@phoenixpartners.net or Rod McClure, President of the FRRS, at ram794@alpine.net.

The auction deadline is October 17! Thus time is extremely short and an earnest money deposit would be required. According to VIA, there is a real chance that the cars could be purchased by out of country concerns and exported from North America, making any chance of retrieving the Sky for future preservation very remote.

If you can, please help save this icon of the California Zephyr.

Eugene Vicknair
FRRS, The Zephyr Project

http://www.wplives.org
http://www.zephyrproject.com"

rrhistorian@hotmail.com

I've long thought these two Budd-equipped flagship trains deserve a critical comparison. How did they compare in terms of equipment, service, and amenities? Pretty close, it would seem. I only personally experienced CP's "Canadian" in its last pre-VIA years. Hard to beat the CP transcon route for scenery although the CZ route was no also-ran.

> I've long thought these two Budd-equipped
> flagship trains deserve a critical
> comparison. How did they compare in terms of
> equipment, service, and amenities? Pretty
> close, it would seem.

The Park cars were nearly identical to the CZ observations. The two differences were as follows:

1. The drawing room on the CZ obs had a shower.

2. The rear end of the CZ cars had a Mars light on the roof at the rear.

CP ordered 18 Park cars. Does anyone know how many are still extant?

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net

The CZ had more and a greater variety of domes-- it typically ran with five, including three dome coaches, one dome dorm buffet, and the dome lounge obs. All of the photos of the Canadian I've seen show only two domes, a mid-train dome coach, and the 'Park' car. CP didn't have the dome dorm buffets, which were fairly odd cars anyway with no vestibule and limited revenue space. Cosmetically, the CP cars had cutouts in the skirting over the wheels that the CZ cars didn't have. Also, the CP cars were delivered in 1955 rather than 1947-48, so there were probably minor refinements of the car design made in the intervening years.

> The Park cars were nearly identical to the
> CZ observations. The two differences were as
> follows:

> 1. The drawing room on the CZ obs had a
> shower.

> 2. The rear end of the CZ cars had a Mars
> light on the roof at the rear.

> CP ordered 18 Park cars. Does anyone know
> how many are still extant?


http://www.mstrp.com/
davew833@yahoo.com

I agree with all your points. The CZ did indeed have more domes. I was merely comparing the design of the CZ observations vs. the CP Park cars.

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net

The dome obs cars and the diners were pretty much the same. Some specific appliances would be different.

The CZ sleepers and the CPR sleepers were completely different from each other and the CZ had all dome coaches (until the 14 Sec. sleepers were converted) while the CPR had no dome coaches.

The CZ used the Cable Car Lounge as a first class dome, dorm and coach lunch car; CPR used the Skyline car as the coach dome, lunch car, and (as built) a coach.

Electric City Trolley Museum Association

See link below.

Perhaps some will run again. Good luck to the outfit who can straighten these things out !!!

Asking price is high, and VIA supposedly will not donate any based upon omnipresent budget crisis.

> What?!?!?!?

> Nobody paid any attention to the fact that
> the LAST Alco/MLW passenger locos are ALSO
> on this sale sheet?

> True, they were Canadian only (well, Amtrak
> tried some briefly), and they were basically
> an anachronism--they scream 70's space-age
> styling! But the LRC helped led the way for
> development of tilt trains, Acela, etc.

> Has anyone yet saved an LRC for
> preservation's sake?


http://www.industrial-rail.com/pdf/General_Company_Brochure.pdf
locoeng@verizon.net