Does anybody know the current whereabouts of ex-Canadian Pacific "Rocky Mountain" observation car No. 597? It was purchased by George Hart of Rail Tours, York, Pa., in 1965 from the West Coast Railway Association, and sold by Hart to Ross Rowland's High Iron Co., in 1968. After that it seems to have disappeared. Sister car 599 is in possession of the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. Any clues?

I have a vauge recollection that it was sold by Don Primi almost 15 years ago to a tourist railroad that operated east of Portland OR and connected with the UP somewhere along the south side of the Columbia River.

Both CPR 597 and 599 are now on the Sierra Railroad as part of the State of California's Railtown 1897 State Park (a unit of the California State Railroad Museum). 599 is unaltered; 597 was modified to provide bar and toilet facilities by the Sierra RR.

Back in the early 1970's the Crocker family developed the Sierra RR yard complex as Railtown 1897 and operated excursion trains. This business faltered and to preserve the resource in 1981 the State of California acquired the Jamestown yard and the equipment when the Crockers' sold off the railroad operation.

OERM's 599 was first leased to the Sierra in the early 1970s and then sold to the Sierra. At the time it was the best decision for the Museum and the car. Some of us now wish that we had the car.

Back in the pre-Amtrak years Orange Empire used the 599 on mainline fundraising excursion trains and occasionally leased the car out for other trips. The SP used the car when it opened the Palmdale cut-off. The car was in the train that hauled dignitaries to the ground breaking for the Oroville Dam of the California Water Project.

But at about the same time that Amtrak came into being the Santa Fe stopped leasing storage space to private cars in its Los Angeles coach yard (the yard is now owned by Amtrak). At the same time the Sierra Railroad asked to leased the car for its tourist trains. At that time Orange Empire was still primarily electric railway orientated and the connecting track at Perris had not yet been restored. To raise income for the museum and solve the storage problem the car was leased to the Sierra. Within in a year or two the Sierra offered to buy the car from Orange Empire and a price was negotiated.

In the quarter century (plus) since then Orange Empire has become a multi-discipline railway museum. Now days, the 599 would fit very well into our operation although not into our mission statement and collection policy.

Brian Norden
member Board of Directors, OERM


bnorden@gateway.net

You might ask how the High Iron Company mountain observation cars came to be on the Sierra RR. In 1972 I was in the Air Force stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento, CA. I visited the Sierra as often as I could and one day wound up in a conversation with the new manager. He was looking for such a car and I told him that I had ridden on one the previous year, on a two day High Iron #759 trip from Hoboken to Binghamton, NY and back. I also told him that I had read in Trains that High Iron was going out of the excursion business and might be selling off its cars. I gave him what information I could and shortly after left for Thailand. I came back to McClellan in 1973 after my year at Ubon and on my first visit to the Sierra found the car in place. I looked up the same manager and got my first steam cab ride for my tip that resulted in the Sierra getting the car. Now nearly 30 years later I find out more of the story about the second car. Small world. I retired from the USAF after over 26 years of world-wide train chasing in 1994 and started a second career at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.

Museum of Transportation
rdgoldfede@aol.com

> You might ask how the High Iron Company
> mountain observation cars came to be on the
> Sierra RR. In 1972 I was in the Air Force
> stationed at McClellan AFB in Sacramento,
> CA. I visited the Sierra as often as I could
> and one day wound up in a conversation with
> the new manager. He was looking for such a
> car and I told him that I had ridden on one
> the previous year, on a two day High Iron
> #759 trip from Hoboken to Binghamton, NY and
> back. I also told him that I had read in
> Trains that High Iron was going out of the
> excursion business and might be selling off
> its cars. I gave him what information I
> could and shortly after left for Thailand. I
> came back to McClellan in 1973 after my year
> at Ubon and on my first visit to the Sierra
> found the car in place. I looked up the same
> manager and got my first steam cab ride for
> my tip that resulted in the Sierra getting
> the car. Now nearly 30 years later I find
> out more of the story about the second car.
> Small world. I retired from the USAF after
> over 26 years of world-wide train chasing in
> 1994 and started a second career at the
> Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.

Thank you Bennett, Brian and Ron for the information. Yes, it truly is a small world! I also neglected to mention that CPR "Rocky Mountain" open observation car No. 598 is at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, British Columbia. I also noted the correction of ownership for cars 597 and 599.