Hi All,

I was wondering what happened to all the passenger equipment that was in Atlantic, Iowa. I think IRM wound up with the CB&Q 4-6-4, but what about the cars. I'm specifically interested in the ICRR, L&N RR and NC&StL passenger cars that the Purple Martin had. I'd like to know who acquired them and where they went.

Thanks,

Stuart

Frisco 1506
gnufe@apex.net

Greetings,

I drove through Atlantic about a month ago. There I saw an old coach and an unknown steam locomotive. Any info on this?

Thanks,
Gerald Kopiasz, President
Heartland Railroad Historical Society


Heartland Railroad Historical Society
hrrhs@aol.com

The steam locomotive is ex-Florida & Alabama #18, a Baldwin 2-6-2 that is privately owned. It came from a short-lived tourist operation in Montana. Before that it was at the Dry Gulch Junction tourist line in Virginia.

Regards,
Jim Robinson

> I was wondering what happened to all the
> passenger equipment that was in Atlantic,
> Iowa. I think IRM wound up with the CB&Q
> 4-6-4...

Yes, IRM did. CB&Q class S-4 "Hudson" #3007 was transferred to Union, IL several years ago and is now in one of our display barns. Beautiful engine, that.

> Yes, IRM did. CB&Q class S-4
> "Hudson" #3007 was transferred to
> Union, IL several years ago and is now in
> one of our display barns. Beautiful engine,
> that.

And we won't mention that we wanted to lynch our General Manager, who bid $30,000 more for it than he was authorized to do...


Kevinmccabe@avenew.com

> And we won't mention that we wanted to lynch
> our General Manager, who bid $30,000 more
> for it than he was authorized to do...

It's good to know you won't mention that...
Anyway, lynch our General Manager? Why, I can't possibly imagine anyone wanting to do that... (insert "guffaw" here)

> It's good to know you won't mention that...
> Anyway, lynch our General Manager? Why, I
> can't possibly imagine anyone wanting to do
> that... (insert "guffaw" here)

Yeah, but what happened to the rest of the equipment? At one time we had a list of the passenger equipment that was for sale from them, but that was several years ago.

Stuart


Frisco 1506
gnufe@apex.net

> Yes, IRM did. CB&Q class S-4
> "Hudson" #3007 was transferred to
> Union, IL several years ago and is now in
> one of our display barns. Beautiful engine,
> that.

Has any cosmetic work been done to it yet or is it still in the condition she was brought to the museum in? Just curious. I'm hoping to finally make it back to the museum this summer after several years of my plans to return always getting messed up.


davelecount@juno.com

> Yeah, but what happened to the rest of the
> equipment? At one time we had a list of the
> passenger equipment that was for sale from
> them, but that was several years ago.

> Stuart

At least two of the cars are preserved at the TVRM in Chattanooga. They are the NC&StL Chickamauga Pine and the L&N 2599 (nee NC&StL 1104). BOth have recently been painted to their NC&StL livery and look quite nice, I must say. Some day, both cars will run in service again at TVRM. The Chickamauga Pine is in very good overall condition with only some sheet metal work and mechanical and electrical updates required. The 1104 is a shell, but will make a very nice bar lounge or similar car (perhaps a coach cafe as was original), but it will require more exterior metal work. The best part is that both are very good candidates for restoration.

As for the IRM general manager, he's A'OK with me and has been a tremendous help with my own New River 400 project (Nick put up with me digging around the Pullman library and storage car all day last March). And thanks to him, I became an IRM member. Further, I know that the Hudson has a home where she is sheltered from the elements and therefore may one day be available to run again if the call comes.

Mike

newriver400@cs.com

> Has any cosmetic work been done to it yet or
> is it still in the condition she was brought
> to the museum in? Just curious. I'm hoping
> to finally make it back to the museum this
> summer after several years of my plans to
> return always getting messed up.

To answer your question, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no work done to the locomotive other than what was done out in Iowa to enable it to be moved on it's own wheels. It is however inside one of the storage barns and protected from the weather.

As far as the remark about the leader over bidding for the locomotive, there wasn't too much publicity over the issue, but I almost hate to air it out here, but it is probably the most appropriate place for it. It is my understanding that the competing bidder was a regional railroad from the UP of Michigan. I want to say Escnaba & Lake Superior, but I am not sure. I can certainly understand the museums desire to add this to their collection, it has direct local connection, it was a new wheel arrangement and fit into their mission statement to acquire one of each wheel arrangement, it was in fairly good condition, and most importantly it was available. The issue that I have is what was the motive of the E&LS? Were they planning to restore it for a in house steam program, or were they just going to stuff and mount it up north. If they were going to plan to restore and run, then I almost feel that IRM did a disservice to it and the rest of their collection by spending such limited funds on it. (funds that could have been used in countless other projects) It is almost certain that it will not run at IRM, (unless I win the Lotto) they have their hands full with the fine Frisco 1630 and the UP 428, Tuskege 101, and the Shay that the steam team will most likely never have the resources and time to restore the 3007 to operation and if they did, the others would suffer. It also would probably be too big for all but very limited use on the demonstration trackage they have. They have an IC mogul that would be more useful. Now if the E&SL just planned to use it for an outdoor display, then I feel that the IRM made the correct move. There are too many details that we don't know to be able to make a decision here, but it is something that I always think about when I see it at the museum.



SACarlso@scj.com

Some of the rolling stock ended up with Stickle Enterprises (a salvage operation) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mr. Stickle may still have a couple of pieces on his track behind the Quaker Oats and Cargill plants in downtown CR. That track was cut off from the rest of the U.P. (former C&NW) switch yard sometime early last year or late the year before.

I saw at least one or two cars there last year sometime, but haven't looked lately.

Maybe I'll go "sight-seeing" this weekend and if I "see" anything, I'll post an addendum to this.

Charles T. McCullough
CMBY RY

Fancy hearing the the E&LS might have been looking for a medium sized engine. The E&LS went through a great deal of trouble in a multi-year horse trade with Bovey Restorations in Montana that landed them four ex SOO Line heavyweight cars, a former NP Church Car and something else I believe. In exchange, Bovey Restorations(Virginia City/Nevada City Montana--now controlled by the Montana Historical Society)received a fully restored 30" gauge 2-8-0 from Mexico (via Edaville) and sufficient funding to rebuild their three miles of trackage and provide other odds and ends. Needless to say, the total project cost was well over $250,000 and by the time equipment moving costs were included (shipping from Montana to the U.P. of Michigan) pushes it out to $400,000+.

The rumor attached to the trade was that the equipment was for a dinner train. Rather high end for a dinner train. At this point, nobody really knows what is up. In a non-railroad sense, the Virginia City/Nevada City complex is a microcosm of the many issues I read about on this list. Aahhh preservation!!

> Maybe I'll go "sight-seeing" this
> weekend and if I "see" anything,
> I'll post an addendum to this.

Went looking this morning (coming back from the doctor's office).

There are two cars there (that I could see).

One is still painted purple and has smooth sides and most of the windows are either boarded up or filled in somehow, but otherwise looks okay.

The other is a more "modern" car, stainless (no paint) "fluted" (horizontal) sides and has "Rock Island" on one end. From a long ways away, it looks to be in good shape.

I assume they still belong to Stickle as they are still on the tracks that are on, what I believe is, his property.

I could not get closer to examine them without tresspassing, so I didn't.

From the phone book:

Stickle Enterprises, Ltd.
500 Stickle Dr. N.E.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
(319) 366-5854

I guess at this point I should point out that I don't know Mr. Stickle, never met him (as far as I know) and have no financial interest in these railroad cars or anything else of his.

I do, however, have an interest in seeing these cars (or any railroad items) preserved.

> Charles T. McCullough
> CMBY RY

One of the Purple Martin cars, an ex-L&N "Pine" series sleeper, turned up in the Salt Lake City Utah area in 1997. It appeared to be in fairly good condition- one side was painted L&N blue and one side was purple. It was moved about a year later and I don't know where it is now.

davew833@yahoo.com

Greetings,

I think it may be for sale if I am thinking of the same car. I recall seeing it at the Ozark Mountain broker site.

Thanks,
Gerald Kopiasz, President
Heartland Railroad Historical Society


Heartland Railroad Historical Society
hrrhs@aol.com