Only four original CNW gallery cars left...

Maybe they want to convert them to some kind of club car configuration? I'd guess that the sub-flooring of the old club cars and the bilevels is probably very similar if not the same, so taking out the commuter seats and flooring and replacing them with something nicer might not be that hard.

Many former SP coaches have been refurbished and are still in service to this day.

FFT
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=4588

Which were sold to....

ARR
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=76258

BNSF
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=63927

Tadman wrote:I thought they quit running excursions on WSOR - that's got to be quite a costly business train fleet to have laying around, especially because it wouldn't be that useful - who wants to cram important customers and guests into metra top-deck seats? I can understand having some old streamlined P-S or Budd cars to use for and OCS train, with big sleepy hollow seats.

For WSOR President Bill Gardner, cost is no object. He does have a train of single-level business cars for hauling around guests and dignitaries; the bilevels have only been used for employee excursions and for hauling the public during the 25th anniversary festivities last summer.

My guess, though, is that some of the bilevels were purchased for parts, and the others for the "proposed" commuter service in Madison. Who knows whether it will ever come to fruition, but Gardner is gung-ho about it so he's buying equipment.

Does BNSF own those SP cars?

I also wonder what WSOR wants with so many gallery cars. Probably parts but there's nine more now...

Any chance they might be going into storage on WSOR like those CB&Q coaches?

Are we talking about PS or SP? I was talking about Pullman-Standard, but Southern Pacific also owned P-S built galleries in San Francison, that look somewhat like that ARR train.

I was talking about those modified Southern Pacific gallery cars in the photo that Scotty B. linked above, then I changed the subject.
I was wondering if BNSF owned them, or if they were leased or something.

The Florda Fun Train was a joint CSX/Amtrak adventure overseen by the State of Florida. It didn't last more that a few years and had a unique roster of well.........stuff.
When the Florida Fun train went under the F40's were returned to Amtrak and the trainsets were split up and sold off. All of the single level equitment went to ARR as did some of the ex-SP Bilevels.
BNSF also bought some of the Bi-levels. I know of at least one of the former SP bi-levels has been turned into one of the coolest and largest theater cars I've ever seen.
Somewhere in Canada theres a Scenic road that has the rest of whatever was SP's fleet of Pullman gallery Cars. No idea what this line is, aside from I know it exists............ somewhere. I'm sure google will turn up something but I just worked the night shift and I'm a wee bit on the tired side.

Hope this helps. Perhaps theres an oddball future in store for the C&NW cars that have thus far escaped the wrath of the torch.

Milwaukee_F40C wrote:I also wonder what WSOR wants with so many gallery cars. Probably parts but there's nine more now...

As I wrote earlier, I suspect a few of them are for parts and the rest are for the pipe-dream Madison commuter service.

Any chance they might be going into storage on WSOR like those CB&Q coaches?

My guess is no. Although the paperwork listed them with FRYX reporting marks -- that's Federated Rail, the company that owns the Burlington cars -- the story I've heard is that Bill Gardner bought the nine North Western cars, so he's probably got some plans for them.

Madison doesn't seem to have a public tranist problem. I don't understand what they are trying to acheve by even thinking of having a heavy rail commuter system. WDOT should shift their attention to cities like Milwalkee or Green Bay for such a thing. I can't see Madison Heavy commuter service being logical or a cost effective investment.

MikeF wrote:Wisconsin & Southern Railroad received nine more ex-C&NW bilevels on Thursday. They were picked up from Rondout late Wednesday night and arrived at WSOR's Horicon, Wis., yard Thursday night. All are in RTA gray, brown and orange with all the RTA and Metra markings painted over. Some of them look pretty rough, with significant body rust. Ostensibly the cars will be painted in the WSOR's red and gray scheme; I haven't heard any definite plans for their use.

Car numbers are 7766-7771, 7778, 7781 and 7823.

I happened to drive through Horicon yesterday and saw several ex Metra bi levels, although the ones I saw were Stainless steel (ex BNSF?) rather than the smoothside ex C&NW cars you are referring to. Wonder what they plan to do with all of these?

metrarider wrote:I happened to drive through Horicon yesterday and saw several ex Metra bi levels, although the ones I saw were Stainless steel (ex BNSF?) rather than the smoothside ex C&NW cars you are referring to. Wonder what they plan to do with all of these?

The stainless cars are the ex-Burlington ones owned by Federated Rail. Wisconsin & Southern is simply storing them in Horicon (and also in Fox Lake, Wis.) for FRYX. It's been a few weeks since I was in Horicon, but I haven't heard anything about the WSOR's recent ex-C&NW acquisitions going anywhere else, so I'd guess they were just somewhere in the yard where you couldn't see them.

I saw (from a distance) what looked to be several Ex BNSF bilevels in a yard (WSOR?) in Madison, WI (Near east side near Tenny Park)

The three bilevels you saw in the WSOR's Johnson Street yard in Madison were ex-C&NW Pullmans. There are a number of ex-Burlington bilevels in storage on the WSOR in Horicon and Fox Lake, Wis., as mentioned earlier in this thread.

You know, I jogged to the Clybourn station for afternoon rush. It's surprising how many people get off after riding one stop from downtown. I decided when I have some extra scratch laying around, I'm going to restore a former CNW bilevel, make it into a club car, and ride it one stop north. Too bad I don't work downtown.

Looks like one 7600 left at California Avenue unless there are others lying around.