We continued our tour of the light rail system transferring to the E Line.
The rare mileage from I-25-Broadway on the crossover that has hardly ever had a light rail train on it.
Coming off the crossover track onto the E Line.
We pass two other light rail trains.
The E Line runs beside I-25.
Lousiana-Pearl station.
We continue on to University station.
University station.
While traffic was bunching up on I-25, we rapidly moved along the tracks to Colorado station.
Colorado station on the E Line.
An inbound train passing our special convention train.
We continued our ride on the E Line to the end of the line.
Yale station.
We made our way down the E Line to the next station at Southmoor.
Southmoor station.
The junction where the H and yet-to-open R line branch out from the E and F lines.
Views of the journey en route to Belleview station.
Belleview station.
These are the views you see as you travel to Orchard station.
Orchard station.
Travelling along the E Line en route to Arapahoe at Village Center station.
Arapahoe at Village Center station. All stations have a pedestrian walkway over I-25 with elevators at both ends.
Continuing our trip to Dry Creek station.
Dry Creek station on the E Line.
Views on the way to the station at County Line.
County Line station.
We make our way to the final station on this line, Lincoln.
Lincoln station, the end of the line for the E Line. They took us past the end of the station so we all got more rare mileage.
Our rare mileage to the end of track on the E Line. Due to time constraints, it was announced that we would not do the H Line to Nine Mile. That disappointed everyone on the trip including myself. Had we left on time, we would have been able to accomplish this as it would have only added ten extra minutes to the trip. They gave us an hour to eat lunch and we went up on the platform to look around. Over on the two Amtrak tracks, we found some very special private cars.
Pullman 10-section observation lounge car "Kitchi Gammi Club", nee "Mountain View" built in Calumet City, Illinois in 1923. In 1937, "Mountain View" returned to Calumet for rebuilding into a solarium observation car, as were many Pullman open platform cars at that time. In Calumet shops, the car was given a complete overhaul including the addition of a buffet kitchen area in the center of the car, a porter's room, and the reduction of the sections from ten to eight. All carpet and upholstery was updated and the car rolled out of the shop with a new plan designation of 4025H, an 8-section buffet lounge observation named "Kitchi Gammi Club". After it rolled out of Calumet shops in 1937, it was assigned to service with the Nickel Plate Railroad. The Nickel Plate assigned it to trains 9 and 10, operating between Cleveland and St. Louis. It ran on these trains throughout the 1940s and the early 1950s. Normally, it served as the only Pullman space available on these trains. In 1953, the Nickel Plate purchased the car from the Pullman Company and sent it to Nickel Plate's Calumet shop for conversion into business car 7 (the second Nickel Plate business car with this number). This conversion saw the removal of section 8 and the installation of a closet housing a hot water boiler so the car would have heat when operated on freight trains for inspection purposes. It remained in office car service until the merger with the Norfolk & Western Railway on October 16, 1964. After the merger, it was used on the old Nickel Plate system for a few official occasions, but not to the extent as when the Nickel Plate had it as a company business car.
In 1967, the car was sent to Chicago to replace the Chicago wreck derrick outfit's wooden dining car. The Kitchi Gammi Club lost it name and simply became known as N&W 521417, a wreck diner-bunk car. In derrick service it was once again "remodeled." This time, section 2 was removed and a small foreman's office was installed in its place. Section 7 was also removed and three wash sinks were installed. The original men's bathroom and lounge was converted to a shower. Last but not least, the observation lounge was converted to an eating area with the addition of wooden booths and tabletops. It was a sad finish to a truly historical piece of equipment.
The car remained in Chicago until 1988 when it was retired as surplus and shipped to Roanoke, Virginia for disposition and a year later, Virginia Rail Investment Corporation purchased the "Kitchi Gammi Club" and moved it to Lynchburg for work to determine the soundness and probability of restoration. After complete removal of all the old and outdated equipment underneath and inside the car, it was sandblasted and primed. After careful inspection, the car was found to be in excellent condition, and restoration was started. The car moved from Lynchburg to Roanoke, then on to Evansville, IN where the majority of the work was accomplished. In 2007, the Kitchi Gammi Club was shopped once again for some upgrades in Morristown, New Jersey. The original 1923 trucks were replaced with smoother-riding trucks from a New Haven heavyweight streamlined coach, and a brand new, state-of-the-art stainless steel kitchen was installed.
Union Pacific 10-6 sleeping car "Mount Vernon" buit by Budd in December 1949. It was one of fifty cars in the series, built with no car number and named the Pacific Island. Although it was a stainless steel car, it was painted in solid UP Armour Yellow with red striping and lettering, a light grey roof, and silver trucks. In August 1969, the car was numbered 1423, but also retained its name.
It was acquired by Amtrak in 1971, but Amtrak did not identify the car as Amtrak 2617 "Pacific Island" until December 1974. In 1977, it was one of the first two sleepers that Amtrak converted to head-end power; it became Amtrak 2917 "Pacific Island", and was assigned to operate with the new Amfleet I cars on the Night Owl between Washington and Boston. After providing more than a decade and a half of further revenue service, Amtrak retired the car, stored it at Miami, and sold it in the mid-1990s. Dominion Rail Voyages, the current owner, re-named the car "Mount Vernon" in honour of George and Martha Washington's estate on the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Union Pacific 10-6 sleeping car "Pacific Home" built by Budd in December 1949. It was built with no car number and named the "Pacific Home", and although it was a stainless steel car, was painted in solid UP Armour Yellow with red striping and lettering, a light grey roof and silver trucks. The car entered normal Union Pacific passenger car service and was used on the famous UP train City of Los Angeles on at least one occasion (March 31, 1950). The car was originally heated with steam from a boiler in the locomotive, as was the normal practice in railroad passenger service at that time. In August 1969, the car was numbered 1418. From its delivery, the Pacific Home was lettered "Pullman" in its letterboard until the discontinuance of Pullman sleeper service in 1970, when the lettering was removed entirely, leaving only the small "Union Pacific" lettering in the upper corner of the car's letterboard.
Amtrak took over all national interstate passenger service in May 1971. With much of its passenger equipment now surplus, the Union Pacific sold the Pacific Home to Amtrak in December 1971. The car became Amtrak 2616 but retained its name. The "Pacific Home" had its yellow paint stripped off in favor of its natural stainless steel finish, and a simple Amtrak red, white and blue windowband was applied. The "Pacific Home" ran on the first Amtrak train from New York to Montreal on September 30, 1972 and was a run-through car on the famous Southern Crescent on at least three occasions (October 30, 1975, March 9, 1977, and April 15, 1977). In December 1979, Amtrak completely rebuilt the car, re-upholstering and re-carpeting much of the interior, carpeting the walls, and removing the steam heat, replacing it with head-end power and electric heat. The car was repainted with the newer-style Amtrak windowband and renumbered 2885 at this time, and it kept this number until it was stored in September 1995 and finally retired by Amtrak in 2001.
The car was acquired by Mercer County, New Jersey and moved to a disconnected piece of track at the Dempster Fire Training Center of the Mercer County Fire Academy in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. It was used to support fire training exercises. Private car owner and mechanic Chuck Jensen purchased the car in 2009. The car was trucked over the road to the shop of the Morristown & Erie Railway in Morristown, New Jersey, and Jensen began restoring the car with the help of other mechanics. The Amtrak-applied wall carpeting was removed from the interior and the electronics were fully upgraded. A new shower was installed and a bathroom replaced one of the roomettes. The car now sleeps 21 people in 6 bedrooms and 9 roomettes. A generator was added so the car could power itself without power from a locomotive. The Amtrak red, white and blue window band was removed, leaving the whole exterior in its shiny stainless steel finish with its "Pullman" lettering re-applied. The trucks and running gear were completely rebuilt to current Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak standards.
Next we will look at the cars of the A Line.
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