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McCloud Rails
Equipment Roster Shasta Sunset Dinner Train Equipment |
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When the McCloud Railway Company management decided to launch a dinner train operation in the fall
of 1995, the road possessed only three pieces of passenger equipment, all open-air flatcars
built for excursion work. The road immediately set out to find suitable cars for the proposed service.
The company purchased a total of seven heavyweight cars, all built in 1916 by Pullman for the Illinois
Central, from a defunct tourist stop in the
Midwest known as the Purple Martin Train. A former Sperry Rail Services coach joined the fleet about
1997.
All eight cars have been re-built for one kind
of service or another. The dinner train set consisted of the following cars: |
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The Siskiyou, Shasta, and Lassen cars were all rebuilt as fine dining cars with kitchen facilities.
The Trinity car had removable seats and could be set up to accommodate just about any type of
event when not set up for dining service. The shops set the former Sperry coach up as a power
and lounge car, featuring a diesel generator to provide house power, a gift shop, and a lounge
area. The last additions to the fleet were a pair of
Dancing Cars, the first released from the McCloud shops in the fall of 2002 and the second
in time for the New Years Eve party train in 2007. The first Dancing
Car was used most often in the winter months, and an open-air flatcar was substituted for it
during the summer months, while the second dancing car rarely saw use beyond New Years Eve
party trains. Cars 2801, 2900, and 2901 departed McCloud bound for the St. Maries River Railroad
in June 2012, followed by the 2819 and 2838 in December 2012. In October 2016, the railroad sold the
#2903 to an adjacent landowner, who removed it to his property. The #2840 remains in
McCloud pending disposition. |
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MCR #2901. The railroad never lettered the car during its service on the dinner train. |
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This is the power and lounge car. It contains a generator that provided house power to the
entire dinner train, a small gift shop, and a large lounge area. The railroad attached a
wood siding over the car's steel shell during its rebuild. |
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The Shasta Sunset Dinner Train parked at the McCloud depot. |
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McCloud Railway #2819, the Siskiyou. The white objects spaced along the car are flood
lights that would be turned on to illuminate the forests for riders after dark. |
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MCR #2903, named the McCloud, was converted into a depot building and a company store for the Shasta Sunset Dinner Train Operations. The car sits on freight
car trucks and rests on a short disconnected piece of track. |
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MCR #2840 prior to its restoration as the second dancing car. While the
interior of the car has been fixed up, the railroad did not paint the exterior during its restoration. |
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The dinner train logo on a
drumhead on the Siskiyou car. |
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MCR #2903, the former depot car, at its new home off railroad property in McCloud
in October 2016. Jeff Moore. |
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The Strawberry Valley spotted in front of the car storage shed
in October 2016. Jeff Moore. |
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