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McCloud Rails : Equipment & Rolling Stock Details
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Shasta Sunset Dinner Train
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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 three were 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 from a defunct tourist stop in the
Midwest known as the Purple Martin Train. All seven cars have been re-built for one kind
of service or another. The dinner train set consists of the following cars:
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Marking & Name
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Function
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| MCR ? (Strawberry Valley) |
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Lounge/Concession/Power Car |
| MCR 2801 (Trinity) |
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Special Events/Dining Car |
| MCR 2819 (Siskiyou) |
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Dining Car |
| MCR 2838 (Shasta) |
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Dining Car |
| MCR 2840 (No Name) |
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Dancing Car |
| MCR2900 (Lassen) |
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Dining Car |
| MCR 2901 (No Name) |
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Dancing Car |
| MCR 2903 ( McCloud) |
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Depot |
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The Siskiyou, Shasta, and Lassen cars are all built as fine dining cars with kitchen facilities.
The Trinity car has removable seats and can be set up to accommodate just about any type of
event when not set up for dining service. 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 is substituted for it
during the summer months, while the second dancing car rarely saw use beyond New Years Eve
party trains. All cars are currently in McCloud and are for sale.
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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 provides house power to the entire dinner train, a concession area for selling McCloud Railway and other railroad-related paraphernalia, and a large lounge area.
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The Shasta Sunset Dinner Train is seen here parked at the McCloud depot. The large brick structure in the center of the photo is the old company vault that used to be inside the railroad’s office building and depot before it burned to the ground a few days before Christmas in 1990.
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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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One other passenger coach, SCRX #6203, is stored in the McCloud yards. It is owned by an outside party and is either leased to or stored on the McCloud.
The car was originally ACL Cooper River, an ACF 14 Roomette - 2 Drawing Room sleeper. It was reconfigured in 1961 to a 7 Double Dedroom - 2 Drawing Room and renamed Jay Bird. When the car was acquired by Seaboard Coast Line it was given the number 6203, retaining the Bird name. The care later became Amtrak #2303 and was retired in 1982.
The car may have been used in movie work prior to coming to McCloud. Special thanks to
Jerry LaBoda
for providing historical information on this car
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