APRHF Rail Rangers: Riding the Hoosier Rails
By Robert & Kandace Tabern, Email: rtabern@yahoo.com
Published: December 1, 2016
http://www.trainweb.org/outsidetherails/HoosierCars2016
The Hoosier State, now operating with Iowa Pacific equipment
Sunday, November 27, 2016 marked a new chapter for the Hoosier State train
between Lafayette, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois... and for the APRHF
Rail Rangers, an outreach affiliate of the non-profit 501(c)(3)
American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation, headquartered
in La Plata, Missouri. Interpretive Guides with the Rail Rangers
presented an onboard educational program aboard a public train for the
first time since the APRHF broke away from its partnership with Amtrak
and the National Park Service (Trails & Rails) last summer, and
founded its own organization that presents onboard educational programs. For
the past 16 months, the group had been focusing just on providing
programs on private rail excursions. But, through an agreement struck
with Iowa Pacific Holdings and the Indiana Department of
Transportation, Interpretive Guides are now doing "test runs" aboard
the Hoosier through March 26,
2017. If things go well and feedback from passengers is positive, the
Rail Rangers could be a permanent addition to this state-operated train
through Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois.
Lead Interpretive Guide Robert Neil presents a program in the dome car on the Hoosier State
So when and how can you participate in an upcoming APRHF Rail Rangers program on the Hoosier? The
Rail Rangers will be presenting programs on select Sunday mornings on
northbound Train #851 between Lafayette and Chicago. It is highly
recommended that you purchase a Business Class ticket so that you can
enjoy the full program's narration and views from the dome car. Check
out the Rail Rangers: Riding the Hoosier Rails website at http://www.hoosiertrain.com
for upcoming dates. An abbreviated program with one guide and no
narration will take place on Sunday, December 11, 2016. Full programs
re-start on Sunday, January 1, 2017 and are scheduled to take place on
ALL Sunday mornings in January. There is no additional cost
beyond your normal ticket price to participate in one of the Rail
Rangers programs.
Chicago Coordinator Kandace Tabern hands two coach passengers a map of Chicago
Passengers asked the Rail Rangers a
lot of questions about the various landmarks along the route on the
November 27th trip. Many of the questions asked were also about the
four historical railcars that are being used on this train. Since so
many people wanted to know the history behind these cars, we decided to
make the focus of this TrainWeb article.
ABOUT THE DOME CAR: "SUMMIT VIEW"
A view of dome car "Summit View" as seen today on the Hoosier State train in Monon, Indiana
Business Class passengers get
reserved seating in the upper level of ex-Santa Fe Big Dome ‘Summit
View’. The bottom level serves as a dining car area for coach
passengers. The Big Domes were a fleet of streamlined dome
cars built by the Budd Company for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe
Railway in 1954. Budd built a total of 14 of these cars in two batches.
Like the Super Domes which Pullman had built two years earlier for the
Milwaukee Road, these were full-length domes, with the dome extending
the entire length of the car. The top level featured coach-style
seating for 57, plus a lounge area which seated an additional 18 on
sofas and in booths. The first eight Big Domes produced, which includes
what is now ‘Summit View’, contained a cocktail lounge and nurses’ room
on the lower level. The second batch of Big Dome cars featured a
smaller bar/lounge and crew dormitory on the lower level. The Santa Fe
assigned what is now the ‘Summit View’ to various routes, including to
the El Capitan (Chicago to Los Angeles), and the Chicagoan and Kansas
Cityan (Santa Fe regional trains that operated in the Midwest between
Chicago and Kansas City, Missouri). When Amtrak took over the Santa
Fe’s passenger train operations in 1971, the Santa Fe sold the dome car
off to the Auto Train Corporation. For the next ten years, what is now
‘Summit View’ began its second life as part of the train that carried
people and their automobiles from suburban Washington, D.C. down to
Sanford, Florida (located outside of Orlando). In Spring 1981, the Auto
Train went out of business and the car was sold off to private
ownership for a number of years. It eventually ended up in Alaska as
part of a Holland America Steamship Lines land cruise program. The car
operated as ‘Eklutna’ for many years between Anchorage and Fairbanks
via Denali. Scenic View operated for years in Alaska. This
car came back to the mainland in 2007 and was re-named ‘Summit View’ by
its current owner, Iowa Pacific Holdings. It was used in excursion
service across the country, but has now been part of the Hoosier train
from Indianapolis to Chicago since August 2015.
What
is now called "Summit View" pictured on the Auto Train in the 1970's
(left) and on the Alaska Railroad in the 1990's (right)
ABOUT THE COACH CARS: "DUQUOIN"
What is now named ‘DuQuoin’ was
built in 1950 by Budd as a 44-seat passenger coach; it was originally
named ‘Golden Sand’. This car was owned by the Southern Pacific
and mainly saw service on the Golden State, a train that was operated
between Chicago and Los Angeles in conjunction with the Rock Island
Railroad. ‘Golden Sand’ became Coach #4010 when it joined
Amtrak’s fleet in 1971. For 24 years this car was used on various
passenger train lines that used single-level equipment. This included
frequent trips between Chicago and New York on such trains as Amtrak’s
Broadway Limited and the Lake Shore Limited. Since
1995, this railcar has had several private owners, including the
Illinois Transit Assembly Corporation and Wisconsin Southern Railroad.
The original ‘Golden Sand’ name was briefly restored after it was
purchased by Mid-America Railcar Leasing. The car is still
owned by Mid-America, who is currently leasing it to Iowa Pacific
Holdings for use on the Hoosier train between Indianapolis and Chicago.
Iowa Pacific re-painted the car in its heritage brown and orange paint
scheme and re-named it ‘DuQuoin’ after a city on the old Illinois
Central route in Southern Illinois.
What is now called
"DuQuoin" is pictured on the Rock Island in the 1950's (left), Amtrak
in the 1980's (center), and as a private car in the 2000's (right)
ABOUT THE COACH CARS: "DURANT"
What is now called "Durant" is pictured on the Santa Fe in the 1960's (left) and in its Amtrak colors in the 1980's (right)
Rail Rangers Chicago Coordinator Kandace Tabern inside the "Durant" on November 27, 2016
ABOUT THE COACH CARS: "DYERSBURG"
The newest railcar on the
Hoosier train today is known as ‘Dyersburg’, however this coach is
still over 55 years old. It was built in 1960 by the St. Louis Car
Company as a 44-seat coach. It was used on various Union Pacific
passenger trains in the central and western United States.
The Union Pacific ended up leasing this coach car to Amtrak when it
took over the country’s passenger rail service in 1971. Union Pacific
sold this car to Amtrak outright the following year. This railcar was
re-numbered by Amtrak as Coach #4554 and Coach #4618 (following a 1979
refurbishment). This railcar remained in active passenger service
through January 1995 and was stored by Amtrak until 2001, when it was
sold to a private railcar owner. Today, the coach is owned
by Mid-America Railcar Leasing. It has operated in charter service
under the names ‘Bryce Canyon’ and ‘Reveler’. It is currently in a
long-term lease to Iowa Pacific Holdings, who has repainted it and
named it after Dyersburg, Tennessee, a city north of Memphis on the old
Illinois Central.
What is now called "Dyersburg" is
pictured on the Union Pacific in the 1960's (left) and as a private
rail car in the 2000's (right)
The "Dyersburg", as seen today on Iowa Pacific's Hoosier State Train (above)
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