For those who do not subscribe to the Kalmbach quarterly magazine Classic Trains, there is a nice article in the new, Summer 2008, issue about the Pullman sleeper 1466 "Cimarron River". It is noted as likely being "the highest-mileage, least-modified lightweight Pullman still rolling".
Hope this link works. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1632889 http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1632887
The car does get around! The photograph date is 6/8/2009, so that is Monday, two days ago. I saw it in St. Louis Sunday, May 31 under the 18th Street viaduct while I was going south from St. Louis Union Station depot. A quick check of frisco.org assured me the sighting at that location was nothing special, so that kept me mum and preserved bandwidth. I wonder if it was being set up to go on a trip east on May 31?
I made a few trips on it back in the 1990s. Great car. I rode it on a St. Louis to Kansas City, MO to Chicago, IL triangle trip. It was my first exposure to high speed 90 mph on the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (ATSF) Marceline Subdivision. What a ride. Great car. Great piece of railroad. Now when I ride the Amtrak Southwest Chief I take my global positioning system (GPS) and verify speeds of 90 or even a mile and hour or 3 faster. Bob Zucco
It was a blessing to have the car along on a couple of 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 trips. Spent the night on it in Stevens Point, WI when we were up there. Tony was a lifesaver.
I saw this car yesterday at St. Louis Union Station depot with a brand new J relay valve. May be out on the road soon. Pat Moreland Wesco, MO
Yes, the Cimarron River is being used for the two Golden Spike Excursions this May. Westbound Golden Spike - Chicago-Denver-Bay Area - May 2-5 Eastbound Golden Spike - Bay Area-Denver-Chicago - May 11-14 It will put on over 5,200 more miles. Cars being used: Pacific Union Super Dome Berlin (Sold out) Cimarron River website http://www.cimriver.com/ email; cimriver@aol.com Tony Marchiando As a private car, Tony Marchiando has taken it on over 1/2 million miles. That is a real railfan. In September it will be on the AAPRCO convention train. Not sure if that train will be going through St. Louis with about 20 private cars of all styles & colors. http://www.aaprco.com/ Tony is the 2019 President. Its smooth sides were put on when a Canadian railroad who somewhat rehabbed the car. I like those smooth, not dented, easily cleaned, more modern to attract customers. Still the 2 Marchiando brothers had to do a lot more rehabbing to get it up to date with latest requirements for all high speed rails .
The smooth sides were not put on when the car was rehabbed but rather the stainless corrugated side panels were removed and the steel side panels repaired. I believe it was the Canadian National that did the rebuilding. Robert