if your talking about the the 2 that were painted red with gold striping they are no longer running they got bought out buy a bigger rail company that got bought by a even bigger one and will not let them use the tracks so they retired them they are sitting at the antlers depot heres the photos of them
IIRC the Hugo Heritage RR ceased operations before the Kiamichi RR was sold to a short line firm (Statesrail), which was in turn bought by RailGenerica. Personally, I think RA's dropping the ball here by not allowing excursion service, unless it is an issue of insurance and/or less-than-stellar track maintenance.
Fortunately, for those of us closer to Dallas, train rides aren't hard to find. If you want a quick day trip, you can run over to Gainesville and catch the Heartland Flyer around 10 am for a ride to Ft. Worth. After spending the afternoon in Cowtown, another quick ride back to Gainesville makes for a nice day outing. Then there's the DART/TRE. A drive to Parker Road in Plano gets you on the DART for a ride to Union Station. Then a transfer to the TRE puts you on former Rock Island trackage to Ft W and back. Do it on a weekend and it only costs you $4 bucks for all the rides combined.
Just the facts, friscoers, just the facts! Well, this my area of expertise because I spend time volunteering at the Hugo museum over the summer. The excursion train, Hugo Heritage Railroad, originally ceased operation due to insurance prices being too high. Eventually the Kiamichi Railroad was sold by a Mr. Jack Hadley and his family to States Rail, based out of the Dallas area. Then States Rail sold out to RailAmerica who refuses to allow passenger excursion trains to run there lines, or at least on the Kiamichi line. The Maroon colored cars were sold to the depot museum in Antlers, OK on the stipulation that if the excursion train were able to run again the Choctaw County Historical Society (in Hugo) could use them. The baggage car/MOW storage car is used for storage of museum items that can handle the elements. Respectfully submitted, FriscoChoctaw P.S. - TRE/DART day passes are $5.00, or $1.50 for seniors over 65? and students UNDER 19; with ID for both criteria.
I actually remember when the 373 was still in Pullman green- I moved to Hugo in 1986 and lived there until 1989, when I went across the Red to Paris (married a local Hugo gal, still with her these 21 years). For a while, I operated the display layout in the museum back when the Woodwards were operating an excursion train (using Santa Fe cars), and used Frisco diesels exclusively on the layout. I was friends with the Hadley family, and especially one of the sons, who was CMO of the Kiamichi.
Yep, it was the Cimarron Valley- I rode the official opening run (even comeing off the flu, nothing slows down a dedicated railfan ). The Woodwards and Kiamichi were at odds over when & where the train could operate (Saturdays and Sundays were the optimum dates when freight operations would not be effected), and after a while, the Woodwards took their train & went back home to OKC. I'd rather not get into all the ins & outs of the relationship between the Woodwards & Kiamichi, as this is not the forum for such, but to put it kindly the Woodwards were not missed. The cars used by Hugo Heritage are three former Norfolk & Western coaches last used by N&W on its Chicago-Orland Park commuter train.
It's really two N&W cars, but they did have a third car that looked like a Horizon car. The Hugo Heritage called it the Nickel & Dime (from its origins). Would you or anybody else be able to tell me the story behind this car, as to where it came from and/or where it went?
They DID get three ex-N&W cars (I was there when they arrived in Hugo), but they refurbed & painted only two- no idea where the other one went. I wish I knew about the third car. Do you have a pic of that car?
In Fort Smith, AR near the former Frisco depot there is a passenger car restaurant named the Nickel and Dime. I had thought it might have come from Hugo as it certainly resembles the ex N& W passenger equipment.
I read in Entertainment Fort Smith the Nickle and Dime diner car was Ex-UP donated by the UP for the new West End Park. A new passenger car is also ariving in Fort Smith soon though to be used as a 6th street FS Police Sub-Station. Ship it on the Frisco!!! Murphy Millican
Sounds like a railfan trip is in the works (I'm only an hour away, and I haven't shot the A&M in a while anyway).
Well, Friscobob, now that I think back on it you ARE right about the three N&W cars, but early on (late 80's or early 90's) Hugo Heritage leased the cars to an excursion train and some how it got lost. I'm figuring it was switched wrong and separated from the other two and never found. But in '97 or '98 HHRR purchased an old commuter car named Nickel & Dime as seen in the picture below from the Southern Appalachia Railway museum which organized a scenic tour w/ HHRR: (it's the silver/maroon car)
Here's a better picture of the 'Nickel & Dime.' It has cropped down to fit but its reporting marks (originaly) were PTCX. I looked it up and this is all I could come up with, it must be one of these three: PTCX *POULTRY TRANSIT CO., INC. PTCX *PEOPLES TRANSPORTATION CO. PTCX *TEXAS PETROCHEMICALS CORP. [PETRO-TEX CHEMICAL CORP.]
I was there when the three cars came to Hugo, and was given a cook's-tour by CMO Ken Hadley. There was still some trash from their last run in Chicago commuter service- N&W just pulled 'em out & stored 'em. When HHRR started running, they used the two refurbed cars, a power car built from an old 50-foot boxcar and equipped with a diesel generator, and whatever KRR-painted power was available. Ken even went so far as to get two AHM coaches in HO scale & do exact models of the HHRR cars, down to the painting, color, and lettering. I hate to see those fine-looking coaches just sitting in Antlers gathering dust & rust, but with RailGenerica's policy of no excursion trains, thier future looks kinda dim.
Okay, I know it has been awhile since the last post in this thread, but I have updated information about the Nickel and Dime car/diner in Fort Smith which once operated with the Hugo Heritage Railroad. I am still having trouble finding out the proper owner of the PTCX reporting mark or where HHRR got the car in the first place, but its origins are commuter work. It was originally built by Pullman-Standard for the Long Island Railroad.
