I saw this car at the St. Paul Amtrak station on 06/28. Does anybody know the history of it?
It is Green with yellow striping. It has a hearald of GNW&B across the top, and is named “Gritty Palace”.
Not that one, but look here for other (American Association of Private Rail Car webpage and links)
Do a Google search on Gritty Palace and you’ll find some stuff. Here’s one link that tells the story.
I understand that this car was on the Trains newswire recently. It was privately owned by an individual who was one of the outside members of the citizen’s advisory group to Metra, the Chicago commuter rail authority. It was kept in the coach repair shop or similar facility with the understanding that Metra could use it as an official car, and the actual owner would not have to pay rent. Metra needed the space, or was going to move to another location and wished to dismantel the building or some such, and furthermore the owner was no longer a director, so it had to be moved to another location.
Supposedly GNW&B stands for “Going No Where & Back.”
I believe ti is a former Rock Island RR business car dating from around 1911. A real classic.
This is the car that was being kept at the Metra depot in some kind of sweetheart deal for a bargain rate – was recently evicted, the car was sold, and made the news at least in Chicago (and I think the newswire here picked up the story too) so now it has been moved to the Twin Cities. It is seen fairly often on Amtrak runs.
Dave Nelson
Saw this car April 24, 2006 attached to the tail of Amtrak’s Capitol Limited eastbound at Point of Rocks, MD. Several people on the observation deck. Looks like fun. Who owns it now??
I clicked on the link 3 times and got an error message all 3. Is this a valid link or is it just my computer being its normal stupid self? [:(]
Jim, bad link mine did it too.
Sorry to hear that, I love passenger cars and would have loved to have seen it or them.
For anyone interested in current day private passenger railcars there is a magazine called, Private Varnish. Here is more info about the magazine.
I have seen this car in Milwaukee before.