It's been several years since I last visited Oregon, so I took the opportunity to stop in briefly on a recent road trip. Unfortunately, on a Monday morning there was no one around, and the depot was closed. It still looks nice, of course, and the local preservation group keeps it open on weekends.
But the more interesting part was the Burlington dome-obs car Silver View, which arrived a couple of years ago. It's privately owned, and the owner plans to make it available for charter trips eventually. Before that happens, though, there's evidently a lot of restoration to be done. Some lights were on inside the car, but there was no one around. You can read about it at this link.
But as usual, there's no place like home!
I visited friends in Oregon at Labor day 2022. The obs-dome had recently been spotted and since a man emerged while we were looking over the coach I asked for a tour. Interior needs a lot of work. The volunteers had spent years restoring the depot, did a great job. They have no experience with RR equipment. I suggested they meet me at IRM, and 3 men & my local friend came, were most impressed with IRM archives, also arranged a tour of our Silver Pony. The men realized the magnitude of their assignment. I wish them success, more volunteers, and a budget to work with.
ReplyDeleteMontana Merrill
Thanks, that's pretty interesting. I take it the owner's intention is still to be able to run it in charter service attached to Amtrak trains, so that's an entirely different market than IRM is in.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I might point out that it should take no longer to drive from Oregon to IRM than it does from my home in Naperville.