I saw this last night.  Very exciting!

Wow! I want to ride in that car!

Which of the Park series observations did Fort Wayne acquire?  Having ridden across Canada in one, they are just wonderful cars to spend time in.  Nice!

@GG1 4877 posted:

Which of the Park series observations did Fort Wayne acquire?

The link in my first post has all the info about the car. It's the Riding Mountain Park.

@Rich Melvin posted:

The link in my first post has all the info about the car. It's the Riding Mountain Park.

Reading is fundamental, isn't it?

It is really interesting to see an original unrestored interior of a Park car compared to what VIA runs currently.  The last rebuild in 2014 took out a bedroom to make one of the rooms wheelchair accessible, removed the wall between the lower-level lounge seating and the hall under the dome, expanded the bar area and did built-in seating for the rear observation section. 

Is it the plan to restore this back to Canadian Pacific paint in addition to restoring the interiors?  What are the plans for the 3 sleeping berths?

Here are my photos of the current Park car configuration from earlier this year.

The black stripe and lettering represents what VIA calls prestige class.

Note this vestibule has been modified for a wheelchair lift.

New upholstery and carpet in the dome.

Built in seating in the observation section.

The most fun part of a dome car is shooting photos of other trains from the dome!

Rear door with new wood laminate wall coverings.

I don't want to take anything away from the significance of an original NKP SD9 being saved as well.  It should make for some very exciting rail journeys!

@GG1 4877 posted:

Is it the plan to restore this back to Canadian Pacific paint in addition to restoring the interiors?  What are the plans for the 3 sleeping berths?

I'm not involved with the work that will be done on this car, so I can't answer your questions with any degree of certainty. However, I don't think the FWRHS will be trying to recreate the Canadian Pacific of 1953. They will be building a viable excursion car for use in 2023 and beyond. One of the necessary goals of that work is to maximize seating capacity without overcrowding. Spacious sleeping berths don't fit well into that business model. It's a tough business.

As for the livery, the FWRHS has recently purchased a few other cars for use in their excursion trains. The goal may be to have the entire train set look the same, so returning this car to CP livery may not be in the cards, either. Given that the trains operate over former Wabash and New York Central tracks, there may be a desire to mimic the look of those roads' passenger cars. I just don't know for sure.

Organizations like the FWRHS cannot be successful today by focusing only on the "glory days" of passenger railroading. No one under the age of 70 knows anything about those days anyway. There is no "history" of passenger trains for the young people who make up the target market for these trains because they have never had any experience with them.

Successful 21st century excursion organizations have to maintain a fine balance between providing a touchstone to the past, while at the same time looking ahead, modernizing, and providing an entertaining and fun train ride for the young people who make up most of today's society. So far, the FWRHS has done a marvelous job of that!