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Preserved Great Northern Observation Cars

 

GN# last

PHOTOS

TYPE

BUILT

GN#

1st

GN#

2nd

GN#

3rd

GN#

4th

DISPOSITION

CURRENT

OWNER

LOCATION

REMARKS

1057

Not available

Steel sheathed- Wood Compartment Observation

1905 by Barney & Smith 

7317

7701

1057

03149 MOW

To BN 1970.

 

West Coast Railway Heritage

Park

Squamish, B.C., Canada

 

1083

'Twin Cities'

Not available

Streamlined heavyweight Buffet-parlor-

observation

1920 by Pullman as parlor car PLM 'Cornelia' 

1083

Acquired by GN in 1942 and converted to coach.

Converted

to parlor

car 1945

1083 'Twin Cities' 

Rebuilt 1952 by GN as buffet-parlor-

observation

car for Badger/

Gopher service. 

- - To BN 1970. Converted to 

BN B9 Track Geometry Car 1973-74. To BNSF. Retired 04/2003

BNSF Topeka, KS Reportedly for sale

1084

'Twin Ports'

Click to enlarge

More...

Photos taken May 2003 by Eric Hopp

Streamlined heavyweight Buffet-parlor-

observation

1920 by Pullman as parlor car PLM 'Natalie' 

1084

Acquired by GN in 1942 and converted to coach.

Converted

to parlor

car 1945

1084 'Twin Ports' 

Rebuilt 1952 by GN as buffet-parlor-

observation

car for Badger/

Gopher service. 

-

-

To BN 1970. Used for spare parts for BN B9

Track Geometry Car. Sold to MTM 1979.

 

Minnesota Transpor-

tation Museum

 

St. Paul, MN

 

1090

Not available

Wood Parlor-observation

1905 by Barney & Smith

 

 

1090

03296

MOW

To BN 1970 as BN 968129 MOW

 

West Coast Railway Heritage

Park

Squamish, B.C., Canada

 

1195 

'Port of Seattle'

Click to enlarge

More...

Photos taken October 17, 2004

29 Parlor seats-1 bedroom-lounge- observation 5/1950 by American Car & Foundry 1195 'Port of Seattle' - - -

To BN (1195) 1970. To AMTK 3770, 1971. Sold to Keystone Country Furniture in the early 1980s. Sold 7/2004.

Keystone Country
Furniture
Aspers, PA Burned 11/11/2005. Scrapped.

1196  

'Port of Vancouver'

Click to enlarge

Photo taken July 19, 2002

29 Parlor seats-1 bedroom-lounge- observation

5/1950 by American Car & Foundry

1196 'Port of Vancouver'

-

-

-

To BN (1196) 1970. To AMTK 3771, 1971. Sold to Peter Schultz after 1975. To Larry Milsow 3/1979. 

 

Larry Milsow

Yardley yard

Spokane, WA

 

Renamed 'City of Spokane'.

1290

'Appekunny Mountain'

Click to enlarge

Photo taken February 16, 1995 by Sheldon Perry

2 Roomette-buffet-

lounge-observation

10/1950 by American Car & Foundry

1290

'Appekunny Mountain'

 

-

-

-

To BN (1200) 1970. To Grant Supply Co. To California Northern RR as Business Car #1 (100) 'Appekunny Mountain'  To Portland and Western. To Albany & Eastern as #100 "Santiam River"(?) 11/2023.

Albany & Eastern RR/ Santiam Excursion Trains Albany & Eastern RR, Albany, OR Painted in California Northern colors.

1291

'St. Nicholas

Mountain'

More...

Photo taken October 8, 2007

2 Roomette-buffet-

lounge-observation

11/1950 by American Car & Foundry

1291 'St. Nicholas Mountain'

CB&Q 1291 'St. Nicholas 

Mountain'

Sold to CB&Q in the 1953 Empire Builder mileage equalization.

-

-

Retired 1971. To Andy's Tukwila Station Restaurant, Tukwila, WA 1974. To Northern Central Railway #1291 'St. Nicholas Mountain' 1995. To Ben Ringnalda as RPCX 1291 'St. Nicholas Mountain' 6/23/2004

Ben Ringnalda

Midwest Railway Preservation Society, Cleveland, OH

Restoration to original condition underway. See the restoration website

1292 'Going-

to-the-Sun Mountain'

 

Click to enlarge

More...

Photos taken September 16, 2005 by Peter Hansen

2 Roomette-buffet-

lounge-observation

12/1950 by American Car & Foundry

1292 'Going-

to-the-Sun

Mountain'

-

-

-

To BN (1201) 1970. Henry Castro 'Great Northern bar', Milwaukee, WI 1987-2002. To Kansas City Union Station 8/28/2004. Sold to private individual 12/11/2017. To Ben Ringnalda as RPCX 1292 'Going-to-the-Sun Mountain' 6/18/2019.

 

Ben Ringnalda

Midwest Railway Preservation Society, Cleveland, OH

In largely original condition.

1293

'Cathedral Mountain'

Click to enlarge

More...

Photos taken July 15, 2004 by Sheldon Perry

2 Roomette-buffet-

lounge-observation

1/1951 by American Car & Foundry

1293

'Cathedral Mountain'

 

-

-

-

To BN (1202) 1970. To Empire Builder Antiques. Dusty's Ski Shop since 2018.

Dusty's Ski Shop 1975 Walla Walla Ave, Walla Walla, WA Without trucks and underfloor equipment.

1294

'Trempealeau Mountain'

Click to enlarge

Photo taken June 12, 2003 by Lindsay Korst

2 Roomette-buffet-

lounge-observation

2/1951 by American Car & Foundry

1294 'Trempealeau Mountain'

- -

-

To BN (1203) 1970. Retired 1971. To Andy's Tukwila Station Restaurant, Tukwila, WA 1974. Sold to private individual 1995, and moved to a site off I-90. To restaurant Buktu, 1424 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA.

Buktu Restaurant

New Orleans, LA Car has large holes cut in both sides.

7575 'Litchfield'

GN7575LitchfieldObservation1.JPG (46504 bytes)

Photo taken by Scott White from the collection of Jan Girardot

Wood Diner- lounge-observation

9/23/1888 by Barney & Smith St.PM&M 503

7575  'Litchfield'

10/4/1907

03268 MOW bunk car

1/6/1927

- To BN 1970. Retired 1/1982 and sold to Don Stott of Silverton, CO. To John & Diane Tutt of Telluride, CO. To private owner, Portland, OR 2003 Private owner Portland, OR

Restored

in and out.

For sale through D.F. Barnhardt & Associates

BN numbers were assigned but often not applied. Cars with BN numbers shown within brackets are not confirmed to have worn that number.
Copyright � 2005 Ben Ringnalda