Central of Georgia Ft. Benning Observation/Tavern Car on 111

[amzopff]

Heard someone make mention of a surprise on the rear of today's 111.  Witnessed the former Central of Georgia Ft. Benning as it passed through Lawrenceburg.

Didn't get a picture, but was hoping to find one on the internet.  The only information I could find is that it was privately owned and stored in Yakima, Washington during the 1990's.

Anyone else have any details as to where it might be going and why it has travelled back this far east?

[JHood4501]

The car is bound for the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum in Oak Ridge, TN. They already have a nice collection of Central of Georgia equipment so this is a huge acquisition for them. Thanks for the heads up.

Jordan

[GP30Rider]

Almost 25 years.....the chase is almost over.....YES!

[E.M. Bell]

Your car is through harrodsburg ky and arriving in Danville now 1920..we will have some in transit shots for later. Nice mixed train with the pc unit and your car on the bottom.

E.M Bell, KD4JSL
Jreb Mobile Command Center

[etalcos]

You wouldn't believe the effort it took to make this happen.  I don't think we've ever worked so hard to round up and get any piece of equipment moving.  Someday we'll discuss the challenges of just getting it through Louisville.  Someday.....

...and yes this puts three of the four Central of Georgia "Man O War" cars in Oak Ridge.  We already had the coaches Fort Oglethorpe and Fort McPhereson.  If only there were a C of G E7 or E8 left -- the fun we could have. 

[E.M. Bell]

I cant believe that I, a died in the wool Southern fan is about to say this, but..

If I am correct, yall have a E8, and there are at least Two more just like it that are (will be) in the classic Southern paint. Do we really need a Third??  Besides, a CofG paint job might be cheaper

A vest pocket CofG streamliner....Id pay to take ride or take pics!   

This ends the the random ramblings of a tired mind. We shot your car today at Talmage, along the creek at at Harrodsburg KY and then a dandy night shot under the signals at Junction City. I will send copies of those to Steve for yall to have and use.. 

[etalcos]

You know the IRM guys have a LOT of fun with an E-5 and a CB&Q Budd Zephyr train set.  Just saying...

I'm right there with you on the tired bit.  We didn't get done in Louisville last night until nearly 3:00 am and we chased it through your neighborhood on the way home today.  Thanks in advance on the photos.  Look forward to seeing them.

[Wink638]

Well I want to see a real Southern E8 in Oak Ridge. Maybe one of those ex-Burlington Northern commuter E9s could be acquired and turned into a CofG E8,and with less restoration work needed than SARM'S E8.

[GP30Rider]

Almost 25 years.....the chase is almost over.....YES!

Now that the Fort Benning is off 111, I thought I would explain the 25 year remark I made above in a public forum.  When the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum was chartered in 1990, three of the five charter members were in their early 20's.  I was one of the three.  We wanted the focus of the museum to be preserving passenger equipment and passenger train history of the southeast.  The first step was to identify passenger cars that would fit the collection.  With regular passenger service long gone, locating and talking to folks about some cars proved to be a challenge.  Researching what became of Southern's passenger equipment was how I spent my time.  In the process of looking over the fleet of equipment that Southern owned during regular passenger service, the Fort Benning was identified as probably one of the most desirable pieces of equipment for the collection.  At the same time the railroad museum received the Fort Oglethorpe as a donation and the collection took root with that car.  Our initial efforts to even find the Fort Benning failed and it wasn't until the mid 1990's that we even knew what became of the car.  Finding it entombed in a shopping village in Yakima, Washington did not give any of us a warm fuzzy about the car's future as a museum piece.  Meanwhile the second coach.....the Fort McPherson came to SARM about ten years after the Fort Oglethorpe was donated.

Fast forward to last summer when the Fort Benning was caught up in a bankruptcy of the shopping village and real estate firm in Washington and was advertised for sale.  My business partner and I flew to Washington and immediately began trying to acquire the car.  It took three long nail biting months to close the deal with the US Bankruptcy Court.  In December we began collecting the necessary materials to put the car back on live rail and in a mechanical condition that would allow the car to move in freight service.  Many parts had been taken off the car including the couplers and the brake system.  We shipped about 8000 pounds of tools and parts to Washington and flew out the last day of February to begin the work.  Everything went very smooth in Washington and the car left to begin its journey to its new home.  While the Fort Benning is a long way from hauling people and looking pretty, the car is now safe in the hands of museum members who committed time and financial resources to preserve it.

So from the initial search in 1990 to 2013, it has taken 23 years to make this happen.  The Fort Benning was sold by the Central of Georgia in the mid 1960's.  It has been almost 50 years since the car was with the Fort Oglethorpe and the Fort McPherson.  Talk about one hell of a family reunion.

Chris Williams

[E.M. Bell]

Chris , Glad you where able to save her and finally get her home to Sarm, and thanks for letting us all know "the rest of the story"  Its a good thing yall do, even if you DO hate passenger cars so much

When we first saw it yesterday, I made the comment that it surely must have been used as an office, restaurant, ect...no RR would ever paint a car with pastel stripes!

[GP30Rider]

Chris , Glad you where able to save her and finally get her home to Sarm, and thanks for letting us all know "the rest of the story"  Its a good thing yall do, even if you DO hate passenger cars so much

When we first saw it yesterday, I made the comment that it surely must have been used as an office, restaurant, ect...no RR would ever paint a car with pastel stripes!

Yeah..........the poor ole car has seen and been through quite a bit since it left the Central of Georgia.  Without going into tons of details, it's a miracle the car is not in a scrap bin.  Its been on dead rail at least twice and in a fire once.  That fire could have been the kiss of death.  Carrowinds Amusement Park in Charlotte had the car at one time.  Trying to talk to those folks about what happened to the car was reason enough to start hating passenger cars many years ago.

[E.M. Bell]

Here are 3 shots of the Fort Benning on the bottom of NS 111 yesterday afternoon 03/30/13

Leaving the siding at East Talamge KY


Running along Town Branch Creek in Harrodsburg, KY


The stainless steel and fluting on the side are unmistakable at night, even in a "blur" shot. 111 passes under the old Southern signal bridge at Junction City, Kentucky. That old signal bridge has seen regular service passenger trains, and that could have been taken 50 years ago!

[PGupton]

I was actually out at SARM yesterday to do a short chase. It's already a fun little pocket passenger train, I'd love to see a full-streamliner set out someday! 

Might as well attach a picture--the Fort Oglethorpe was the only passenger car.