WP museum, Portola, CA

[princessclyne69]

I had to visit this museum since we were in the area. They have practically all the preserved WP equipment, at least four CZ cars, a number of cabooses that are open to visit and I think are the cars used when they run trains around the property. One of the cabs is the MP 13878, which happened to be at the end of the cut of cars today. It’s in really great shape and clean.

Biggest surprise is the MP 14144, which is marked as ‘Conference Car Concrete Tie Project’. Besides the fact that this was an interesting use, the car is a former 300 series mail storage car, ex 2400 series, and it may be the lone survivor of this class. The concrete tie project was probably a UP usage, and it definitely had been a bunk car before becoming a conference car. I’m too old to be crawling around in the dirt under a passenger car, but I got a couple of shots that should help show the brake gear, since that’s all intact.

Pictures later.

RG7

[bargetanika]

They had ex T&NO 4-4-0 216 for a while. Until the 60s she was a well preserved 1900 rebuild of an 1880s ex UP engine. I visited her often at her final operating home, a sugar mill in Erath, LA. Steamtown of all people butchered her making a bogus “Golden Spike “ engine. I’m pretty sure she went to Portola after that, and I believe now is at some CA winery on static display, restored to a 1900 appearance.

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