I am going to cc this to the folks at the Northwest Railway Museum in
Snoqualmie, WA. They have a beautifully restored St. Louis Car Co.
1953 United States Army Medical Service ambulance kitchen car, USA
89601. There are pics and a very interesting write-up at:
http://www.trainmuseum.org/Collection/USA89601.asp
I had the good fortune to tour this car in the late 1990's with a
small group of my fellow soldiers, while our Army Reserve unit was
conducting training at nearby Ft. Lewis. It was like walking into a
time machine. It didn't just look restored, it looked new. It even
smelled new. Beautiful.
The car sat at Ft. Lewis 20 years without ever being used. When the
museum obtained it, the exterior had been repainted but the interior
was complete (including pristine trays, silverware, dishes,
appliances, coffee mugs, and even the Army manual for the two coal-
fired ranges). Complete, that is, except for one detail: The original
copper water heater had been removed for salvage while the car was
owned by Kennecott Copper. Perhaps the museum might need a few spare
parts. And if any of the cars in Ohio still have the original water
heater...hmmm.
As I recall, though built in 1953, the car was equipped with friction
bearings which are less likely to be damaged if the car remains
stationary for long periods of time. Was this common practice for
other cars that might sit still? I remember looking at Q MOW cars,
but I never thought to examine the bearings.
Regards,
Stan
On Apr 25, 2007, at 6:54 PM, qutlx1@aol.com wrote:
> Given all the recent discussion about ex troop kitchen cars and
> Allied Full
> Cushion Trucks I was floored when I opened the March issue of
> Railway Age and
> found an ad for "Built for U.S. Army as kitchen cars....."
> Turns out the cars are 1952 blt by St Louis Car so they aren't
> former Q
> cars. But if anyone is interested I now know where there's a string
> of former
> troop kitchen cars in storage in Ohio. They do look to be in
> relatively good
> shape and on standard passenger trucks.
> If anyone is a meber of a museum that would be interested in
> acquiring a car
> you should find a copy of the March issue of Railway Age and go to
> pg 41.
>
> Leo
>
> ************************************** See what's free at http://
> www.aol.com.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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