Hol
I think 14496 and 14497 were acquired when the Burlington took over the Sioux City & Western in October 1907. I was looking at the (confusing) history of the company and its equipment, and received help from Ken Middleton. This included a letter to him from
Joe Douda identifying these two way cars as being transferred as part of the sale.
Assuming this was correct, the cars were originally Nebraska & Western (Pacific Short Line) 900-901 and renumbered to 0855-0856 in 1900/1901 by Willmar & Sioux Falls (GN). N&W was incorporated in 1889, construction was undertaken in 1889 and 1890, and operation
began in the fall of 1890, which ties in with the date of construction at Aurora.
That the two cars were built for a foreign road would explain their non-standard Burlington appearance. If they were purchased and operated before the line was complete, there might not have been any turning facilities to place a cupola at the rear as desired
by conductors, so a mid-point cupola would be a reasonable compromise.
The brief history is
Pacific Short Line (Nebraska & Western), 1889, receivership 1891
Sioux City & Northern 1891-1892 (lease)
Sioux City, O'Neill & Western 1892, receivership 1893-1899
Sioux City & Western 1899
Willmar & Sioux Falls (GN) operates SC&W 1900-
SC&W to CB&Q 1/10/07
So, all we need is a photo from one of these companies showing the way cars!
Rupert