Re: Another GRAMPS car has come home

Well, enough time has passed and frankly at this point, I doubt this car will ever get saved due to it's curcumstances, so might as well give some details. Based on my experience with the initial 5900's that I found, I'd been hesitant to disclose much about any of the really unique finds (that's why only the Friends knew about the location of the Gramps car) as the owner of the 5900's suddenly got a lot of visitors and thought they were worth a lot of money. Probably the reason 5995 is saved and 5926 and 5962 aren't (14 years should have cooled expectations though now...). Anyway....

Yes, baggage car 111 still exists along with two short reefers, 76 and 78. The owner is absentee and out of state and apparently has been totally non-responsive to inquiries on his cars, which is why ultimately the Friends went after 163. The 163 is the better of the two cars from what I could tell anyway and wasn't all full of junk. The 111 is still relatively intact, although when I last saw it about 3 years ago the roof looked a little rough. The attached photo was taken back in 2004, so the car is a little worse for the wear since.

Don Shank's car is still in Monte Vista I believe and would also rate a better candidate for restoration vs the 111. I had really hoped that all 4 might be preserved, but, unless the ownership circumstance changes, it will probably never be preserved and will either very slowly rot or be bulldozed. Shame because it and the reefers, while all needing a lot of work, do represent some under-preserved types.