Re: Hinman Coach

Can't find the file, but here is what my memory conjures up. Around 1968 a Mr. Hinman proposed to run a tourist operation between the San Luis Valley and Chama, which he named the Rio Grande and San Juan. He filed an application with the ICC for trackage rights over the DRGW, and purchased the "Hinman" coach (without trucks) from the NdeM and transported it to Alamosa as an indication of his seriousness. Since he had failed to obtain any kind of agreement with the DRGW for the trackage rights agreement, the ICC summarily turned down his application. Then he just disappearred, leaving the ex-NdeM ng. coach behind, basically abandoned, in Alamosa. At some point in time ownership of the coach was transferred to the C&TS, and it was mounted on freight car trucks. I can remember the Scenic Railways group using it in their October 1972 "Toltec Rattler" photo freight operation. Have no recollection of Kyle using it. But then Bartholomew fixed it up as a nice Victorian parlor car and used it to handle high end tour groups. Unfortunately, mounted on freight car trucks, it had a bad habit of derailing. Seems to me the side bearings didn't match very well, so they would occasionally bind and prevent the car from tracking properly around curves. It also rode very roughly. When RGRPC took over the car was taken out of service for safety reasons, and has been stored since. Hopefully somebody with a better memory can correct any errors, and perhaps fill in some details.