Re: C&S #9 the rest of the story (train)

Clever idea... redo 1937 in 2007....
I think you've kinda hit the nail on the head when it comes to the ADA, regulations, standards - whatsa word I'm looking for? Bureaucracy! If something new is built with the intent of replicating something old there will be those added problems of meeting certain codes - if you will. Something that is already built has kind of a grandfather clause attached to it.
But setting that possible obstacle aside I think you would find a St. Charles coal the least desirable car to mod as a pseudo observation car just because of the way it's box was constructed. Not that it would be very difficult but the C&S-built cars were probably a little more conducive to such an effort. If you could find half a dozen Steel Under Frames you could build a nice fleet of highly capable cars.
But what’s the point? You are gonna cut all kinds of doors and place seats etc. etc. - that wouldn't be prototypical.
You can never go back. If we were trying to accomplish the same objective as the railroad (for which the cars were built for in the first place) we MIGHT be able to replicate closely. But we're not. "We're" hauling people - not granulars and logs and lumber and....
I'm with ya Rod! I'd love to see a string of mixed types of coals, boxes, reefers, stocks, flats, cinders, outfits, flangers, tanks.....
But I'm just crossin' my fin'ners in hopes I'll see all four remaining C&S engines running before I kick off. If I was Bill Gates I would, too.
Now stop gettin' me all worked up - ya rascal!
Derrell