In
November of 1946, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (C&O) ordered
eighty-one 10 Roomette-6 Double Bedroom sleepers for the C&O
and the Nickel Plate Railroad (NKP) built in lot 6864, plan 4167
for the C&O and plan 4167A for the NKP. Of that order,
only forty-three of the cars were delivered with seven cars delivered
new to the Illinois Central Railroad (IC) for use in the City Of
Miami and five cars delivered new to the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad.
The Nickel Plate Railroad received 13 cars of this order. The NKP
cars were built using the P-S girder construction with distinctive
stainless steel corrugations, or side skirts, which were also applied
to the cars delivered to the C&O. Unique to this car was
the placement of the 6 bedrooms. Most postwar, streamline
10-6 passenger cars place the six bedrooms at one end of the car
or the other. This car had the 6 bedrooms placed in the center
of the car. This design was developed and utilized extensively
by the C&O and its subsidiary railroads. All of the cars delivered
to the Nickel Plate Railroad carried City of names. The names used
were in honor of cities located along the NKP right-of-way. One
of the Nickel Plate cars was the City of Findlay (210).
During the late 1950's and early 1960's, the Nickel Plate Railroad
petitioned federal and state agencies for discontinuance of most
of its passenger service. By the mid-1960's, after the Nickel Plate
had merged with the Norfolk and Western, and after successfully
discontinuance, the City sleepers were deemed surplus. Because of
the shared heritage with the Illinois Central Railroad cars, some
of the City sleepers were sold to the Illinois Central in 1965 with
the remainder sold to Canadian National in 1966. When the City
of Findlay (210) was sold to the Illinois Central, it was renamed
the Council Bluffs.
Immediately, the stainless steel corrugations were removed and the
cars were painted in IC's orange and brown with gold striping and
lettering. All lot 6864, plan 4167 and plan 4167A Illinois Central
cars were retired and sold in 1970 and 1971.
This car was purchased by PRS in 1971. Since 1971, the Council
Bluffs has made only a single excursion trip and is currently
stored.
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