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Sunday, August 2, 2015

Christmas in July: Disney's "A Christmas Carol" Train Consist

…Continued from Christmas in July: Disney's "A Christmas Carol" Train Tour at Portland, Oregon.

IMG_7645 Amtrak P42DC #157 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Amtrak P42DC #157 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

Disney’s A Christmas Carol Train was pulled by two of Amtrak's General Electric P42DC locomotives.

IMG_7647 Amtrak P42DC #71 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Amtrak P42DC #71 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The lead locomotive was #157 and the second locomotive was #71. They were built in April 2001 and April 1997 respectively.

IMG_7649 Amtrak P42DC #71 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Amtrak P42DC #71 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The first three cars in the train were numbered MRLX #801101, MRLX #801102 & MRLX #801103. The MRLX reporting mark is registered to Mid America Railcar Leasing. These three cars were previously used as the exhibit cars for Artrain USA, a traveling art museum aboard a train. The train was retired in 2007 in favor of trucks in order to reach more communities.

IMG_7633 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801101 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801101 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The first car, MRLX #801101, was built by the Budd Company in December 1948 as a sleeping car for the New York Central.

IMG_7640 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801101 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801101 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

It was originally named Missouri Valley and featured 10 roomettes and six double bedrooms. It was part of a group of cars that were originally assigned to the New England States, the Ohio State Limited, and the Southwestern Limited, as well as general service.

IMG_7651 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801101 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801101 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

In 1950, the New York Central assigned five-digit numbers to all of its lightweight sleeping cars, although the numbers weren’t actually applied to the cars until after they had been withdrawn from Pullman service in 1958. This car was assigned #10136. It became Penn Central #4276, and then Amtrak #2836.

IMG_7628 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801102 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801102 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

MRLX #801102 and #801103 were built by the Budd Company in July 1949 for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Each car formed one part of a twin-unit dining-kitchen-dormitory car.

IMG_7634 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801102 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801102 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

Seven of these twin-unit dining-kitchen-dormitory cars were built and assigned to the Broadway Limited, the General, and other trains. 

IMG_7653 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801102 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801102 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

Each twin-unit set consisted of a 68-seat dining table car with a four seat waiting room, and a kitchen car with dormitory space for 19 crew members. While designed to operate as a set, the two units were separate cars and were not articulated.

IMG_7627 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801103 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801103 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The cars were numbered 4610-4623; the dining units had even numbers and the dormitory-kitchen cars had odd numbers.

IMG_7635 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801103 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801103 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

MRLX #801102 was originally PRR #4621. It later became Penn Central #4621 and then Amtrak #8805. MRLX #801103 was originally PRR #4618.

IMG_7655 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #801103 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #801103 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

All three of these cars were purchased by Artrain from Illinois Transit Assembly. In 2008 the entire Artrain consist was put up for sale through Ozark Mountain Railcar. They were acquired by Mid America Railcar Leasing (MRLX).

IMG_7636 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #800863 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #800863 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The train's exit car was MRLX #800863, a former baggage car originally built by American Car & Foundry in January 1955 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #3680.

IMG_7657 Christmas Carol Train Car MRLX #800863 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
MRLX #800863 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The car was later acquired by Mid America Railcar Leasing. It was also used by American Rail Excursions and named Taos.

IMG_7629 Christmas Carol Train Car #800702 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Lamberts Point #800702 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The last car in the train, which was not open to the public, was open-platform observation Lamberts Point, which was built in 1914 by the Norfolk & Western as a Business Car.

IMG_7637 Christmas Carol Train Car #800702 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Lamberts Point #800702 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

Lamberts Point was acquired by the Friends of the 261 in 2002 and was leased to Canadian Pacific from 2004 to 2009. It is assigned the road number #800702.

IMG_7659 Christmas Carol Train Car #800702 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Lamberts Point #800702 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

The car features a kitchen, a dining area with seating for six, a lounge area with eating for six, and 3 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.

IMG_7661 Christmas Carol Train Car #800702 at Union Station in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009
Lamberts Point #800702 in Portland, Oregon on July 1, 2009

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