Tioga Pass Private Car
Through Fresno, CA 08/30/2009
Built in 1959 by the Canadian National Shops in Point St. Charles, Quebec, the car was part of an order for 12 similar cars designed for railroad executives. Originally number 23, and later number 93, Tioga Pass spent most of its life in Edmonton, Alberta. There it served the Vice President of the Mountain Region. Records show the car traveled all over Canada, providing some 30 years of faithful service. By the early 1990s, though, the car was largely redundant and seldom used. Like the passenger trains on which it used to hitch a ride, the automobile and airplane offered quicker and more convenient transportation in today’s fast-paced corporate world.
In 1992 Canadian National decided to sell the car, and a local businessman in Barstow, California named Rutherford P. “Rudy” Hayes bought it sight unseen because, as he put it, “I always just wanted one.” In an epic trip, the car traveled from Edmonton to Barstow in January, 1993. Through fierce cold and driving blizzards, t
Aug 30, 2009
Photos: 21
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