| SLRG 3305 is one of two observation lounge cars built by the IC in 1947 for use on their new CITY OF NEW ORLEANS streamliner. The cars ran on the CITY until late 1968, before being retired and sold. The 3305 was purchased by Louis Saia of Houma, Louisiana; while sister car 3306 ended up in excursion service in Mexico. Mr. Saia, the owner of Saia Trucking, also purchased CITY OF MIAMI observation car 3300 and home-made streamline diner 4109. He planned on using the cars as a camp, but this never happened; and he donated them to the NRHS-New Orleans Chapter in late 1971. Mr. Saia had kept the two observation cars parked at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal for a long while, perhaps a year or more; and they were moved to the New Orleans Chapter storage yard on St. Claude Avenue in January 1972. The 3305 was used by the New Orleans Chapter for several years on Southern Railway steam excursions, as well as on several outings on the SOUTHERN CRESCENT. The car was sold to the NRHS-Roanoke Chapter in March 1978, where it was repainted Norfolk & Western Tuscan red and regained it its original name MARDI GRAS. It regularly operated on excursion trains until the Norfolk Southern ended its steam program in late 1994. Sometime after the end of NS steam operations, the car moved from Roanoke to the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The car was still painted Tuscan red when it moved to Arizona, where it was repainted and relettered SLRG (San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad) 3305. The Arizona Eastern and SLRG are both owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings L.L.C. The car still sports a Roanoke Chapter drum head. |