At the old Raleigh, North Carolina Seaboard Station, there is a heavyweight passenger car carrying the name "Villa Real" It appears to be going thru restoration. Does that car have a ACL or SAL heritage?

-- Dick Kearns (kearnsrh@aol.com), November 10, 2002

Answers

Yeah, duh, 3 bdrm NOT compartment...thanks, Mike.

-- Buck Dean (bdean@jngray.com), November 12, 2002.

The Villa Real is a Pullman plan 3411 10 section 3 double bedroom car. This car is shown on the 1950 Pullman list of cars as not being owned by any railroad. It was one of the cars that remained in the Pullman pool. Interestingly enough, the car is shown as not being air- conditioned, perhaps that being a reason why the car was not sold to a railroad and then leased back to Pullman.

The car was apparently sold sometime before 1961, as it is not shown in the 1961 Pullman list of cars, either as in the Pullman pool, or in government storage.

Of the four Villa type cars in Pullman ownership, two-Villa Real and Villa Medici are shown as not having AC, while two-Villa Cheer and Villa Nueva have Pullman mechanical AC. All of the Villa cars were Pullman diagram 33, with the 3 double bedrooms at one end of the car.

-- Michael W. Savchak (Savchak@mnr.org), November 12, 2002.

I will check my Pullman Co. records at home and get back to all tomorrow.

-- Michael W. Savchak (Savchak@mnr.org), November 11, 2002.

Plan 3411, 10 section-3cpt. The "Villa" cars were some of Pullman's earliest rebuilds known generally as "betterment cars". No library here at the office to tell whether SAL or ? owned the car and leased it back to Pullman in 1948. Anyone else?

-- Buck Dean (bdean@jngray.com), November 11, 2002.

"Villa Real" was built by Pullman in 1910 as "Lenover". This was a 12 section, 1 drawing room and 1 compartment sleeper, Lot 3800, for assignment to the Pennsylvania Railroad. In January, 1931 it was converted to a different plan and renamed "Villa Real".

-- Harry Bundy (Y6B@aol.com), November 10, 2002.