The Southern Pacific sugar beet car that Arizona Railway Museum volunteers are looking to save.
Arizona Railway Museum website
CHANDLER, Ariz. — The Arizona Railway Museum is raising funds to move a former Southern Pacific sugar beet car from California to the museum. The car is an ex-SP 40-foot wood-sided gondola used exclusively for sugar beet transport, and is currently located at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, Calif. The WP museum decided to de-accession the car — or responsibly move it off the property — and is allowing the Arizona Railway Museum to take it without charge.
The car has an Arizona connection, since it was used to move sugar beets to the former Spreckles Sugar refinery on Riggs Road in Chandler.
Since the car is no longer capable of rail movement, it must be trucked from Portola to Chandler. The total cost for the movement is estimated at $22,000. The museum is seeking contributions that will go toward the movement and restoration efforts such as new wood and paint.
To crane or not to crane depends on the carrier. Some have rail-equipped ramps that can unload railcars from trailers or flatcars equipped with “rails”. See Youtube for the delivery of ION light-rail’s first car (by flatcar) and PATH 745 to the Shore Line Trolley Museum (by lowboy trailer).
Probably a significant portion of the cost is for cranes at each end of the move. They will be required whether the transport is by rail or highway unless either museum has an unloading ramp.
@Ian Narita…I’m going to presume the $22K price is for moving the carbody separate from the trucks, which would require two OTR flatbeds but not overweight permits(removing the trucks should get it under the load limit.
nice more stuff of history to be remembered for generations
Dumb question, why not put it on a 50′ flat car for the movement from Portola to Arizona. Then maybe a short movement by road in Arizona.
At 52000lbs and 10′ width the car needs oversize and overweight permits to move by road.