CN Car 93

Recently I was inadvertently added to an e-mail list of a group of rail enthusiasts who forward pictures of locomotives and trains among one another.  Although I have never met the majority of individuals on the list, I enjoy the pictures that are coming my way.  Today a group of pictures arrived that tweaked my interest.  The pictures were of a CP army train transporting British Army equipment from Alberta to Montreal.  On the tail end of the train was a business car that looked familiar.  As it was obviously a former CN car, it prompted a little further research.  It turns out that the car is former CN business car #93, now called the Tioga Pass and owned by Aronco Leasing Company of Barstow, California.

Seeing these pictures reminded me that as the son of a CN Chief Engineer, I led a privileged childhood, joining my Dad on numerous business car and hi-rail trips to all points between the Lakehead and Vancouver on the CN Western System.  My last such trip was on CN Car 93 on December 29^th and 30^th, 1979, when my then girlfriend Elizabeth Purkiss and I joined my folks on a trip from Edmonton to Vancouver.  This was my last business car trip for many years to come.

The next time I had an opportunity to ride in a business car was in late 1997, when as General Manager of the Ottawa Valley Railway I was asked to accompany CP’s President Rob Richie and his Vice President of Engineering Ernie Rewicki on the Mount Stephen across the entire OVR.  I didn’t let on that I was well healed in business car travel for fear of revealing my CN pedigree.  That trip brought back many memories of business car trips, and it helped that both of my hosts, despite their lofty positions, were true gentleman.

Nice to get the picture today and to see that Car 93 is still alive and active.