A Oregon Electric passenger trailer car that followed a powered combine car in a two-car consist, or sat in the middle of a three-car “Limited” configuration with the observation-parlor car or sleeper car at the rear of the train. Car 137 had its own motors.
After passenger service on the Oregon Electric ended in 1933, car 137 was sold to the Skagit River Railway in Newhalem, Washington, along with passenger cars 132, 133 and 135, and combine car No. 65. The cars were used to transport passengers on weekend tours of the Diablo dam site. The car was renumbered as No. 18 and painted chrome yellow with green trim. Once work was completed on the dam project, the railway was shut down on April 4, 1954 and scrapped by Dulien Steel of Seattle. This company sold cars 137 and 132 to Andy’s Diner (now the Orient Express Lounge) in Seattle’s SODO district, where they remain to this day, their decaying shells garishly painted and embedded in the structure of the building. It is impossible to tell which car is which any more.
No 137 – or is it 132? – adjacent to 4th Avenue on the south side of the Orient Express Lounge.
| Year Built: | 1913 |
|---|---|
| Builder: | American Car Company |
| Trucks: | Two, standard-gauge |
| Motors: | None |
| Brakes: | |
| Dimensions: | Length: 58 ft. 5 in.; Width: 9 ft. 4 in.; Weight: 42,000 lb. |
| Seating: | 62 seats |
| Years of Service: | 1912–1933, Oregon Electric; 1934–1954, Skagit River Railway; 1955–Present, Andy’s Diner/Orient Express Lounge |