Part I: How Do We Know What We Know?
We often lament that our trains cannot talk. The stories they would tell if they could. Although trains do not talk in a manner you would expect, they do communicate with us. When we put on our detective hats, you might be surprised how much these cars and locomotives reveal. Join us as we present a story of intrigue, mistaken identity, and mystery. And it all takes place in the yellow passenger car currently labeled “Central Pacific No. 12.”
Part II: Getting A Car to Talk
Central Pacific (CP) No. 12 came to our Roundhouse identified as a witness to history. We believed this car was built in 1869 and was among the first railcars ever shipped coast-to-coast by rail. It was one of only two cars left in the whole world that attended the Gold Spike Ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah in May 1869. This car transported U.S. Army soldiers to the Gold Spike event
…or so we thought.
Our industrial archaeologists (you could call them “detectives”) found this passenger car had been traveling under a mistaken identity since 1976! This car is not CP No. 12.
Where did they look? Above the door located at the east end of the car (pictured here).How did they look? They had to remove 2 dozen (or 24) layers of paint and varnish to find the car’s number. What number did they find? SPMW 76. (SPMW stands for Southern Pacific Maintenance of Way).
Part III: The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
By searching through photographs and records, the industrial archaeologist determined that this was a second-class passenger car built in 1876. It was one of 20 cars built here in Sacramento at the Southern Pacific Shops.
The great mystery of CP No. 12’s identity has been solved! It attained its yellow façade in 1978 during its life as a wine shop in Calistoga. Deep within those yellow walls sat a historic car nearly 150 years in age. In that time, it lived numerous lives. Many different numbers identified this car over the years. So, stay tuned. We will pass along more information as we know it.