Northwestern Pacific Railroad Network
Dedicated to Sharing the Heritage of Redwood Empire Railroading
just for comidic laughs, to talk about the "Dirty Harry Bridge" instead of going to the same post over and over.
Members: 16
Latest Activity: Aug 26, 2017
This group does not have any discussions yet.
Comment
I found some information on that yellow observation car that was parked at the quarry. According to an old article in the Daily Independent Journal, the car was built in 1893 for the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad. The article did not list the car number, but stated that Hayden had purchased the car from the railroad in 1966.
The article, which was dated 11/23/71, stated that the car was moved from Sausalito to Greenbrae the day before (11/22/71) and was the second to last train movement over the line. The final train movement over the line was the day this article appeared, 11/23/71. The NWP apparently brought a caboose down to Sausalito and left it there. The tracks were then formally abandoned on Thanksgiving Day, 1971.
Although the article makes no mention of the car number, a quick search of existing rolling stock on the Burlington Route Historical Society page indicates that this car still exists, although that has not been confirmed. According to their page, the car number was 93, and currently resides on private property in West Redding, CA. A quick search of Google Maps satellite imagery did not indicate the presence of any passenger cars, but I may not be looking in the right spot. Since I'm not from the area, perhaps someone who is from the area may have more info.
There was an article in the local paper about Sterling Hayden's car. It concerned the car being moved out of Sausalito when that line was being abandoned. It was the second to last trip out of Sausalito I believe and moved to the Hutchinson Quarry area because there was a business there that refurbished private railway cars. I think the article said that the car belonged to Hayden's daughter, but that may be wrong or inaccurate.
Yes it was Sterling Hayden that owned the car. I do not have any photos of the car but it was in terrible condition when the guy finally hauled it off. I wonder where it is now......
I wonder where that observation car went. In 1979 I met a guy who said he was going to move it and restore it. It was owned by a movie star in Hollywood which he used it to travel with. It was in shambles when I saw it. The guy eventually moved it.
I've posted two Dirty Harry still photos on the NWP Network site. Next time I'm in Greenbrae I'll take a photo of what's left of the bridge as the section over East Sir Francis Drake Blvd. is long gone.
© 2018 Created by Mark Drury.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Dirty Harry Bridge to add comments!