| Milwaukee Road Business Car named MOUNT RAINIER in the MILW coach yard in Chicago, Illinois on an unknown day in August 1981, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler. This car was built by the Milwaukee Road in the mid-1940's as a tap lounge car named MONTANA and used on the Olympia Hiawatha. Upon introduction of the Super Dome Lounge cars in the mid-1950's, the tap lounge cars were retired from regular service. This car was converted to a business car with a spacious lounge and overnight accommodations, and named Montana. The open back platform was added in the early 1960s. Following dissolution of the company in the mid-1980s, the car passed into private ownership and ran under varied names including Mount Rainier and Prairie Rose. It subsequently was leased to the Wisconsin Central for executive use and whistle-stop campaigns for Presidents and Governors including George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Tommy Thompson. More recently, the railcar was included in excursions with the Milwaukee Road steam engine 261 out of Minneapolis. More information at this address: http://www.railcarmontana.com/history.html |