Scenic Railroad buys four vintage railcars for steam excursions
Four iconic rolling pieces of railroad history will soon call the Cuyahoga Valley National Park home.
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad announced Wednesday that it has acquired four Zephyr railcars for $1.5 million.
The purchase includes two sleek stainless-steel passenger railcars that offer scenic 360-degree views from a dome.
Railroad officials say the California Zephyr cars exemplify the glamour of cross-country travel from the 1940s to the 1960s as the train made the run between San Francisco and Chicago.
The 2,525-mile trek would take some 2½ days while passengers enjoyed the views from the observation domes and ate in dining cars equipped with full kitchens and tables with linens and china.
Its fleet of 77 cars were sold to various companies, private owners or scrapped when the Zephyr ended its run.
The four cars were purchased through a loan and are part of an overall capital campaign started in 2016 that is leveraging individual, corporate and foundation money for improvements and acquisitions.
They were part of a private collection and used for excursions across the country.
“The acquisition of the Zephyr railcars was a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity,” the scenic railroad’s President and CEO Joe Mazur said in a statement. “We not only are preserving history, but giving hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to have one more way to travel through and experience Cuyahoga Valley National Park.”
The railroad, which offers regular excursions through the Cuyahoga Valley and the historic Ohio & Erie Canalway in Cuyahoga and Summit counties, already owns another dome observation car from the original California Zephyr fleet — the Silver Bronco.
This acquisition will add two more dome cars — the Silver Lariat and the Silver Solarium — along with a sleeper car and a baggage car.
The dome cars boast full kitchens that railroad officials plan to use to expand special dinning excursions through the national park.
The railcars are now in Seattle and will be brought back east by Amtrak.
The plan is for the cars to meet up with the Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 765 that will pull them the rest of the way to Northeast Ohio.
The steam locomotive will be the featured engine this year in the scenic railroad’s Steam in the Valley excursions that run weekends from Sept. 21 to 30.
Mazur said the railcars are in great shape and will make their public debut as part of the runs in the Steam in the Valley.
“We are committed to preserving and improving our fleet so that visitors from Northeast Ohio and around the world continue to have the opportunity to create shared family memories while experiencing history aboard vintage train cars as they travel through Cuyahoga Valley National Park,” Mazur said.