WABASH RAILROAD #6
THE “IOWA”

Builder: American Car & Foundry
Built: 1911
Type: Office Car
Status: Display

In 1911, the skilled craftsmen at the American Car & Foundry Company factory on Clark Street in St. Charles, Missouri completed a new passenger car - Wabash Railroad No. 81. The 81 was a parlor car, a type of coach car that has more comfortable seating and additional amenities, unlike a traditional coach.

Parlor cars could be seen on many trains during the 20th Century, and No. 81 was used by the Wabash to offer luxurious accommodations to its passengers.

In 1929, however, the Wabash decided to repurpose No. 81. The railroad was in need of a new office car (also referred to as a business car), a special private car for transporting railroad executives, important guests and the like. No. 81 was sent to the Wabash’s shops in Decatur, Illinois, where employees transformed the car to serve its new purpose.

Business cars can be considered luxury hotels on rails - passengers lucky enough to ride on one were often traveling aboard them for multiple days and nights, so everything they needed to have a pleasant journey was included in the car. When No. 81 emerged from the Decatur Shops in November 1929, it featured bedrooms, a kitchen and dining room, a lounge, and an open air platform on the rear of the car so passengers could inspect the railroad. When completed, the car also received a new identity - it was renumbered to 6 and received the name “Iowa.”

No. 6 operated on the Wabash until 1964, when the railroad was merged into the Norfolk & Western (N&W) Railway. The N&W already had several business cars, and No. 6, older than the other cars, was deemed unnecessary to the N&W. As such, it was decided to retire the car and put it up for sale. Private individuals from the Chicago area purchased it soon after, and used it as their own private car, often attaching it to the rear of various passenger trains and travelling around the country.

As time went on, use of No. 6 became more and more limited, until it was finally placed into storage in a Bedford Park, Illinois warehouse, where it sat for many years. In 2009, the Monticello Railway Museum was made aware of the car, and made a deal to purchase it for our collection. It was carefully removed from the warehouse and loaded onto a special flatcar for transportation to Monticello. Fittingly, when it arrived, we sent our restored Wabash diesel locomotive No. 1189 to pick it up and bring it to our campus, where volunteers soon restored it to its 1929 appearance. No. 6 is currently one of two historic office cars at the museum, with the other being Illinois Central No. 7.

Today, this iconic car from the golden age of rail travel in America is displayed in our Nelson Crossing car barn, where visitors can get up close and view how the Wabash Railroad’s most important passengers traveled in style and comfort.