| Built by Budd in 1955 as Great Northern Prairie View...In 1996 Westours determined that with the merger of the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe Railroads the long neglected Budd built Great Northern shell #1394 in storage in Springfield, Missouri might be available. Both the BN and the AT&SF had rebuilt full domes already in use in their corporate fleets and thus there was probably no need for BN to keep the unrebuilt shell. Westours made a non solicited offer through a third party, but in a surprise move, BN decides to ignore the Westours offer and put the car up for bid. Inspected in Springfield, the car had been open to the weather for at least 10 years, had minor fire damage, was missing most of its window frames, exterior and interior doors and was fitted with the incorrect trucks. Unknown to BN, Westours had been collecting the parts necessary to rebuild the car since its personnel had first seen it in 1987. Due to the condition of the car, Westours was the only probable bidder and was successful in the bidding process. Once acquired, the car was quickly moved to Forest Grove, Oregon for the most extensive rebuild ever attempted. The correct trucks were already in inventory as were all but two of the required window frames and doors. The car was rebuilt in time for the 1997 season at a total cost of just over $1,000,000. Purchased by Iowa Pacific in 2009. |