Vintage rail car arrives at Oregon Depot

OREGON — After keeping railroad enthusiasts waiting for weeks, the vintage Silver View rail car arrived in Oregon in a whirlwind of activity Sunday.

“It’s finally here,” said Roger Cain, after the sleek touring car was pulled to Oregon behind other empty rail cars. “Now we just have to get it where it will sit while its being restored.”

Cain is one of the Oregon Depot volunteers helping with the project the rail car’s move to the Oregon Depot for its next restoration phase. They thought it was arriving on Monday, but the Silver View sped into town Sunday afternoon.

The signature Vista Dome car for Burlington’s famed Twin Cities Zephyr started its journey to Oregon when former Oregon resident Peter Medins, now of Woodstock, met Mike Abernethy, of St. Charles, the owner of the Silver View. The two were on a rail tour when they started talking about Abernethy’s ongoing restoration work on the sleek rail car that was sitting in Charles City, Iowa.

Medins, who remembers taking a trip from Oregon to Minneapolis on the Twin Cities Zephyr as a child, suggested Abernethy move the Silver View closer to St. Charles and proposed the Oregon Depot.

Earlier this year, officials from the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) agreed to replace and upgrade the “house” track — the track that once served the freighthouse — just west of the Oregon Depot for the Silver View to sit on.

That track, located north of the active BNSF freight line, will be the Silver View’s new home during its next restoration phase.

The Oregon Depot Museum Board was offered a $5,000 matching donation from Medins for costs associated moving with the Silver View. The Oregon Depot Board matched his donation with funds given by local donors.

Abernethy is president and tour operator of Zephyr Route, a small privately owned business he launched to fund the restoration of the Silver View. His website is: www.zephyrroute.com.

“We are dedicated to offering high quality rail tours reminiscent of the way rail travel was operated in the past,” Abernethy’s website reads.

In early August, the Canadian National Railway transported the Silver View to East Dubuque, and then to Savanna. After a unscheduled detour to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and a layover in Lacrosse, the car finally made it to Rochelle on Sunday and then west Oregon.

The Oregon Depot has been restored by local volunteers and houses a museum that reflects the history of train travel to and from the town of 3,800, located 40 miles west of DeKalb. For more information about the Oregon Depot visit http://oregonil.com/oregon-depot-museum/.

Silver View Facts

The following information was provided by the Oregon Depot.

Silver View was built by the Budd Co. and delivered to the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe on Nov. 29, 1947. It immediately became one of the signature Vista Dome cars for the Burlington’s famed Twin Cities Zephyrs. The Twin Cities Zephyrs operated between Chicago and its names’ sake cities. It was marketed as “where natures smiles for 300 miles.”

Silver View and its sister car, Silver Vista, both operated as daytime parlor cars with one drawing room.

Their domes were configured with the customary 24 seats. The “main floor” of the cars had 26 parlor seats in the tail/observation end.