Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Business Car No. 101

About this property

The Abraham Lincoln, also known as Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Business Car No. 101, is the oldest operable passenger car in the United States allowed to run on tracks operated by Amtrak. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1910, with Robert Todd Lincoln as the company president, the Pullman Car Company suddenly changed from the 60-foot (18 m) varnished wood railroad cars to the 80-foot (24 m), riveted-steel design. The new technology of the time was electric lighting, so the new cars required the addition of electrical wiring, switches, switchboards, generators, and batteries. Wood and steel trucks were replaced with massive structural steel castings. It was September of this year that coach 895 was manufactured for the Western Pacific Railroad (WP) at an original cost of $13,624.50 (equivalent to $330,677 in 2024). The car was configured as an 84-seat coach and was the culmination of the most modern design and construction of heavyweight steel cars from the Pullman Company. Pullman passenger cars such as the WP 895 were the ultimate in travel prior to World War I. On January 11, 1924, coach 895 became Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) number 926. At that time, its book value was given at $8,783.90 (equivalent to $127,128 in 2024). In 1929, the railroad car was rebuilt by the D&RG in their Burnham shops, Denver, Colorado, to a self-contained private railroad car for the president of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW). Numbered D&RG 101, it was complete with staterooms, office, bathrooms, observation room, kitchen, dining room, and porter's compartment. At this time, the 101 was refitted with six-wheel trucks (estimated book value of $580.65). The (used) 1910 trucks were from one of the three buffet-library cars originally built for the Western Pacific, which were renumbered 981, 982, and 984 in 1915–16. These buffet-library cars were moved to a lower service as D&RGW baggage cars 741, 742, and 744, and their six-wheel trucks replaced with two-axle trucks in 1929. Four of these trucks are the ones that found their way to the D&RG Car 101 and its sister car, the 102. The rebuild cost $33,294.22 (equivalent to $477,458 in 2024) in December 1929 is when it received its present design and floor plan. At 190,000 pounds (86,000 kg), the D&RG Business Car 101 was the pride and status symbol of the powerful and elite in the business world, but within two weeks of its unveiling, the stock market crash of 1929 brought reality back into perspective. The 101 was built and initially assigned to the president of the D&RGW and is a unique example of rail cars at the turn of the century. It has survived almost a hundred years as a rare example of "state of the art" 1910 railroad technology. The interior was distinguished by its hand crafted satin walnut lightly accented with bronze hardware and richly tailored fabrics.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in Adams County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Adams County.

More historic places in Washington

Browse all historic places in Washington.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Washington history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.