| Former Amtrak 11-bouble-bedroom sleeper 2231 was parked at the New Orleans Public Belt’s engine terminal, on its way to the American Orient Express. The car was built by Pullman-Standard in March 1956 as Union Pacific CHEYENNE, one of 10 Plan 4199 5-double-bedroom/buffet/lounge cars in lot no. 6599. These were some of the very last conventional sleepers built in the U.S. It was rebuilt as 11-double-bedroom car STAR CREST in April 1965, and was assigned UP number 1701 in 1969, after Pullman stopped operating cars in the U.S. It became Amtrak 2251, then Amtrak HERITAGE FLEET car 2231, then American Orient Express 800768 SANTA FE and then American Railway Explorer ROCKY MOUNTAIN, although ARE never operated it. ARE sold it to the Greenbrier Express where it was tunneled for remodeling, but nothing more happened before Greenbrier ran out of money, and it was sold to the Union Pacific at the bankruptcy auction in 2014. |