ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY

Business Car No. 405


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This car is known as the "Superintendent's car." It was assigned to a Santa Fe Division Superintendent who used it to inspect the railroad and conduct business with shippers, civic leaders, and work gangs in his assigned division.

The car was built in 1927 and was used throughout the Santa Fe system until its retirement in 1966. It has a lounge, two bedrooms, bathroom, dining/office room, a porter's room, and kitchen. When traveling, the car staff included a male secretary who was kept busy working at a typewriter.

After retirement, the car passed through several owners, then was donated by the Temple Railroad & Heritage Museum of Texas to the Arizona Railway Museum in 2008.

Santa Fe business car No. 405 was built by the Pullman Company as one of 18 cars in the fourth order of business cars for division superintendents. These were built as heavyweight, all-steel cars in lot number 4977 to plan number 7027, with delivery in January 1927. Their internal length is 52 feet and their external length over end sills is 58 feet 10 inches.

This was the second Santa Fe business car to carry the number 405. The first was converted from Santa Fe 34-foot caboose No. 386 built in 1893. It was eventually dismantled at the Topeka Shops in September 1925.

The superintendent’s cars were originally painted standard green with black roofs, but in later years their roofs were painted aluminum to reflect the heat, and this one was even painted for a while with a silver/shadowline treatment along the sides to help "blend in" while traveling on modern passenger trains.

The car received a number of modifications during its years of service. When built the car had a Vapor Heating Company’s system for generating steam heat when running behind a freight train. It used the steam lines when coupled to a passenger train. The master bedroom has a full lower bed and a fold-down upper. The second bedroom is configured as a section with a slide-together lower bed and fold-down upper. The lounge couch also converts to a bed for additional sleeping accommodations. As built, the car's two bedrooms had a toilet and fold-down sink.

The biggest changes came during the 1957 modification. These included addition of air conditioning, removal of the bedroom toilets but maintaining the sinks, changing from wood stove to propane, and the addition of a propane water heater. The vestibule door was removed and in that area a refrigerator/freezer assembly was installed, and a side loading door was implemented in the kitchen hallway.

After system-wide service, this car served in La Junta, Colorado, and on October 25, 1968 was sold at auction to Texas Tank Car Works in San Angelo, Texas. It was later sold to private owner Louis Perry and was moved to Temple, Texas.

In February 2000 vandals started a fire in bedroom "A" which could have destroyed the car. Fast action by the Temple fire department saved it. Mr. Perry later donated the car to the Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum, but the museum's switches had been removed so there was no way to move the car onto their tracks. They decided the best place to preserve and display it was to donate it to the Arizona Railway Museum, and it was delivered to the museum on May 16, 2008.

The car's interior has been restored to its 1957 appearance, while the exterior has been restored closer to its as-built condition.


12/21/2021 - Interior view of lounge area.

12/21/2021 - View of guest room made up for sleeping.
12/21/2021 - View of the common bathroom/shower.  Fold away sink at left.
12/21/2021 - View of the dining room and "office".  Secretaries desk is at the left side of the wall cabinet.
3/2011 - Car with a new coat of paint.
5/16/2008 - Car #405 being delivered to ARM.
5/15/2008 - Car #405 in Tempe, AZ.
Car #405 on display in Temple, TX.

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