Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad class PA-15 7203 at Aurora, Illinois on August 21, 1964, Ektachrome by Chuck Zeiler. This is the not often photographed side of one of the CB&Q power cars. The Burlington's practice was to place these cars on the outbound (west) end of the Dinkys (commuter trains) to keep the noise and exhaust fumes at the far end of Union Station in Chicago. This side would then be on the north side of the tracks, not often lit by the sun. This car was built in 1929 by the CB&Q Aurora Shops as PA-15 7150, during 1949 it returned to the shops for the addition of a Cummins six-cylinder diesel driving a Century 65KW DC generator, and the associated support equipment (cooling, diesel fuel tank, intake and exhaust grills, etc.). This particular car seated 68 passengers. According to the book, "Passenger Car Diagrams", by Railway Production Classics (a reproduction of CB&Q diagrams), #'s 7200-7202 seated 70 passengers, and #'s 7203-7205 seated 68 passengers. The difference being accounted for by the addition of crew lockers at the generator end of #'s 7303-7305. |