After three years, a project to repair and restore the DeQuincy Railroad Museum’s Sante Fe Passenger Coach Car No. 2869 is almost completed. The car will soon be available for tours and meetings.

Gary W. Cooper, museum board president, said the project began as a joint effort between the museum, the city of DeQuincy and Ward 6 Community Center and Playground District 1. Work began in 2013 and included the reupholstering of the interior seats, repair and replacement of the flooring material, and installation of a heating and air-conditioning system. 

This year the Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau awarded a $15,000 grant to the museum to replace the glass in all 38 windows; repair and replace plumbing, including period hardware; and to fix interior lighting.

The 44-seat coach, built by the Pullman-Standard Co. in 1947, is 85 feet long, has two restrooms/lounges and saw service on Santa Fe passenger trains such as the El Capitan and the Texas Chief. It was later used by Amtrak.

The car was donated to the museum in 1984 by Chad Theilen, president of the Foundry Restaurant of Lake Charles. It was moved to its present location that year with the assistance of the Southern Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railroads and Rusty Williams Rail Services of Marksville.

Cooper said the coach was used for many years for meetings. It will seat 36 and has a service bar to accommodate presentations. The passenger coach is part of the museum’s outdoor artifacts exhibits, which include the 1913 Steam Engine and MOPAC and Cotton Belt cabooses.