One of the Forney Transportation Museum’s amazing collection of passenger cars is this 1902 Pullman parlor / lounge car, which is on display in the Denver museum. It was originally a wood-bodied car and was operated both by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad and later by the Colorado and Southern Railroad. In 1930 the wooden body was sheathed in steel and the car was given steel framed trucks. In 1949 air conditioning was installed and in 1967 it was sold to Sol Polk of Illinois, the founder of Polk Brothers, a large appliance store chain in Chicago. In 1968 is was designated PB-1 and painted to represent Illinois’ sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of statehood. The use as a private luxury rail car never materialized however and thus remained substantially complete and intact as the day it was rebuilt in 1930. In 1978 is was sold to the Forney Museum who undertook a restoration to show off the amazing interior.
