Equipment Information

In 1971 the Michigan Council for the Arts funded the creation of the Michigan Artrain, later simply Artrain, a roving art exhibition housed in three converted passenger cars. One of these three cars, ARTX 1, is an exhibit car rebuilt at that time from a heavyweight coach built in 1924 and modernized around 1953. The car was retired by Artrain in the 1990s and acquired by IRM in 2002 for the purpose of housing historic and educational displays.

As built, ARTX 1 was Baltimore & Ohio 5245, a long-distance class A-18c heavyweight coach with 80 seats. In May 1936, the B&O installed air conditioning and sealed windows. In 1953, the railroad’s Mount Clare Shops in Baltimore heavily rebuilt the car. This effort modernized it with an arched roof in place of its original roof and reclining “Sleepy Hollow” seats for 60. It emerged as a class A-18cq coach with a new number, 3703. The B&O retired car 3703 from service in 1969 and around 1971 the railroad sold the car to Michigan Artrain.

Builder: Pullman/Pullman-Standard
Year Built: 1924
Length: 79ft 6in
Width: 10ft 3in
Height: 14ft 2in
Weight: ??
Brakes: ??
Trucks: 6 Wheel
Description: Exhibit Car / Rebuilt Heavyweight Coach / ex-B&O 3703, ex-B&O 5245
Arrived: 2003
Condition: Incomplete / cosmetically restored / not operational

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