The railroad cars were sitting on a parcel of land that Derek Stevens, owner of the D, Golden Gate, and a large swatch of downtown Las Vegas acquired when he purchased the Las Vegas Club (to become part of "18 Fremont," the details of which haven't been announced). Only two of the four cars were affected by the sale. Stevens and his brother Greg obtained them as part of a $7.5 million transaction with Boyd Gaming. The land was the object of the sale, with the train cars coming as lagniappe.
The cars were installed next to Main Street Station by the original developer-owner of Main Street Station, Bob Snow (who tried to repurchase them from Boyd when he heard they were up for grabs).
The pair of cars sold were the Blackhawk and the Cascade. It's been reported that William "Buffalo Bill" Cody lived aboard the Blackhawk during his Wild Wild West tours from 1906 until his death in 1917, although this is a subject of some dispute. A similar claim has been made about a Pullman car in Colorado. It appears that the car was built in 1906. How it made its way into Cody’s traveling show is a bit of a mystery, but it doubtless was good PR for new owners the Burlington line. Not only is the original woodwork still in place, the car boasts a dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms with showers.
The Cascade was the flagship of the Pullman Palace Car Company and built for Colorado Midland Railway Chairman Charles Perkins. Built in 1897, its features include an observation area, a dining room, and couches that convert to sleeping berths.
The two cars were sold by the Stevens brothers to Western Elite, a recycling firm in Ely, Nevada. But don’t worry: They’re not going to be scrapped. Western Elite plans to make them the centerpiece of its Christmas Express, in which the cars will be towed by trucks.
That’s not the last of the rolling stock at Main Street Station. Another car is built into the casino’s infrastructure as part of its Pullman Grille. "Depending on the function, attendees can actually sit in the car (it’s fully furnished) during private events if they want," says Boyd Gaming spokesman David Strow. It’s known as the Louisa May Alcott.
Originally part of the City of Portland line, the LMAwas purchased by Snow and moved to Vegas. It was part of a 1927 series of cars built by the Pullman Co. and branded after female authors and poets of distinction. It was not, as some have written, her private Pullman car — Alcott died in 1888. Nevertheless, the myth that Alcott owned the car lives on on the Internet, proving that you can’t keep a good urban legend down.
