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A 95-year-old refrigerated rail car that once transported fruits and vegetables from the Valley of Heart’s Delight has been resting in the side yard of a San Jose home for nearly 40 years. But now the vintage piece of rolling stock is about to embark on one last journey — and a new life as a museum piece.
Lisa DaFonte was just a kid in 1984 when her parents bought the house on Topeka Avenue, where the wooden ice car — Western Pacific Railroad’s Pacific Fruit Express 55069 — had already taken up residence. Former San Jose City Councilman Jerry Estruth, from whom DaFonte’s parents bought the house, acquired the rail car to use as a bar for an event at the Civic Center. In 1981, he had it transported to the house behind the Zanotto’s Market in San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood.
DaFonte, whose parents used the rail car for storage, grew up with it and even had dreams as a teenager of living in it. “I’ve been looking at it my whole life,” she said. “It was really cool to be around it as a kid.”
Last year, DaFonte began plans to expand the home and that meant the vintage car had to go. But she had lived with it so long, she didn’t want to see it demolished and preferred to have it moved so it could be preserved.
So she reached out to Western Pacific and various historical societies without much luck. Then History San Jose’s Ken Middlebrook came out to look at the car. Recognizing its value, he contacted Eugene Vicknair, who sits on the board of the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, and that’s when things really got rolling.
The plan is move the rail car to the California Trolley and Rail Corp.’s restoration facility at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose, where it can be restored to its former glory by volunteers from the Feather River Rail Society over a period of several years. After the restoration is complete, Vicknair says he’d like WP PFE 55069 to be on display in San Jose for a bit before moving to its new home at the Western Pacific museum in Plumas County.
“I think it’s awesome that they’re going to restore it close so we can still see it,” said DaFonte, whose 1-year-old son knows how to say “choo choo.”
The work began in earnest this week when a crew of house movers lifted the 14- to 16-ton car about 3 feet off the ground on Wednesday, sliding two long steel beams beneath it so it can be moved onto the street. On Saturday, a heavy hauler will arrive from Roseville to move the car to the Fairgrounds on Saturday.
The biggest challenge is raising money for the move, not to mention the future restoration. Vicknair started a GoFundMe campaign to save PFE 55069, but even with outside donations — Estruth himself donated to the cause — the effort is still about $4,000 to $5,000 short. (You can donate at www.gofundme.com/save-wp-pfe-reefer-55069.)
“Rail cars like this were vital for moving the agriculture of California across the county. Such cars were regular sights in San Jose, Portola and across the United States,” Vicknair said. “When complete, it will be a tribute to California and to the men and women of the Western Pacific Railroad and their drive to succeed.”
