Nevada Central 253

This 24-foot, 8-ton boxcar was built in 1874 as part of Carter Brothers' very first order of cars for the Monterey and Salinas Valley Railroad. When the car was built, the Carters didn't have a car shop yet, so they went to the customer's site and built the cars right there on the beach in Monterey. When the Southern Pacific took over the M&SV in 1881, they immediately sold the narrow gauge equipment to the Nevada Central Railroad, where our car became number 253. When the N&C shut down in 1939, this car survived and ended up as a roadside billboard for the Gold Strike Inn in Boulder City, Nevada. We traded a replica for it in early 1992. The car is nicknamed the "Craps" car because of the casino advertising still painted on its side (although the advertisement is for a different lesser-known game, "Keno"). This car has been identified as the oldest surviving wooden boxcar in the western United States. It's currently stored off display and being evaluated for restoration.