Repping the Three-Oh-Three and the Three-Three-Oh

"ACESandEIGHTS" (acesandeights) 03/30/2015 at 10:00 • Filed to: Thomas the muthafreakin' tank engine

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There it is. The Colorado Railcar. Dome-roofed cars sold in two basic flavors: powered commuter cars (with a fancy mustache up front—check out that classy touch) and a bi-level unpowered car for regional routes. Not sure there was a demand for this since Amtrak had been running that sort of rig for a while. I think Canadia—and its foolish interest in things like enjoyable travel, scenery, environmentally conscious transporation—was a fan of the passenger car.

Sadly, the coachbuilder fell on hard times and was acquired by a Columbus, Ohio, firm in anticipation of proposed construction of the Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati rail corridor. Ostensibly, with Denver immediately west of Columbus, the coaches could be manufactured and moved to Ohio with relative ease.

Even more sadly, Ohio canned the 3-C rail project citing its relatively low speed (it would only manage 79 mph). Let that sink in. You could commute between Ohio cities at 80 mph while reading a book or napping. THAT'S SOCIALIST TALK. THANKS, OBAMA! Also cited: lack of demand. Because of course nobody would want to visit neighboring cities for their dozens of NFL/MLB/NBA/NHL/MLS/NCAA teams and venues, nor see shows or sights or family or —perish the though— work in another city. Again: communists. Cancel that and take out the garbage.

RIP Colorado Railcar, its products, and its future.