Built: 1881, by Barney & Smith Manufacturing Company, Dayton, Ohio

Purchased for $50 in 1938, Coach 5 was the first piece of railroad equipment acquired by Ward and Betty Kimball. Its arrival marked the beginning of the Grizzly Flats Railroad, the now legendary 500-foot long rail line located in the Kimball’s backyard in San Gabriel, California. The Kimballs repainted the exterior for their own railroad, but kept the interior in its as-received condition.

Coach 5 was built in 1881 for the Carson & Colorado Railroad, which ran from a connection with the Virginia & Truckee Railroad at Mound House, Nevada south to Keeler, California. The C&C was acquired by the Southern Pacific in 1900, and Coach 5 was rebuilt that same year, adding an interior partition to provide a smoking section. Coach 5 finished its SP career on the narrow-gauge Owens Valley line, finally being retired in 1938.

Donated by Ward and Betty Kimball

3-foot Narrow Gauge Page

Additional Photos:


- John Smatlak photos, click image to enlarge -
Interior of Coach 5 as it appears today, largely unaltered from its appearance at the previous turn of the century.	Close-up of the woodwork surrounding the windows.	One of the seats. Note the elaborate cast seat frame.