DESHKA CAR # : 1394

1954	Ordered by the Great Northern Railway from the Budd Company.
1955	Delivered in September to the Great Northern, designated a Great Dome and named "Prairie View #1394".
	Original car had 57 forward facing seats and 18 lounge seats in the dome and a 34 seat lounge and bar on the lower level. Car was built for and used on the "Empire Builder" operating between Chicago and Seattle.
1970	The Great Northern Railway is merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad.
1971	Burlington Northern ceases passenger service with the start of Amtrak. Amtrak acquires car and continues to operate it on the route from Chicago to Seattle.
1972	June, car is refurbished at B.N.s Como shop in Minneapolis, MN.
1979	Car is temporarily retired from Amtrak service pending rebuild. Stored in Los Angeles, vandalism and theft of parts by metal thieves and others renders the car unusable.
1982	Amtrak moves car to its main shops at Beech Grove, Indiana for use as a parts car to assist in rebuilding 3 other Great Domes. Many remaining parts are stripped; trucks are sold for use on the Cyrus K. Holiday, a private business car owned by San Diego Savings and Trust.
1988	April, Holland America inspects car in Beech Grove. Still open to weather and deteriorating yearly. Attempts to acquire it are ignored by Amtrak.
1989	Believing that some day the car will become available Westours begins to seriously collect parts to rebuild the car. A complete truck set is acquired from the Santa Fe. Window frames and exterior doors are found from the "Lake View #1393" scrapped in Oakland, California in 1982.
1993	May, Amtrak surpluses car in sealed bid auction. Burlington Northern outbids Holland America for car intending to use it as a corporate mid train dome to supplement their modified end of train Great Dome "Glacier View."
1995	Burlington Northern acquires the AT&SF. The Santa Fe Full Dome #60 is acquired in the sale negating the need to rebuild the "Prairie View". Agent of Holland America contacts the B.N.
	August, Holland America inspects car at B.N. Springfield, Missouri yard. Condition has worsened but still salvageable.
1996	July, car acquired by Holland America as the unnamed owner through a third party. Car moved to Forest Grove, Oregon for the most extensive rebuild ever attempted by Holland America.
1997	Rebuilding completed and car shipped from Seattle to Anchorage by barge on May 8. Total cost of the car and rebuild tops $1,000,000. May 18: first Anchorage-Denali-Fairbanks revenue trip.