MATANUSKA CAR # : 508
| 1952 | Ordered by the AT&SF from the Budd Company. |
| 1954 | Delivered between January and March to the AT&SF. Original car had 57 forward facing seats and 18 lounge seats in the dome and a 28 seat lounge , bar and traveling nurse's station on the lower level. Car was used for service on AT&SF's El Capitan, Chicagoan, and Kansas Cityan. |
| 1956 | Car was reassigned to the Chief when the El Capitan was reequipped with new "high level" cars. |
| 1968 | Chief was discontinued and the car was assigned to the Texas Chief before being reassigned to the San Francisco Chief. |
| 1971 | AT&SF to cease passenger service with the start of Amtrak. AT&SF and Amtrak have difficulty reaching agreement on value of the Santa Fe fleet of cars. Privately operated Auto-Train acquires car to operate Lorton, VA. to Sanford, FL. Converted to a 51 seat coach on the dome level retaining its 28 seat lounge and bar on the lower level. Nurses' room converted to restrooms. |
| 1981 | Acquired by Delaware Otsego System (NYS&W) at the Auto-Train bankruptcy auction. Moved to Binghamton, N.Y., repainted brown, renumbered NYS&W #503 and used on local rail excursions. |
| 1985 | May, Westours inspects car in Binghamton, N.Y. Makes offer to buy it and the six other cars owned by NYS&W. Turned down. Railroad wants to rebuild them and run them in excursion service some day. Indications are that railroad is under going a major expansion to handle "double stack" trains for Sealand. Westours stays in contact as the feeling is the railroad will need to sell the cars to fund its expansion. |
| December, NYS&W calls and wants to sell all seven cars before the end of the year. Car(s) acquired by Westours. | |
| 1986 | Car moved to Morrison-Knudsen, Railroad Division in Boise, Idaho for new wheels, couplers and brake hardware. Car was then moved to Renton, Washington for electrical, mechanical and interior work. Exterior of car stripped of paint, portions polished and portions repainted. |
| 1987 | Rebuilding completed and car was moved to King Street Station in Seattle for its public debut on April 20-22. Along with public display, Westours rented nearby Union Station for a large catered party on the evening of April 21. |
| On April 24, the car was barged from Seattle to Anchorage. | |
| May 16: First Alaska use of this car for an Alaska Repertory Theater fund raising trip from Anchorage to Seward and return. | |
| May 21: Car part of the McKinley Explorer Inaugural Celebration in Anchorage. This dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by numerous local and state officials, selected vendors and company employees. It was followed by an open house lasting well into the evening. | |
| May 24 first Anchorage-Denali-Fairbanks revenue trip. | |
| 1997 | Car shipped to Forest Grove, Oregon for refurbishment, new air conditioning and electrical at end of season. $630,000 spent in refurbishment. |
| 1998 | Refurbished car returns to Alaska |