The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 71, July 1967 - April, 1968 Page: 110

                                
Clippings

The Texas Chisholm     Trail Centenntial Commission   officially
launched its 1967 observance with a dedication of the Chisholm Trail
museum car under a burning sun in Austin the afternoon of June 6.
Governor John Connally, Mayor pro-tem Emma Long of Austin, and
singer George Smyer of San Antonio were featured on a program
attended by many state and local officials. Roger Conger, a member
of the Executive Council of the Texas State Historical Association,
and chairman of the Texas commission, presided.
The museum car is provided by the Santa Fe Railway Company.
It formerly was in transcontinental passenger train service as lounge
car 1527, and was converted into a traveling museum in the Santa
Fe's shops at Topeka, Kansas, where display cases, special lighting,
sound and air-conditioning equipment, and other features were added.
The Santa Fe contributed the work, and the state historical societies
of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas arranged the interior of the car. The
Santa Fe is transporting the car and its attendants free of charge. The
attendants are John Crain of Austin, a graduate student in history at
Southwest Texas State College, and Larry Abbott of Miami, Florida,
a graduate student at the University of Texas.
Although the director of the Association doubled as vice-chairman
of the Texas commission, and as secretary-treasurer of the Tri-State
Chisholm Trail Centennial Commission for Texas, Oklahoma, and
Kansas, the bulk of the planning for the car is the creation of Kenneth
Ragsdale, research associate for the Association. If you have wondered
why you have not received your latest Riding Line on time, the reason
is that Ragsdale's regular duties have been pre-empted by his work on
the mobile museum. He has been putting in sixteen and twenty-hour
days on the car, as well as making two trips to Topeka and several to
the Fort Worth-Dallas vicinity. Another prime helper, particularly in
publicizing the car, had been Truett Latimer of the Texas Historical
Survey Committee and his attractive staff of Nancy Bryant and Elaine
Bostic.
Two other cars will accompany the museum car so as to make it
self-sustaining, providing air-conditioning, electricity, water, air pres-
sure, and all other utilities. Baggage car 3742 is equipped with a