It was good to hear that former CofG coach Ft. McPherson will be returned south and reunited with Ft. Oglethorpe but it brought a question to mind. Does anyone have any information on the whereabouts or disposition of the other 2 cars that made up the Man of War trainset??? Has the Ft. Mitchell or Ft. Benning survived or did they meet an untimely fate???

Thanks for a great website and the many CofG historians that provide the answers to all these questions.

Bryan Smith

-- Bryan Smith (bsmith3608@aol.com), August 23, 1999

Answers

In regards to the Ft. Mitchell combine a good shot of it in its CVSR paint (stainless steel carbody, red window band with yellow trim stripes) can be found at using the following link:

-- Jerry M. LaBoda (jmlaboda@yahoo.com), August 26, 2001.

Slightly off topic, but the sleepy southern town in "Resting Place" was Jonesboro, GA, my home town. The diesels were Southern's FP-7's that suplemented the steam engines in the excursion program.

-- Andrew Durden (sa750@boone.net), November 29, 2000.

I think I saw Fort Mitchell in a 1987 Hallmark made for TV movie Resting Place staring Morgan Freeman and John Lithgow. The opening scene has a Southern E-8 pulling a corrugated passenger consist through, what I think, is the Asheville, NC line. John Lithgow plays an Army Survivors Assistance Officer at the end of the Vietnam conflict. He is escorting a body home for burial by the family. Lithgow arrives in the sleepy southern town and meets the father of the deceased played by Morgan Freeman. Strangely, Fort Mitchell is tacked on the end rather on the head end of the train when the baggage door slams open revealing the flag draped casket. Any speculation that this was indeed Fort Mitchell because I donBt think that Southern possessed any Budd stainless steel combines? Thanks

John Ross Walker, USN (Retired) Norfolk, VA

-- John Ross Walker, US Navy (Retired) (jrosswalker@yahoo.com), October 24, 2000.

Bryan,

The Fort Mitchell (the coach-baggage combination car) is in excursion service on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Peninsula, Ohio. At last report, the interior was being modified to make a handicap accessible car for use on their excursion trains. The Fort Benning (the tavern-observation car) is located at Yesterday's Village, a shopping mall in Yakima, Washington. The person who owns the car has built an office inside, so little of the original furnishings remain. The car was damaged by a fire several years ago, and I don't believe that it is in operable condition.

Allen Tuten

-- Allen Tuten (ahtuten@aol.com), August 23, 1999.