"Artrain began in 1971 as a project of the "Michigan Council for the Arts and initially toured Michigan, visiting small towns that did not have their own museums. Soon after, thanks to popular demand, a separate foundation was set up, and the tour area was broadened to the entire United States with the help of the NEA. The first tour commenced in 1973. Since then it has hosted 15 or more different exhibitions, and reached nearly 2.6 million people, in 600 communities and towns, and visited 44 states. The name was changed to Artrain USA in 1999 to reflect the national mission." ⁽²⁾ Annually, Artrain USA visits as many as 35 communities and welcomes 80,000 - 100,000 people; 40% are school children.

"Artrain tours different regions of the country in different years, cycling through a given region once every 4 or so years, typically when the exhibition changes. It is on tour 11 months a year, traveling about 12,000 miles per year. In 2006 it is operating in the Western United States and in 2007 is operating in the Midwest and Deep South. The one month it is not touring, it is at its home base in Ann Arbor where the cars undergo maintenance and the exhibit may be changed out."⁽²⁾

Original Artrain 1971 - 1999
Original train 1 Art gallery car, Artrain 2 Art gallery car, Artrain 3 Art gallery car, Artrain 4 Art studio and gift shop car, and Artrain 0005 Staff and office car
Original Artrain , Temple TX 1984 Con Sweet	Artrain coach #2, Austin TX - 1986 ,ex-BO Con Sweet	Artrain caboose #0005, Austin TX 1986 Con Sweet	Artrain studio and gift shop car 4?
Artrain coach #2?, Saginaw MI 1991, ex-BO ©Dennis Schmidt	Artrain coach #1, Lansing MI 1995 ,ex-BO ©Dennis Schmidt	Artrain coach #1?, Norfolk, VA 1996 ,ex-BO Russell Underwood	Artrain caboose #0005, Lansing MI 1995, ex DT&I 141 ©Dennis Schmidt
Artistry of Space; the NASA Art Program 1999
Sponsored by DaimlerChrysler, it includes Norman Rockwell's oil painting, Man's First Step on the Moon, and Andy Warhol's silk screen on paper, Moonwalk "With the opening of the Artistry of Space exhibition, Artrain added three of its five new rail cars. These sleek stainless steel cars are a 1949 New York Central sleeper car 101, and 1949 Pennsylvania Railroad twin diner cars,102 &103, to house the gallery for the exhibition. In January 2000, Artrain replaced its gift shop/studio car 104 with a 1947 New York Central baggage dormitory car" (4)
Artrain Budd diner-dorm #102, Fitzgerald, GA 2000, ex-AMTK 8805, exx-PC 4621, nee-PRR 4621 twin - unit, blt 1949 railrunner01	Art Budd diner table car #103, Conroe, TX 2002 , ex-PC/PRR 4618 twin - unit, blt 1949 Bob Smith	Art Budd baggage dorm #104, Conroe, TX 2002, ex NYC 8978? , blt 1947 Bob Smith	Artrain caboose #0005, Conroe, TX 2002, ex DT&I 141 Bob Smith
Native Views: Influences of Modern Culture 2007
Native Views is a contemporary Native American art exhibition comprised of 70 artworks by from 53 Native American artists (PDF)". The exhibition explores the ways Native American artists are influenced by popular culture and offers mainstream America the opportunity to look at and consider different insights into contemporary society.
Artrain Budd Sleeper #101, Lancaster, OR 2006, x-AMTK 2836, exx-PC 4276, nee-NYC 10136 "Missouri Valley", blt 1949 Charles Bonville	Artrain Budd diner-dorm #102, Clearbrook, VA 2005, ex-AMTK 8805, exx-PC 4621, nee-PRR 4621 twin - unit, blt 1949 Jim Johnston	Artrain Budd diner table car #103, Minneapolis, MN 2006 , ex-PC/PRR 4618 twin - unit, blt 1949 Matt Petersen	Artrain Budd baggage dorm #104, Minneapolis, MN 2006 , ex NYC 8978? , blt 1947 Matt Petersen
Artrain caboose #0005, Cumberland, MD 2005, ex DT&I 141 Bob Smith
Living conditions, with the entire staff crowded into the caboose, are reported as rough, which is why the foundation switched to a rebuilt observation car with more living space. In 2007, Artrain replaced its caboose with a 1948 Kansas City Southern end car
Artrain Budd Parlor-Obsv #105, Saint Paul, MN 2006, ex-KCS 43, nee-NYC 48 , blt 1948 Mark Muraski		Artrain Budd Parlor-Obsv #105, Saint Paul, MN 2009, ex-KCS 43, nee-NYC 48 , blt 1948 Robert Garton
"The next exhibition to be produced and presented by Artrain will be America: Now + Here. Scheduled to launch in Washington, DC in spring 2010, Artrain will tour the show to cities, towns and villages across the United States in specially designed mobile museum units (MMUs) transported by semi-tractor trailers."(1) All but 105 are rumored be sold, and that may be why 101-103 are shown as Mid Am Rail Car Leasing.
Disney "A Christmas Carol" 2009
This exhibit was not part of the Artrain, but it used 101-103 cars. See Exhibit Photos from WDW News Today "Departing from Union Station in Los Angeles Memorial Day weekend is a Train Tour that will travel across the country to over 40 cities before arriving in New York City the last weekend of October, stopping in these cities. On display inside the train's six passenger cars is a full-fledged exhibit for A Christmas Carol featuring a digital concept art gallery, artifacts from the Charles Dickens Museum, a performance capture exhibit, and lots of interactive games. Zemeckis calls it "a rolling Disneyland exhibit - only it's free." (5) A Christmas Carol hits theaters everywhere on November 6th this year.
AMTK GE P42DC Disney Train #157, Montgomery IL 2009 ,blt 2001 sn52853 Dan Grobestein	Mid Am Rail Car Leasing Budd Sleeper Disney Train #801101, Montgomery IL 2009 , ex ARTX#101, exx-AMTK 2836, exxx-PC 4276, nee-NYC 10136 "Missouri Valley" blt 1949 Dan Grobestein	Mid Am Rail Car Leasing Budd diner-dorm Disney Train #801102, Montgomery IL 2009 , ex ARTX#102, exx-AMTK 8805, exxx-PC 4621, nee-PRR 4621 twin - unit, blt 1949 Dan Grobestein	Mid Am Rail Car Leasing Budd diner table car Disney Train #801103, Montgomery IL 2009 , ex ARTX#103, exx-PC/PRR 4618 twin - unit , blt 1949 Dan Grobestein
The gift shop and Observation cars are not part of the Artrain
Mid Am Rail Car Leasing baggage Disney Train #800863, Montgomery IL 2009 , ex ATSF #3680 "Taos", blt 1955 Dan Grobestein		Mid Am Rail Car Leasing Pullman Obsv Disney Train #800702, Montgomery IL 2009 , ex-NYC Dan Grobestein
(1) Wikipedia (2) KNOL (3)Artrain USA Official Site (4)Artrain, America's Museum in Motion (5)First Showing

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North East Rails  © Clint Chamberlin. Photos for personal use only. All rights reserved by original owner of image. Reproduction or redistribution in any form without express written permission is prohibited.