Pullman Years | Beebe Years | VCRail Years | Elegant Fare | Charles Clegg

1954 - 1984

In 1954, Lucius Beebe and his partner Charles Clegg, purchased the Golden Peak directly from Pullman Company's Calumet Shops for $5,000. From this point, the car was moved to the shops of the Western Pacific in Sacramento, CA, where she was reconfigured and mechanically overhauled. As part of the reconfiguration process, two of the sleeping compartments were removed to make room for the dining room; the ladies, lounge and shower then became the car's kitchen and crew's quarters.

Charles Clegg hired his long time friend Robert Hanley, a Hollywood set designer (among his accomplishments were the sets for the movie, "Auntie Mame") to redecorate the car's interior into the style now referred to as "Venetian Renaissance Baroque." Hanley purchased approximately $375,000 in antique furnishings, and when completed, and the Virginia City became the most lavish and expensively outfitted car the United States!

It is also noted that Hanley was responsible for the creation of the interior of Bebee's and Clegg's first private rail car, the "Gold Coast", that is now on permanent display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

Between 1955 and the time of Beebe's death in 1966, the Virginia City routinely made cross country trips to various destinations including Miami, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, and Denver, just to name a few. After Beebe's death, his partner Charles Clegg inherited the bulk of Beebe's estate including the Virginia City. In 1976, Clegg reluctantly put the car up for sale. For many years the car sat idle on a siding under a San Francisco freeway facing an uncertain fate. In 1979, Charles Clegg passed away, and his sister, Ann-Clegg Holloway became Executrix of his estate.

You can learn more about Lucius Beebe at the Wakefield Public Library