NS "RESEARCH" Car 36

[NW Mailing List]

While ogling engine 736 in the Roanoke yard last week (8/10/07) I notice NS "Research" car 36 waiting nearby. Please forgive my wild speculating, but she looks to my untrained eye to be a converted business car with an observation platform rear end, the addition of an inspection window protruding from her side midway down her length and some sort of instrument or detector suspended from her forward truck outboard of the wheels and rail.  Her window configuration might indicate that she may have at one time served as an executive lounge and sleeping car and may have contained a dining area and galley.  Her platform end has large rear facing "picture window", a door and the usual rear end red marker lights.  In addition, she has several large rear-facing headlights which would seem to indicate that she may occasionally be operated in reverse.  

I'm probably the only dummy who doesn't know but can someone please explain her purpose and how she might be operated?   She is old enough to have been converted and renamed and renumbered.  Any idea of her history?   Thanks,  Bob Brown
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20070813/b6ede6ef/attachment.html>