The AmTrak paint scheme is fading quickly, as is the US Mail logo. These cars were used by AmTrak as a contractor for the US Post Office.
TrainWeb acquired two ex-Amtrak Mail Handling Cars (MHC) that Amtrak had been using for the transportation of U.S.Mail. TrainWeb coordinated the placement of a segment of track next to the Depot Inn & Suites at the North Brown Street Exit off Missouri Highway 63. On Wedenesday, October 17, 2007, using cranes and trucks, the ex-Amtrak cars were moved to these tracks.
For the next several weeks, the railcars were refurbished, cleaned up, the paint touched up, steps and ramps were added, lighting and display cabinets installed, etc. Most of the collections of the Amtrak Historical Society and TrainWeb were placed on public display in these railcars. This exhibition of Amtrak history was opened to the public at 1:30 PM on Saturday, February 23, 2008 with a Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
After the opening of the railcars to the public, TrainWeb and the Depot Inn & Suites realized a much larger facility would be needed to display addition items of Amtrak history, especially once items to large to fit in the railcars started to be acquired. Also considered was the establishment of a museum totally devoted to passenger rail. There are a lot of museums devloted to various railroads or regions of the nation, but no museum that is specifically devoted to preserving and promoting passenger rail heritage.
Anyone familiar with how this nation grew is aware that much of that growth, and the direction that growth took, was due to the railroads. The railroads brought hundreds of thousands of settlers to the west and cities were founded or expanded along the rail lines. The history of passenger rail and the history of America are highly integrated. TrainWeb and the Depot Inn & Suites were interested in creating a museum that could preserve and display this passenger rail history to the public.
As a result, the founders of TrainWeb and the Depot Inn & Suites helped to create a 501(c)(3) non-profit tax deductible community organization that they named the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation. TrainWeb donated the 2 ex-Amtrak Mail Handling Cars (MHC) along with all its Amtrak Memorabilia to the APRHF. The Amtrak Memorabilia from the Amtrak Historical Society that is on display in the railcars is on loan from them indefinitely and will remain on display in the APRHF railcars.