It’s surprising how good it still looks after all the years.”

Jonathan Budzyna, Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad Company

PORTSMOUTH — The iconic “McDonald’s train” hadn’t ridden the rails for more than three decades, but when it touched down in Common Fence Point on March 12, Jonathan Budzyna said he was shocked by how well it had held up over the years.

“It hasn’t been used in 34 years, but the wheels were surprisingly still good,” said Mr. Budzyna, spokesman for the Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad Company. “I was actually pushing the wheels myself and they were turning freely.”

The railroad company recently acquired the 1950 passenger car from the McDonald’s restaurant on Canning Boulevard in Fall River, where it served as a dining area starting in 1982 until closing a few years ago. The 85-foot-long, 35-ton car with stainless steel skin was designated for the scrap heap before Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad stepped in.

On March 12 (shortly before a major nor’easter hit the area) the landmark train left its home on a flatbed truck and was hauled to the tracks near the entrance to Common Fence Point, where a crane carefully lowered it onto two “trucks” — the wheel assembles — that were already on the rails. Mr Budzyna said the “trucks” had been attached to the train at McDonald’s but disassembled before the move. 

The train will remain there for cursory repairs, mainly on the wheel assemblies, so it can be hauled east along the rails to either the Melville depot or Middletown for an extensive renovation job, he said.

“We’ve contacted a national company that does repair services on passenger cars and also hunted down the three parts we need,” Mr. Budzyna said. “As soon as we have those, we’ll get it out of there.”

Time is of the essence, he said, because one of the company’s partners, Rail Explorers, begins its spring season soon and the McDonald’s train is sitting near the end of its “Northern Ramble” run. The pedal-powered rail bikes began offering tours in April 2017.

But as soon as the repairs are complete, off it goes. “We’ll either take it down to Melville, where our headquarters are, or we’ll take it down to what we call the Piers, in Middletown,” said Mr. Budzyna.

The company will probably use two locomotives to move the car along the rails. “We’ll put one on either end of the car for safety reasons,” he said.

Future plans

So what’s in store for the little train that could? Initially, the company plans to use the car as “some sort of gift shop or museum,” he said.

But after the major repairs are made, the company hopes it will ride the rails for good.

“Any car should carry passengers; that’s what it’s made for. But we actually have to take it back off the wheels so those assemblies can be totally rebuilt. It will all be disassembled and looked at. If it’s OK, then it will go right back on its wheels,” Mr. Budzyna said.

Newport and Narragansett Bay Railroad Company is known for its dinner train, murder mystery productions, Breakfast with Santa and other special events. 

“This car has a lot of nice windows and would be perfect for these kind of trips,” he said. “We could turn it back into whatever we wanted.”

Mr. Budzyna said the train is in relatively good shape and looks good considering it’s been dormant for so many years. 

“We were able to get the steps moving, which fold up and down. Surprisingly, those still worked. It’s surprising how good it still looks after all the years. That’s a testament to stainless steel,” he said, adding that some of the mechanical parts are dirty but a “good steam-cleaning” will take car of that.

Before it arrived at McDonald’s in 1982, the train was a long-distance coach car with 44 to 50 reclining seats and traveled throughout the southwest.