Throwback Thursday - Sadder, Budd Wiser.

School's out for summer, so BCOL car "Budd Wiser" is lounging in the BC Rail yard at Lillooett on July 05, 1989.

By Peter Mumby

Some rail cars are identified both by a number and a name.  Case in point: BCOL 8, aka "Budd Wiser," shown here at rest in the British Columbia Railway yard at Lillooett, B.C., on July 05, 1989.  And, at rest it will remain, at least until early September, because this car plays the role of school bus, ferrying students from nearby First Nations communities to the high school in Lillooett.  The interior is probably Spartan in nature, but it appears to contain a small furnace for winter use, as is made evident by the stack at the left end of the car.  As for the name, apparently the students were given naming rights for their conveyance, and Budd Wiser was given the nod.

As I recall, this car (and the locomotive that pulled it) were subsequently replaced by a motorized rail bus.  This was all in the BC Rail era - I don't know how the arrangement stands now that CN is in charge of the rails.