CLIFTON FORGE, Va. — The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society has begun a fundraising campaign to return historic C&O office car Chessie 29 to operation, organization president Mark Totten has announced.
The society will sell a custom, limited-edition, 11-by-17-inch poster of the car from Base Camp Printing of Charleston, W.Va., to fund the hiring of a renovation contractor. The posters are $75 each.
According to Totten, the organization’s goal is to return the historic private car to operation so that it can serve as a traveling museum and classroom. “I would like to have major fundraising complete by late 2024,” he said, “with a project plan approved by our board of directors by spring 2025.”
Walter Tuohy chose Chessie 29 as his personal car when he became C&O president in 1948 and hosted a wide range of dignitaries on board, including Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands on a trip to Michigan in 1952 and President Dwight D. Eisenhower on a trip to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., in 1956. During this trip, the two agreed to build a secret bunker beneath The Greenbrier, which the C&O owned, to house the U. S. Government in case of a nuclear attack. In 1963, Tuohy loaned the car to Monaco’s Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace for a secret vacation to The Greenbrier. A young Albert II, today’s reigning Prince of Monaco, accompanied his parents on the trip, and received a complete engineer’s outfit from Tuohy.
To learn about the C&O Historical Society, and to purchase a copy of the poster, visit the society website. Base Camp Printing owners Emily and Betsy Sokolosky specialize in handmade posters, stationery, and original art. The sisters strive to keep the shop’s process identical to the days when letterpress printing was modern technology; visit their website for more information.
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