Highliners for sale

The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in Indiana announced on Facebook (no log-in required) that it is deaccessing its two Metra, ex-Illinois Central, "Highliner" MU cars. Cars 1502 and 1529, both from the first order for Highliners built by St. Louis in 1971, were retired around 2007 and were acquired by HVRM in 2008. The museum actually bought four of the double-deck cars but the other two, 1521 and 1617, were scrapped not long afterwards in 2010.

This group Highliners to be retired back in 2007 included cars Metra wanted to retire first, and HVRM has suggested that it's unlikely 1502 and 1529 will leave on their own wheels (though they arrived that way), so the two cars up for sale are likely not in great condition. Presumably they will end up being scrapped. I'm not exactly sure why HVRM acquired them in the first place but Highliners were snapped up by a few different organizations including the Mendota Railroad Museum, Boone & Scenic Valley, and the Museum of the American Railroad, apparently because they were cheap and plentiful. The only museums that have Highliners and are capable of running them are Boone and IRM and only the latter has actually operated its cars.