In the mid 1950s the LT&L did one last hail mary to try and stem the steady erosion of their passenger base by purchasing a quartet of class DL7 passenger locomotive and a large basketful of streamlined Budd cars.

It was a good idea, but not good enough, and passenger numbers kept dropping until the nationalization of passenger service and the subsequent sale of most of the LT&L’s streamliners to VIA.

After nationalisation and VIA’s purchase, 14 coaches remained on the roster and were put into storage at the TdM shops in Iberville. Most of these cars are still in storage, but coaches 1010 & 1011 went back into service on the Ontario Southwestern’s official train, followed, in the year 2000, by coach #1012 – renumbered as X123 –which had been rebuilt into a replica of one of VIA’s long-vanished Skyview lounge cars.

(After seeing the newly rebuilt #X123 the Delaware & Hudson asked the ILW shops to build them one as well, so #1015 was pulled out of storage and rebuilt as Skyview #X124. This one is assigned to the Parsons Vale’s official train and shares duties with 5TI #X103.)

Along with the LT&L’s streamliner purchase, the PV&T also bought 6 class 9 coaches for the surviving joint trains. 5 of those coaches were sold to Amtrak in 1971, but #X106 had been taken out of service a few years earlier and had been rebuilt into an office car for the Parsons Vale’s official train.

It’s still part of the train, though now it’s painted in the TdM’s “empire builder” orange & dark green paint scheme.