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Lucius Morris Beebe
(December 9, 1902 - February 4, 1966) U.S.A.

Lucius Beebe

Society columnist, author, philantropist

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Lucius Morris Beebe was the son of Junius Beebe and quite a personality in his own right, eventually appearing on the cover of Life magazine. He was the last of four children, one of whom died before Lucius was born, and he spent much of his childhood at the Beebe Farm in Wakefield. His youth involved a seemingly continual string of antics, pranks, and altercations and he had the dubious distinction of being asked to leave both Yale and Harvard Universities.

He later worked as a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune and the San Francisco Examiner and was a contributing writer to magazines such as the New Yorker, Gourmet, and Town and Country. A well known bon vivant, Lucius was known for his acerbic wit, extravagant personal style, and gourmet taste and was named one of the ten best-dressed men in America for several years.

He wrote over 30 books, many on the topic of railroading, one of his primary interests, as well as witty social commentary. He owned elaborate and luxurious private railroad cars and traveled the country in them with his literary collaborator and lover, Charles Clegg. Lucius Morris Beebe was also generous toward the town's library, continuing the tradition started by his forebears.

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In 1954, Lucius Beebe and his partner Charles Clegg, purchased the Golden Peak directly from Pullman Company's Calumet Shops for $5,000. From this point, the car was moved to the shops of the Western Pacific in Sacramento, CA, where she was reconfigured and mechanically overhauled. As part of the reconfiguration process, two of the sleeping compartments were removed to make room for the dining room; the ladies, lounge and shower then became the car's kitchen and crew's quarters.

Charles Clegg hired his long time friend Robert Hanley, a Hollywood set designer, to redecorate the car's interior into the style now referred to as "Venetian Renaissance Baroque." Hanley purchased approximately $375,000 in antique furnishings, and when completed, and the Virginia City became the most lavish and expensively outfitted car the United States!

It is also noted that Hanley was responsible for the creation of the interior of Bebee's and Clegg's first private rail car, the Gold Coast, that is now on permanent display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

Between 1955 and the time of Beebe's death in 1966, the Virginia City routinely made cross country trips to various destinations including Miami, New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, and Denver, just to name a few. After Beebe's death, his partner Charles Clegg inherited the bulk of Beebe's estate including the Virginia City. In 1976, Clegg reluctantly put the car up for sale. For many years the car sat idle on a siding under a San Francisco freeway facing an uncertain fate.

Lucius Beebe
Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg aboard the Virginia & Truckee car "The Virginia City"
being served by steward Clarence Watkins.

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