SALT LAKE CITY — Forget little model trains, Utahns can now own a real piece of state railroad history... as long as they have a place to put it.
On Monday, 25 of the Utah Transit Authority's iconic FrontRunner Comet train cars were put up for auction, with the highest bid taking home the goods.
The cars were taken out of regular service in April due to mechanical and reliability issues. In order to receive federal grants for replacement cars, the UTA were required to put the old ones up for auction.
TNT Auction is currently listing all of the 1970 Pullman Standard Comet Rail cars on its website, with bidding set to end on Nov. 1. However, those who win a car in auction have 90 days to remove it from where they're located at 900 North 500 West in Salt Lake City.
Each of the rail cars is 85 feet long and nearly 9 feet wide, and can hold about 220 people.
As of Monday afternoon, no one had bid on a train car, with the highest bid remaining at $100.
Several non-profit organizations have reached out about having a car donated, but UTA says the Comet cars are not able to be donated because they were refurbished and transported using federal funds.
