Q: Where in Marin can you find a train wreck on the water?

Walk to the end of the South Forty Dock in the Sausalito floating homes community. There you’ll find The Train Wreck - a floating home built by architect Keith Emons around the bisected carriage of a 1900 Pullman car. 

It started its long and colorful life in 1889 for the San Francisco and Northern Pacific railway as car #41. Originally it was divided into two sections -- a passenger section and accompanying baggage section. In 1907, through a merger, it became part of the rolling stock of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and was renamed car #180. By 1936 it was retired and sold, becoming part of a duplex in Mill Valley.

It remained landlocked until 1979 when it was purchased, cut into two sections and placed on a concrete hull to form the houseboat. Since that time it has been lovingly restored and maintained by two subsequent owners. Today the passenger section is the home's dining room and the baggage section is used as a bathroom and laundry room.