During the late 1950s and 60s, my family often traveled by coach from New York City to Cleveland on the New York Central.
Years later, during the 1980s, I often took Amtrak from Philadelphia to New York, usually catching a train that passed through the 30th Street Station at around 2 AM.
On one of those trips, upon boarding the train, I was suprised find myself inside what seemed to be a former New York Central coach from the 1950s.
It was virtually unchanged. At that hour of the night (with sleeping soldiers sprawled everywhere in the dimly-lit coach), the effect was extremely "Twilight Zone."
I know Amtrak used "inherited" rolling stock during its early years. Obviously, they were still using at least one vintage coach during the 1980s.
My question: Does Amtrak still use any of those old coaches, even as last-minute backups? Or have all of them been either sold, permanently retired, or scrapped?
posted
Amtrak bought the best cars it could find when it went into business on May 1, 1971. These included production by Budd, Pullman-Standard, ACF, and St Louis Car Company.
Over the next twenty years Amtrak refurbished and maintained these cars ... their priority of capital investment appeared to be: - Locomotives: SDP40F which was traded in for the F40PH... - Rolling stock ... Amfleets I and II and beyond that someone who is a technical railfan on current single level equipment will have to check in. - Bi-level rolling stock: The Superliner fleet.
Sometime in the 80s, Amtrak made a policy decision to retain only the stainless steel equipment build by the Edward G Budd Company on hand. Pullman, ACF, and St Louis Car was sold off, either to preservationists, tourist operators, or scrappers.
There appears to be a bit of Heritage equipment still around, on the Eastern runs. How long? Who knows. I would rather suspect if Amtrak ceases line haul operations after 30 September that it will be the first equipment for auction or scrapping.
If you can find them, Wayner Publications in the early 70s published at least two editions of the Amtrak Car Spotter. Excellent source material for the fleet and its origin.
John
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
[This message has been edited by PullmanCo (edited 03-17-2002).]
posted
Amtrak's "Heritage" equiptment that pre-dates Amtrak's creation is still run on the Adirondack, The Ethan Allen Express and are sometimes used on the Empire Service, as well as additional coaches on the Maple Leaf. You can ride in a Heritage coach if you catch either the Ethan Allen or Adirondacks between Albany and New York, and this is something I do when I want a ride in one of the old Heritage coaches. And like I said, I have seen the heritage coaches as regular Empire Service trains. Posts: 140 | From: Albany, NY | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I rode on the Lake Shore Limited this past summer. The dining car was an old car from the Sunset Limited. It still had the Southern Pacific logo and an advertisement about Southern Pacific's Sunset Limited. It was a piece of junk. Amtrak should have scrapped it years ago. I don't think they had washed the windows since it belonged to Southern Pacific. They were filthy.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
posted
In the '70s I spent many many hours on those old coaches on the Starlight (which, in those days, was never more than two hours late).
They had a very distinctive smell to them. It reminded me of my childhood trip in 1962. Superliners just don't quite smell right. The old trains smelled like real trains. (Sorry, for the romantic ramblings of a nostalgic train rider.)
I also miss the lounge cars, which were much more comfortable, and much more attractive than the Superliner lounges.
But the thing I miss most about the old cars was the spacious rest rooms.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
posted
You're right. The rest rooms on the pre-Amtrak cars were, by current standards, an extravagant waste of space.
I don't know if the few remaining Heritage coaches have been altered at all. But the old New York Central car I rode in, during the mid-80s, still had its true communal "men's room." The entrance from the corridor was covered by a heavy curtain (no door). There were several toilets inside, along with a long-abandoned shoe-shine throne. I half expected to see the ghost of a railroad porter.
The car interior still had that distinctive smell -- which definitely enhanced the spooky, "Twilight Zone" effect of the trip.
quote:Originally posted by dilly: The rest rooms on the pre-Amtrak cars were, by current standards, an extravagant waste of space.
The problem is the current Superliner rest rooms is they try to cram too much into too small a space. The Superliner 1 sleepers have a different arrangement for the upstairs rest room. Instead of facing the door the toilet faces the end of the car and has a window (with curtain). They have almost twice as much extra floor space which makes a huge difference in comfort. The toilet tissue is mounted on the wall right in front of you instead of in a cubby hole three inches behind your hip. Yet it all fits into the same space as the more cramped version.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
During the late 1950s and 60s, my family often traveled by coach from New York City to Cleveland on the New York Central.
Years later, during the 1980s, I often took Amtrak from Philadelphia to New York, usually catching a train that passed through the 30th Street Station at around 2 AM.
On one of those trips, upon boarding the train, I was suprised find myself inside what seemed to be a former New York Central coach from the 1950s.
You said it "seemed like" an ex-NYC car. It could have been. According to Wayner in 1979, Amtrak still rostered about 45 ex-NYC coaches.In addition, there were still at least 150 similar ex-ACL, ATSF, PRR, SAL, and SP Budd-Built coaches.
[This message has been edited by JAChooChoo (edited 03-21-2002).]
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