Passenger Trains > Amtrak 35000 series "Panic Box"

I had to laugh thinking of SR Bush "BoilingMan" when I saw the rear car on our SW Chief #4 leaving Flagstaff Friday morning.  It was an add on to accomodate a tour group to Albuquerque, one of the 35000s that he calls a "Panic Box" coach with the cafe section downstairs.  First time I've knowingly seen one in person.  So I'm wondering why the nickname?

Andy

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When a lounge car turns up bad order in Chicago they get in a "panic", and the 35000 series coaches with a lounge/snack bar downstairs are often around to fill the need.

Hence, Panic Boxes.       BSB

Way back in the summer of 1980, before there was such a thing as Sightseer Lounge cars, and before there was such thing as the Portland section, the Empire Builder had one.
Extremely poor substitute for 4 dome cars.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Way back in the summer of 1980, before there was
> such a thing as Sightseer Lounge cars, and before
> there was such thing as the Portland section, the
> Empire Builder had one.
> Extremely poor substitute for 4 dome cars.


Well, that's not quite true- the so-called "Panic Box" 35000's didn't come along until about 1985 or there abouts.

Quick history:
They were "invented" to ease the wait times in line for the cafe (33000) cars on the Coast Starlight. In those days 11 & 14 ran with 6-8 coaches in the Summer making it an hour wait in line for coffee. The first experimental version of the cars only served coffee, cold drinks (iced- no refrigeration), and chips. Over the following 2 years the cars morphed into what you see now.
Once fully realized they began to show up on trains like 1-2 (used between San Antonio and New Orleans) and 27-28.

The term "Panic Box" is an old one. It referred to an ice chest used to sell sandwiches from in a jam if a train lost it's regular food service car.
Somehow, early on, the name caught on as a nick-name for the 35000's.

They are still used regularly on the Capitol Corridor, but are otherwise rare. I don't know how many 34000's became 35000's- I would guess 10 or 12?
SR

Yes it was true. I was on several train 7 and 8's summer 1980, have the receipts to prove it, locally in Glacier Park and back to Chicago. I also remember the LSA had the snack bar closed half the time. Maybe they ripped out the snack bars by 1981 or 82, then came out with the 35000's.

AndyBrown Wrote:
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> I had to laugh thinking of SR Bush "BoilingMan"
> when I saw the rear car on our SW Chief #4 leaving
> Flagstaff Friday morning.  It was an add on to
> accomodate a tour group to Albuquerque, one of the
> 35000s that he calls a "Panic Box" coach with the
> cafe section downstairs.  First time I've
> knowingly seen one in person.  So I'm wondering
> why the nickname?
>
> Andy

Fun fact:  The blue seats in your photo are cast-offs from the days when the Sightseer Lounge/cafes had pianos!  The pianos disappeared quickly, and the seating survived as the smoking section for a few years longer.  Eventually the seats were replaced by tables and some of those seats found there way into the 35000's.  They are amazingly uncomfortable!
SR

Many times Amtrak would turn 2 seats around when using Amfleet or Horizion Cars  and had a large board across the seats which they placed a Tub of Ice , and the LSA , would sell Cold drinks, Chips and such as a " Panic Box "

miralomarail Wrote:
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> Many times Amtrak would turn 2 seats around when
> using Amfleet or Horizion Cars  and had a large
> board across the seats which they placed a Tub of
> Ice , and the LSA , would sell Cold drinks, Chips
> and such as a " Panic Box "



Yes!  That's closer to the historic "Panic Box" definition.
SR

I seem to remember these cars ran on the California Zephyr as a substitute for a lounge car when they ran the Amtrak of Everywhere Train.  The Zephyr got the diner, and the Desert Wind got the lounge car.  At Salt Lake they joined to become one.  I seem to remember the one on my train was a former baggage Superliner Coach converted to a snack bar with no windows. It looked like a miserable place to work.

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

webmaster Wrote:
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> I seem to remember these cars ran on the
> California Zephyr as a substitute for a lounge car
> when they ran the Amtrak of Everywhere Train.
>  The Zephyr got the diner, and the Desert Wind
> got the lounge car.  At Salt Lake they joined to
> become one.  I seem to remember the one on my
> train was a former baggage Superliner Coach
> converted to a snack bar with no windows. It
> looked like a miserable place to work.
>
>  


Yes, during that time (early 90's) Oakland had a 35000  Panic Box job that worked OAK-SLC-OAK.  It lasted about a year or so.  I could hold it, but never bid on it because you're right, it wasn't much fun to be stuck down there.  But it did  have windows- all of the 35000's are converted 34000 Coaches.  None were built from 31000 coach/baggs.  You needed the windows for emergency exits in an area where the public would be riding.
SR

One of them is in use on 821/822, the Heartland Flyer between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth.

Ten coaches were converted to Snack-Coach.

Four are push-pull wired.  Any of them can be assigned to the Heartland Flyer.

Of the rest, one is unserviceable, in the cannibalize line at Beech Grove.

And are used as overflow coaches on any train that needs a car.

Oakland has held on to 3 of them for years (35003, 005, and 010). All are push-pull wired. Only 2 are used in food service at a time- the 3rd is a spare that is used as a coach, but can trade places if needed.
SR

GenePoon Wrote:
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> Ten coaches were converted to Snack-Coach.
>
> Four are push-pull wired.  Any of them can be
> assigned to the Heartland Flyer.
>
> Of the rest, one is unserviceable, in the
> cannibalize line at Beech Grove.

I think 35006 is the one that is out of service.
That was one of the cars that burned. When a truck
ran in to the side of Train #5 outside of Reno a few years back

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Yes 35006 was involved in the Fernley wreck. It was being used as a coach that day- the cafe was unoccupied.
SR

I've seen boy scouts and back packs piled in there more than once on the SW Chief!

Ah!
Good!
Someone figured out a 'best use!'
SR

BoilingMan Wrote:
  They are
> amazingly uncomfortable!
> SR

Well now I wish I'd tried 'em out!

Andy

These were used for a while on 1 and 2 in lieu of a Sightseer Lounge during the "diner lite" fiasco (lack of lounge cars). It was a horrible trip without a lounge...