Nostalgia & History > Amtrak Passenger Cars when they were New

Ever since my first passenger train ride I've been taking photos of the insides of trains I've patronized. The three images below were taken when Superliners were new, HiLevels were newly refurbed, and Horizon Fleet cars were new.

First up is 1980-built Superliner diner 38036, taken at Sacramento on May 2, 1981. When the Superliners came out I found it interesting that Amtrak kept the same car number series for a given type of car and simply added a "3" as a prefix. During steam heated days the diners were in the 8000 series.

Second photo shows a former ATSF Hilevel coach after rebuilding, in this case 39973, also taken on May 2, 1981 in Sac.

Third photo is of relatively new Horizon Fleet coach, number not recorded (don't pay attention to the file name). This was taken at Hayward, CA on a Capitol Corridor train on Feb 24, 1991.

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A look at Steam-heated Amtrak sleepers from the 1970s:

1. Former ATSF sleeper Indian Mesa on the Starlight at San Jose

2 & 3: Former ATSF sleeper Palm Summit, both taken during a watering stop at Sparks NV on December 2, 1979 aboard the San Francisco Zephyr.

It was the introduction of new long distance cars that Amtrak left the paisley-disco-era decor behind, going with earth tones which became popular in the 1980s.

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Yep, those were still original seats on the Hi-level car, just recovered. Best cant recline of any car in the Amtrak system!

mp51w Wrote:
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> Yep, those were still original seats on the
> Hi-level car, just recovered. Best cant recline
> of any car in the Amtrak system!

Yes, the finest chair car seats in the finest rail carriage known to man. I've ridden 100,000 miles in those seats- from the time I was four years old until the time I had my four year old son with me.

Bob

The photo of the ex-ATSF Hi-Level chair car in photo two would not have been numbered 39973. The 9973 (Hi-Level Lounge) was not converted to Head-End-Power (39973) until well after May 1981 by the forces at Beech Grove rather than the ATSF Topeka Shops (where the majority of the conversions occurred). 9973 and 9974 (non-Head End Power/non-Superliner compatable) moved to Beech Grove from Topeka mid-August 1981. HEP complete August-September 1982.

Regarding the seats, not only were they reupholstered, but "wing" type headrests were added so they would be similar to the seats that were in the Superliners at the time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/13 12:04 by SandHouseTalk.

SandHouseTalk Wrote:
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> The photo of the ex-ATSF Hi-Level chair car in
> photo two would not have been numbered 39973. The
> 9973 (Hi-Level Lounge) was not converted to
> Head-End-Power (39973) until well after May 1981
> by the forces at Beech Grove rather than the ATSF
> Topeka Shops (where the majority of the
> conversions occurred).
>
> Regarding the seats, not only were they
> reupholstered, but "wing" type headrests were
> added so they would be similar to the seats that
> were in the Superliners at the time.

Well now I'll have to dig out my slide and check the date. When I scan slides I often spend hours scanning a hundred or more over the space of a couple of evenings and it is possible I scanned 39973 then did not change the next slide scanned to insert the correct car number.