Nostalgia & History > Watching the Coast Starlight from an Amtrak Diner

Paul Gawzner, who owned the Miramar Hotel back in the 70-90's, had two coaches placed on his property beside the Coast Line in Monticeto CA.  Word has it he knew the Division Super and when they closed the line to do some major MOW work, he had a temporary shoe fly put in on the same day to have this diner and a UP sleeper placed on his property.

This is the Amtrak diner that is now apparently in Bakersfield CA as a diner.  The Miramar was torn down years ago and the property is still vacant after changing ownership a number of times and the developers trying to build hotel towers but the Montecito bylaws prohibit buildings of that size.

Craig
http://www.mcmrailvideos.com/

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My memory is that they had the local leave the cars on the main and a pair of large cranes picked them up and swung them over to their new locations.
It was all over in not much more than an hour.
IIRC I was out on the line that day but further west and the Trainmaster told me about it.
Do you have a date?
A spur track, even a temporary one is a disruption of the signal circuits and track structure.
Alas, the poor Mirimar, another victim of highly leveraged development schemes.....was to become a much higher-end resort and all they did was close down a moderately priced motel, throw people out of work, and make a home for vagrants and rats.
Maybe the City of Montecito permitting and building codes played a part in the collapse, I forget that history (because there were not any trains?)

The Sleeper, National Embassy, is now part of the Santa Clarita Valley Railroad Historical Society exhibit in Fillmore, CA.

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> My memory is that they had the local leave the
> cars on the main and a pair of large cranes picked
> them up and swung them over to their new
> locations.
> It was all over in not much more than an hour.

Thanks for the correction . . I had heard this second hand . . not from Paul . . . that makes a lot more sense.  And in remembering where the sleeper was located below the main line would have been one heck of a shoe fly.

Craig
http://www.mcmrailvideos.com/

"Alas, the poor Mirimar, another victim of highly leveraged development schemes.....was to become a much higher-end resort and all they did was close down a moderately priced motel, throw people out of work, and make a home for vagrants and rats.
Maybe the City of Montecito permitting and building codes played a part in the collapse, I forget that history (because there were not any trains?)"

The Miramar Hotel was always a stopping place for my parents on trips between the LA area and San Luis Obispo.  Spent alot of time there in '70's and '80's.  They had a really nice restrauant from what I remember.  My mom loved going there for breakfast.  Even stayed there a few times, including in a downstairs room between the tracks and the beach.  Had a few lunches in that passenger car.

Really sad day when they started to tear the place down...must have been in the mid '90's. 


Allen

I stayed there as my overnight while working as a road Rep.

I loved the corteges, I asked for the "Seafoam" room VERY
close to the tracks. Too bad the trains were few and far between.

The Miramar will be remembered by me as a place I met Jonathan
Winters and Jack Elam and since I was the only other person in the
​dining room, they asked if I would join them for dinner. That was the
best rainy night stopover I ever had. MEMORIES !!!

Also saw 4449 on the way to the low desert to film "Tough Guys"

​I miss the Miramar !

​Jay

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lamta_jay Wrote:
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.
>
> The Miramar will be remembered by me as a place I
> met Jonathan
> Winters and Jack Elam and since I was the only
> other person in the
> ​dining room, they asked if I would join them
> for dinner. That was the
> best rainy night stopover I ever had. MEMORIES
> !!!
> ​Jay

Jay 

We stayed there on the beach across the tracks for 5 or 6 times after Christmas with the kids (when they were little and could miss school).  And I think that Jack Elam stayed there a lot as we had dinner one night in the dining room and he was by himself and we introduced ourselves (without imposing after asking our waiter) and he was a real gentleman.  

And the Amtrak diner made the best milkshakes  . . . we would go there many times for lunch just as the Coast Starlight will roar through on its way to Oakland.  Think I have a couple of shots of that . . will try and dig them out.

Craig

Some of my best childhood memories were there with my parents. Really sad I miss that place playing tennis, milkshakes, and train watching.

Was the diner repainted with the Santa Fe in the letterboard?  If yes, then a very good job.  If no was this car ever in revenue service painted Amtrak with Santa Fe in the letterboard?

Jeff Smith
Lakewood, CA
RailMaster Hobbies

UPJeff Wrote:
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> Was the diner repainted with the Santa Fe in the
> letterboard?  If yes, then a very good job.  If
> no was this car ever in revenue service painted
> Amtrak with Santa Fe in the letterboard?

The diner was an ex-Amtrak, ex-Santa Fe lunch counter diner dormitory built by PS in 1950.  Bill Gawzner did a real good job with the car as he made very few modifications before opening it as the snack bar for the guests at the hotel.  It is a real shame the car was completely gutted after it was moved to Bakersfield.

IIRC, sometimes Amtrak just unscrewed the letterboards and flipped them around, leaving the original name intact.

px320 Wrote:
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> The Sleeper, National Embassy, is now part of the
> Santa Clarita Valley Railroad Historical Society
> exhibit in Fillmore, CA.

Santa CLARA RIVER Valley Railroad Historical Society
http://www.scrvrhs.org/
 

Super fun place to stay back when I was a kid.   Swimming in the pool, ocean, sand castles, tennis, biking, and trainwatching, all at one facility.  
They had some famous Santa Fe-named burger in that diner... or maybe it was one of the salads my mom always ordered.   Chief I think?     And the shrimp cocktail in the restaurant was the best I have ever had.
Many firsts there for me... first trip I took on my own after getting my drivers license.   First use of a scanner was when staying in one those rooms.   I remember staying up way later than I should one night, just to hear the progress of a freight slowly getting warrants from up north.   Also the first and only times I ever saw an SD9 and U33C on the Coast Line were at the front door to one of those rooms.    Really miss that place and the SP.