Passenger Trains > Odd consist turning in Chicago

Watching the MH Railstream camera around 18:20 this evening.  

Strange consist being turned...

from rear to front:

1 SL Diner
3 SL coaches
1 SL Sightseer lounge
1 SL Sleeper
1 SL Sleeper dorm
1 engine

Anyone have an idea of what this train would be?

 

City of New Orleans with a dead-head / out-of-service Diner in tow for axle count. Or maybe the Diner is just going along for the ride? Or maybe completely different consist. Here's the consist listed in a reverse order:

Superliner Trans-Dorm Sleeper
Superliner Sleeper
Sightseer Lounge (reports are this doubles as Diner and Cafe for the City of New Orleans)
Superliner Coach
Superliner Coach
Superliner Coach
Superliner Diner - Axle Count / Dead-head / Out of Serivce and going for the ride

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> City of New Orleans with a dead-head /
> out-of-service Diner in tow for axle count. Or
> maybe the Diner is just going along for the ride?
> Or maybe completely different consist. Here's the
> consist listed in a reverse order:
>
> Superliner Trans-Dorm Sleeper
> Superliner Sleeper
> Sightseer Lounge (reports are this doubles as
> Diner and Cafe for the City of New Orleans)
> Superliner Coach
> Superliner Coach
> Superliner Coach
> Superliner Diner - Axle Count / Dead-head / Out of
> Serivce and going for the ride

18:20 is awful late to be turning the City of New Orleans, but that's the only consist that makes sense. If the engine was an ALC42 that would be a dead giveaway. 

Engine was a P42 and the lounge was a Sightseer, not a Cross-Country Cafe.  Unless some changes have been made to Sightseer's, I don't think they have the ability to serve the infamous "first-class" meals for sleeper passengers.  

fulham Wrote:
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> Engine was a P42 and the lounge was a Sightseer,
> not a Cross-Country Cafe.  Unless some changes
> have been made to Sightseer's, I don't think they
> have the ability to serve the infamous
> "first-class" meals for sleeper passengers.  

There haven't, and they do.  That's 58/59's consist.  They were likely wyeing it on the way into the station.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

fulham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Engine was a P42 and the lounge was a Sightseer,
> not a Cross-Country Cafe.  Unless some changes
> have been made to Sightseer's, I don't think they
> have the ability to serve the infamous
> "first-class" meals for sleeper passengers.  

Please see my post above - the City of New Orleans has been using a Superliner Sightseer as both cafe AND place where sleeper car passengers are served their flex l meals. City of New Orleans is still on flex meals, not "Traditional Dining." Doubt it will ever transition to "Tradition Dining" in the near future. City of New Orleans and Cardinal even had a "Diner Lite" fare when Boardman was had left office and before "Simplified" and "Flex" dining infiltrated to Eastern LD trains. The Superliner Cross Country Cafe has been absent from the City of New Orleans consist for quite some time now. The CCC's are largely on the Texas Eagle, Capitol Limited, Auto Train and even subbing for Sightseer Lounges on some Western Long Haul trains (e.g. CA Zephyr and Empire Builder). 

So does the cafe attendant down stairs in the cafe section handle the sleeping car passengers and the "flex meals", or has the car been reconfigured where this is done upstairs? Does the CONO have a second attendant in the SSL to take care of the sleeping car passengers.  I guess there is a microwave in the downstairs cafe section so the meals could be "zapped" there.  Interesting.  Given the tables in the SSL (upstairs and downstairs) this is not a bad concept, just wonder about the timing issues or is the car closed to coach passengers until the "first class" clientele have been taken care of.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/23 12:51 by fulham.

At this point, all three 58/59 trainsets have been modified as seen at the start of this thread:

Locomotive
Trans/dorm
Sleeper
Lounge
LL Coach
LL Coach
Coach/baggage
Diner (axle-count deadhead)

Beginning next week, my understanding is that they are supposed to resume opening revenue rooms in the dorm car and putting the diner back into service for sleeping car passengers.  The consists as they have been set up means that all that has to be done is for the diner to be cut into the train between the sleepr and lounge, get watered and serviced, and it is ready to go.  Similar servicing and stocking of the dorm is all that is needed and those cars are ready as well.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/23 08:21 by MaryMcPherson.

MaryMcPherson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At this point, all three 58/59 trainsets have been
> modified as seen at the start of this thread:
>
> Locomotive
> Trans/dorm
> Sleeper
> Lounge
> LL Coach
> LL Coach
> Coach/baggage
> Diner (axle-count deadhead)
>
> Beginning next week, my understanding is that they
> are supposed to resume opening revenue rooms in
> the dorm car and putting the diner back into
> service for sleeping car passengers.  The
> consists as they have been set up means that all
> that has to be done is for the diner to be cut
> into the train between the sleepr and lounge, get
> watered and serviced, and it is ready to go. 
> Similar servicing and stocking of the dorm is all
> that is needed and those cars are ready as well.

FASCINATING......thanks!