Passenger Trains > Pacific Parlor on SW Cheif

A sad day indeed, just saw the Southwest Cheif leave LA, with a Pacific Parlor Car, behind all the passenger cars, in front of the Material Handling Cars.

Does this mean it is going to Beech Grove?

...
Foamer

Yes its going to Beech Grove for some rebuilding.

This sounds as tramatic as loosing TO for an hour. Perish the thought.



Ken

foamer wrote:

> A sad day indeed, just saw the Southwest Cheif leave LA, with
> a Pacific Parlor Car, behind all the passenger cars, in front
> of the Material Handling Cars.
>
> Does this mean it is going to Beech Grove?
>
> ...
> Foamer
>
> [%sig%]

Will "Pacific Parlour" cars no longer be running on the Coast Starlight?

I\'m sure they will continue, after all there are 5 of them.

foamer wrote:

> A sad day indeed, just saw the Southwest Cheif leave LA, with
> a Pacific Parlor Car, behind all the passenger cars, in front
> of the Material Handling Cars.

Here\'s a photo my friend saved from one of Trainweb\'s cameras of the Pacific Parlour Car on #4 last night...

---

They\'re getting a fix-up. Just normal stuff, and the Pacific Parlour cars will continue to run on the Starlight.

It would be interesting to ask Mr. Gunn if there are any plans in the future to add this level of service to other long-distance trains.

Thanks for the "heads up", Gents--

I have never laid eyes upon one; if I can get down to trackside tomorrow, I guess I will then have done so.

I was for sure certain there\'s 6 of those cars because that\'s what Santa Fe had on the El Capitan.

proamtrak wrote:

> I was for sure certain there\'s 6 of those cars because that\'s
> what Santa Fe had on the El Capitan.

There are 6 ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level Lounges but only 5 have been refurbished into "Pacific Parlour" cars:

http://members.tripod.com/NoCalDriveIn/hilev.htm

LOUNGE
------

575 9970 39970 1956 Currently in use on Coast Starlight - "Pacific Parlour"
576 9971 39971 1956 Back-up car for Coast Starlight\'s Pacific Parlour fleet - Not refurbished
577 9972 39972 1956 Currently in use on Coast Starlight - "Pacific Parlour"
578 9973 39973 1956 Currently in use on Coast Starlight - "Pacific Parlour"
579 9974 39974 1956 Currently in use on Coast Starlight - "Pacific Parlour"
580 9975 39975 1956 Currently in use on Coast Starlight - "Pacific Parlour"

Other ATSF Hi-Level links:
http://lib2.clark.cc.oh.us/amtrak/amtHILEV.html

http://trainweb.com/accommod/parlour.html
http://www.360360.com/trains/slparlc.html
http://www.trainweb.org/reynolds/newppc.html

http://home.att.net/~santafepass/hilevel.html
http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~cwhung/santa-el.html
http://www.kls2.com/~karl/rr/consists/atsf-hilevel-exhibition.html

There were originally 6 ATSF Hi-Level Lounges numbered 575, 576, 577, 578, 579, and 580. They became 9970, 9971, 9972, 9973, 9974, and 9975 when Amtrak took them over. Then a 3 was added to the beginning of each of these numbers when the cars were HEPd. But 39971 was never refurbished similar the current 5 cars on the CS, and is either still at the Grove or has been sold.


Sal Garcia
Pico Rivera, California

Mike, You beat my by 2 minutes! :-)

Sal Garcia
Pico Rivera, California

Q: Wonder if it has been open for sleeper passengers on #4(10th)?

A: Fat Chance

39971 has been sold to a private car owner.

All of the Parlor cars are going through the shop. This was confirmed with the LA General Superindent today.

They\'re very nice cars and the passengers like them. There is a lot of Amtrak pride showing in those cars too. The StarLate, as we call it, is a special train and the crew seems to appreciate that fact.

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djansson wrote:

> It would be interesting to ask Mr. Gunn if there are any
> plans in the future to add this level of service to other
> long-distance trains.

IMHO, the answer is "NO"

The "Pacific Parlour" program was a clever "Local Option" using 5 fully depreciated, otherwise surplus cars. It was never part of National planning. That part cannot be duplicated.

As for Mr. Gunn, when he first arrived he was very critcal of Amtrak management for running a Long-Distance overnight train with no sleeper or diner (Silver Palm). Funny thing, after the first Year of the Gunn, yesterday\'s "Palm" (oops "Palmetto") still was all-coach with dinette. I guess the rationale is that the Florida corridor gets 3 more trains with full services.

Glad to see it is not being retired.

Wouldn\'t it make more sense for Amtrak to have ran it on a Sunset Limited, that goes straight to Florida, rather than to Chicago first?

...
Foamer