While reading the latest “Trains of the 1950s” special, I was interested to read that ACL had 5 two-unit articulated diners (How to Run Streamliners, pg 113). I had always admired the articulated diners run by UP and SP on their western trains, especially the triple-unit diners SP used on their Daylights.
So help me fill in my ignorance of eastern railroading – how many other railroads had articulated food service cars?
In one of the two “Classic Railroad Quiz - at least 50 years ago” forums we had a lengthy chain about twin-unit diners. Just off the top of my head at least the following operated or at least owned (C&O) twin unit diners:
C&O (mostly disposed of quickly to other carriers)
PRR
NYC
B&O
ACL
IC
UP
SP (three unit articulated)
Amtrak had a few mostly ex-PRR pairs until HEP wiped them out. Most had couplers like normal equipment but SP’s were articulated and UP’s had drawbars. Most common configuration was dormitory kitchen in one car, dining room in the other, but there were several Lounge-Kitchen/Dining room pairs. PRR was the only carrier to use them on day trains (NYC-WAS) all other carriers used them on flagship overnight trains.
The New York Central had both Budd and Pullman Standard versions, used on the 20th Century Limited, the New England States, and the Empire State Express.
The PRR had Budd 2-unit diners painted Tuscan red, used on the Broadway Limited and the General.
I ate in them. Also on the ACL on the Florida Special and the East Coast Champion
Penn Central sand-blasted the PRR 2-unit diners to make them stainless steel in looks.
Like PRR, SP used its tavern-kitchen-dining room three unit articulateds on day trains, specifically the Morning Daylight and Shasta Daylight.
The Traverse City (Michigan) dinner train operation had a couple of (SP?) articulated units. The entire units were used for dining, and the kitchen was in a converted baggage car. The operation ended several years ago, and I can’t remember where the equipment went.
Just a side note and FYI; The Midwest Railway Preservation Society in Cleveland OH is currently restoring ex PRR twin diners 4610 and 4611. They are being rebuilt to Amtrak standards as Amtrak has expressed interest in using them once complete. Amtrak officials have inspected the units which are not in bad condition. Amtrak has made available all the requirements needed for usable restoration. The interiors will be restored to closely resemble their as built PRR look to include the individual table lamps.
SP subsquently rebuilt several to two unit configuration in the early sixties by scrapping the center unit.
Dave
At least some of the NYC’s Pullman-Standard units were purchased from the C&O, used for a number of years and then sold to the B&O.
The IC ran multi-unit diners on the overnight Panama Limited and I think also on the daytime City of New Orleans. I may be wrong but I don’t remember these cars being articulated. There were times when the City of Miami carried two diners but I don’t think they were multi-units and IIRC were conventional diners placed in different locations in the train’s consist.
Mark
SP had the only aticulated diners. The only one that was converted but not scrapped was a three-unit that was converted to a two unit coach in the early 1960s. It was the only articulated coach SP had with a 6-wheel center truck. UP’s were all drawbar connected, even the 1953 cars for the City of Denver. As far as I know all of the other twin unit cars had conventional couplers. ACL and later SCL often ran a dining room car without a kitchen as an entertainment car on the Florida Special, a practice that continued into the early Amtrak era.
Yup! The PRR and NYC cars were either drawvar or coupler connected. I rode one of the loose dining rooms on the ACL once on the Florida Special but did not get involved in the bingo game that was organised by the enterntainment man on the car. In that service they were also equipped first with a 16mm movie projector and screen, later replaced by a TV set.
While we are on the subject of diners. Here is a 1938 train talk pamphlet put out by the PRR.
Pete
IIRC the dining cars on NYC’s 1938 streamlined 20th Century Limited were set up so the tables could be rearranged in the evening to create a “nightclub” atmosphere, with soft lighting and dance music.
I believe the IC, ACL and B&O twin-unit diners were all ex-C&O.
Dave
Bought for the stillborn Chessie streamliner?
Not quite. They were part of the massive order placed by C&O to re-equip the rest of their passenger trains after the Chessie was ordered. The order was placed much later than most other major passenger carriers and was considered to be larger than needed. Some of this order was cancelled and C&O was able to find other railroads who were willing to take delivery of a fair number of the remaining cars.
The Chessie cars which were built by Budd Co. was never tabbed for the twin unit diners. Instead they had twin unit lunch counter-diner-theatre cars.
The twin unit diners that the C&O ordered were built by Pullman-Standard and all were sold before being used in C&O revenue service. C&O #1950/1973 & 1951/1974 to the IC; 1952/1975, 1953/1976, 1956/1979 & 1957/1980 to the NYC; 1954/1977 & 1955/1978 to the ACL and would later run on the original Auto-train. #1956/1976 & 1957/1975 were sold by the NYC to the B&O in 1957. The remainder of the NYC cars were sold to the IC in 1956.
The IC’s four Twin-Unit dining cars were NOT articulated; they had type H tight-lock couplers at each end. I ran one of these sets (4176-4176A) during the winter season one year from Chicago to New Orleans and back for 21 days.
I’m sure you know that the Pennsy and the New York Central both used twin unit diners. I’m happy to say it seems that few are still around, mostly in museums.
I caught the Broadway Limited from NYC Penn Station to Pittsburgh in September 1977. A friend and i were only travelling coach (partly because we detrained very early in the morning). I was amazed to see that the Budd twin unit diners were still in use, so we took as long as we could over the meal and really enjoyed that part of the trip.
Much later (in 1982) I was visiting Seattle on a work trip and found three pairs of these twin unit dining cars in storage, and was able to take external photos of the cars. Again I was surprised that they were still around.
These cars had special flat panels on the sides below the windows, rather than the usual Budd fluting, and the car surface was etched to take the Tuscan Red paint. When stripped, they matched Amtrak’s other stainless steel cars quite well.
M636C