ST. ALBANS, Vt. — An Amtrak inspection trip ran today from St. Albans to Montreal over the normally freight only Swanton Subdivision of both New England Central and Canadian National. Montrealer service ended in 1995 and more than two dozen ra…
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/07/18-amtrak-montrealer
Didn’t the Montrealer have a piano in the bar car? Was it the only train that did?
It did have a piano bar. I’m trying to remember if auto train Corp, had piano bar, I remember for sure it has recreation car, that played movies.
The first generation Superliners originally had a small piano in the lower level of the sightseer lounge car…not sure what happened to it. I don’t think it was a real piano I think it was electronic.
wow thanks for the information!!
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Didn’t the Montrealer have a piano in the bar car? Was it the only train that did?
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Several heritage Amtrak lounge cars had electric pianos. In the late 1980’s(?) used the Crescent to Atlanta for an American Guild of Organists convention. A whole bunch of worship-space musicians, mostly but not entirely organists and choirmasters, wanted space, and the train had extra sleepers and coaches and two lounge cars, one with the electric piano. So all evening there were hymns sung with different people taking turns doing th accompaniment. And at one point, one of my best client-friends, said; “Dave, how about some Jewish music,” or something similar. I was brave enough to sit on the bench and belt out with voice and the keys some Passover hymns, including Had Gad Ya (Actually more Aramaic than Hebrew, One only Kid) and Ekhad Mi Yodaia, Who Knows One. And Hanukah and Purim. And some of the others who had both synagogue and church jobs, sang along. We had a great time. I think I may have written Graham Claytor a thank-you letter.
On the Montrealer. sometimes it was there and sometimes not. They did try to have a car with it in the consist during the winter skiing season. I think they even called it more than a lounge car, the “Pub Car.”
A hymn-sing in the lounge car? How different from one’s usual Amtrak experience is that? And Jewish hymns, too? Dave, you decribe the scene well.
One night about 1988 the Capitol Limited had a consist that included a lounge car; in it was an electric piano. This car, I was told, usually ran , “on the Florida trains.”
My class of high school juniors was with me, and one of my female students earned about $40 in tips that evening by playing cocktail piano music for other passengers.
Interestingly enough, she’s a Jew, but had she started playing from the Episcopal or her own Hymnal, I believe she would have emptied the car!
Lesson: Know your audience!
Arlo probably sang City of New Orleans on the Montrealer.
Washington Post, April 4, 1979
A Day of Trying to Save the Trains
For days, Terry Flaherty had paced the aisles of the Blue Ridge, a popular Martinsburg-to-Washington commuter train threatened with extinction, asking his fellow passengers for ideas to publicize their plight.
Then just over a week ago, one of them had an idea. “Why not ask Arlo Guthrie to play for a rally?” suggested one woman, who offered to contact the singer-composer.
Yesterd
NKP, you might be interested that I have translated the Shaker Simple Gifts Hymn, “The Gift to be simple is the Gift to be free…” into both Hebrew and Arabic, and sang all three languages to a small audience a the BYU Jerusalem Center. A good friend who has a government posiiton took me as his guest in the front row center of a cantorial concert by a renown Cantor, and one of the works sung was “Old Man River.” About half way through, I joined him, not on stage but from my seat, and nobody objected, and I do know that song well. Past 4th of July I did entertain a few young students with railroad songs, Old 97, Chattanooga Choo Choo, and I’ve been Working on the Railroad. I think I did include that last one in the lounge car to Atlanta.
I had heard that the electric pianos were a target for thieves when the cars sat in the coach yard.
Suk du blah! Onto Quebec!!!
That could be very nice. I live near Northampton, Ma and the new Amtrak station is fairly busy at times since Amtrak started coming through this area after many years.
I have talked with some who wished Amtrak would go into Montreal.
A bike trail I ride is right next to the former Union Station. The new platform is nearby with a restaurant at the former station.
Rich
I think the plan is still on for a 2018 service resumption. The chief remaining obstacle is completion of the pre-clearance area at Central Station, which is also required by the Adirondack.
The “Le Pub” (Amtrak 3100-3105) cars that ran in the Montrealer between 1974 and about 1978 were rebuilt US Army hospital cars of Korean War vintage. Amtrak got them from the Army in early 1973 in virtually unused condition in a GSA move for about $1000 apiece. A couple of them ended up belonging to NCDOT for Piedmont use (though not as “Le Pub”…)
