I think the term “Day roomettes” appeared for the first time on the New Haven’s 1948 parlor car fleet. They had 20 cars, in various combinations of parlor lounges and lounges, which were all equipped with two small rooms designated “day roomettes.” I don’t know how popular these accommodations were. The same 20 cars each had one “drawing room,” which I know were popular.
“Drawing rooms” in parlor cars went all the way back through the heavyweight era and continued into the modern postwar parlors of both the New Haven and PRR. In fact, a few years after the New Haven put its postwar parlor fleet in service the NH discovered that some of the best trains (specifically, the Merchants Limited, Yankee Clipper, and one of the Boston-Washington through jobs) had fewer drawing rooms than needed to meet demand. So, in the early 50s the RR had 6 lounge cars shopped and reconfigured with 3 drawing rooms each (Those cars originally had one drawing room).
The PRR’s Congressional car series had two parlor cars that were built with ALL drawing rooms. They called them “conference room cars.”
Interesting topic, this.
Tom Curtin
Controller, NHRHTA