Hey,
I am just curious were all the last versions of the various private railroads streamliners done in the Art Deco style on the interior. Seems the California Zephyr, Hiawatha, Texas Eagle, and other trains all had touches of Art Deco in the interiors just curious if anyone remembers a past streamliner that was updated in the late 1940’s and early 1950s that did not have any Art Deco influences on the interior design?
The Denver Zephyr and El Capitan high level trainsets were placed in service in the middle 1950’s - the last streamlined trains to go into service.
I don’t know how much if any art-deco design elements may have been incorporated in these trainsets and their cars.
Santa Fe’s Super Chief and its other trains utilized southwestern decor which promoted its location through that area of the USA.
I suppose it depends on the specific train on a railroad. Zephyrs had art deco/moderne features. C&NW 400 services not. SP does not look like it did.
I rode the El Capitan from LAX to Chicago and back in 1960. I was going home on leave after having been overseas for 18 months. I remember it as having a Southwestn theme.
I also rode the Seaboard Airline’s Silver Meteor from New York City to Miami in the mid-60s. If I remember correctly, it had a Florida theme, i.e. pictures of beaches, palm trees, etc.
The ‘artistic’ theme of trains represented the area’s the operated in. The Art Deco aspects of the trains were in the objects one took for granted - chairs, ash trays, arch ways and door ways.
Well for the Hiawatha and Eagle on the exterior the porthole and window frames were a give away as well. Mo-Pac Eagle on diesel nose…definitely Art Deco. C&NW had normal window frames same with Santa Fe.
Some of the pictures in this link show the southwest decor that was used for the El. Capitan cars.
They had some pretty neat sand paintings in some of those cars as well I believe I saw on one publicity photo. I think the Acoma has one in it (it’s a private chair car now).
I think my favorite was seeing an old Northern Pacific Diner at Ozark Mountain Rail with the black and white cow hide snack bar seats and the old Montana Ranch out West Decor…that was really cool. I guess one of their famous menu items was either an Idaho or Montana baked Potato.
Northern Pacific advertised the ‘Great Big Baked Potato’ - almost from the dawn of advertising. I believe Idaho is known for potatos, Montana not so much.
I rode NP’s North Coast Ltd between Chicago and Missoula, MT for 4 round trips plus a one-way in the mid-60’s. All the cars were Lewis and Clark oriented, especially the Traveler’s Rest which had a wall-to-over-rhe-ceiling mural of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805-06. I also rode the Empire Builder from Libby, MT to Chicago in 1965, and it had the theme of Blackfoot and north coast Indians in every car. Amtrak’s full dome (now deceased), along with all the coachs having partitions decorated with frosted glass panels of NW indians. It was all one of a kind thing. Amtrak gutted all GN decorations on the Ocean View favor of a bland, we favor nothing and offend no one decor. What a waste.
I agree, the Amtrak ulitarian standardization of interiors that took place after the mid-1970’s was a shame. I thought it was pretty cool traversing an Amtrak Train like the Empire Builder and seeing the interior decor change car to car and the design theme change. It was pretty cool. I remember the most the Great Northern Vista Dome Cars as being really comfortable…some were repainted in the Sky Blue scheme. Also, the Santa Fe dining cars I liked as well. The Amtrak rainbow consist era was about 5-7 years but too short to fully enjoy.
I agree. I recall riding the Afternoon Zephyr from Chicago to East Dubuque back in fall 1968. Still high standards. I think by then it was a combined train of the Zephyr, a GN train and NP train, which split in the Twin Cities.
Add the Illinois Central’s New Orleans French Quarter theme on boith the Panama Limited and the City of New Orleans.
Most all carriers that operated ‘streamliners’ made the ‘decoration’ of them to align with the landmarks and customs of the geographical areas the streamliners operated in and through. The style of that decoration could take many forms including ‘art deco’, other styles of decoration could also be used.
B&O styled a number of their diners in the Colonial motif, including heavy wood chairs instead of art-deco formed metal chairs - and named those diners for a number of Colonial women - and also featured the B&O Blue china with scenes of significant happenings of the history of the B&O.
The B&O’s Streamlined Cincinnatian that was build in the company’s Mt.Clare shops had all its cars named for Cincinnati neighborhoods and displays of various scenes generic to Cincinnati - all pulled off with heavy doses of art-deco structural objects - chairs, ashtrays, archways etc.
[quote user=“CMStPnP”]
Would you believe that humungous potato made famous onboard the North Coast Limited was actually grown in the Yakima Valley of Washington State (not Idaho nor Montana)? The railroad bought all of those potatoes that did not exceed two pounds to create its trademarked baked potato. These were “Netted Gem Bakers” and would appear on your plate, drenched with butter, for only ten cents!
JPS1
Some of the pictures in this link show the southwest decor that was used for the El. Capitan cars. http://www.rtabern.com/ppc/santafe.html
They had some pretty neat sand paintings in some of those cars as well I believe I saw on one publicity photo. I think the Acoma has one in it (it’s a private chair car now).
I think my favorite was seeing an old Northern Pacific Diner at Ozark Mountain Rail with the black and white cow hide snack bar seats and the old Montana Ranch out West Decor…that was really cool. I guess one of their famous menu items was either an Idaho or Montana baked Potato.
In fact, if I remember correctly, the railroad was able to score a discounted price for the spuds because no one wanted potatoes that size. (This was in one of the ‘railroad recipe’ cookbooks, but I don’t have my copy of it ready to hand…)
Wish I had one in front of me right now with some more butter on the side! Not even the Irish overcoat would be left…
The B&O did a beautiful job when they rebuild old heavy weight six wheel truck cars into the five car Cincinnatian train. Sleepy Hollow seats, boattail observation car. Streamlined Pacific Loco’s, all in the B&O blue and grey paint scheme. From. Wilipedia
And I will always remember when I (being uneducated in high class manors) took one of my one day trips going out one way and returning via another. A friend and I took the morning NYC train from Cincy to Toledo and returned by the B &O’s Cincinnatian. The end car was a dining, lounge, observation and we chose to eat in the diner. Upon finishing the meal, our server brought silver bowls of warm water and big cloth napkins. I was confused but fortunately, my friend knew about finger bowls and so we dipped our fingers and dried them.
And one operational move for that train was its back up move to get to the C.H.& D. tracks. The route between Cincinnati and Glendale required that a NB train after leaving Winton Place had to stop, and back across Spring Grove Ave to the CH&D’s Spring Grove Ave “jct”, then proceed North toward Hamilton. There was a backup valve behind a panel next to the back door of the observation car and the conductor would take a seat there and after the train passed the NA tower, (which also controlled the B&O jct with the NYC) th
Cincinnatian was originally Baltimore/Cincinnati and was switched to Detroit/Cincinnati in 1950
Perhaps the most unusual interior design were the animal crackers in the North Shore Electroliner cafes. Can be seen at IRM-Union, IL, today.