Gallery
Postcard of a Seaboard Air Line Sun Lounge interior in the 1960s.
Interior of an Amtrak Superliner Sightseer lounge car. These were based on the Seaboard’s Sun Lounge and the ATSF’s Hi-Level lounge.
A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. [1] The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a relaxing diversion from standard coach or dining options. In earlier times (and especially on the "name" trains), a lounge car was more likely to have a small kitchen, or grill and a limited menu. Food was prepared to order and often cooked, though items such as club sandwiches would have usually been part of the offerings. The cars were often operated by the Pullman Company, and in other cases by the railroad directly as part of the dining car department (on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway the Fred Harvey Company operated the food concession).
Lounge cars operated by Pullman were exclusively for the use of sleeping car passengers, while those operated by the railroad were available to coach as well as first-class travelers. Buffet lounge cars were often found in trains which did not offer full dining car service. On other trains they supplemented the diner and offered sandwiches, burgers and short orders at times when the diner was not serving; e.g. mid-afternoon and late night. To qualify as a buffet lounge the car had to offer both food and drink service. Buffet lounges should not be confused with snack or grill cars which did not offer a full range of libations. [2]
In Britain, luxury lounge cars are known as "Pullman" cars, after the American Pullman Company.
Tavern-lounge cars, alternatively called tavern-observation cars, were lounge cars often with partitions, where refreshments were offered for sale. They came in either round-end or flat-end configurations. In use from the post-World War II years, into the 1970s, these appeared on long-distance routes, such as the Atlantic Coast Line's Champion, the Erie Lackawanna's Phoebe Snow, the Kansas City Southern's Southern Belle, Louisville & Nashville's Humming Bird, Georgian, the New York Central's New York-St. Louis Southwestern Limited, and the Seaboard Air Line’s Silver Meteor. As apparent in the ACL's all-coach Vacationer, this sub-class of car was not only used in Pullman trains. [3] Like standard lounge cars, these had seats and couches facing away from windows and toward the aisles. Many of these were equipped with radios with which to play music via radio or recordings. [4] [5] [6] The Seaboard’s Silver Meteor in particular was well known to have kept its tavern-lounge-observation car on the end of the train where it was supposed to be until Amtrak’s inception in 1971. This was after many railroads had discontinued the practice, and would place the car wherever it needed to be in the train.
A dining car or a restaurant car, also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.
The Broadway Limited was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited. The Broadway Limited continued operating after the formation of Penn Central (PC) in February 1968, one of the few long-distance trains to do so. PC conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971, who operated it until 1995. The train's name referred not to Broadway in Manhattan, but rather to the "broad way" of PRR's four-track right-of-way along the majority of its route.
The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.
The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955 and on the Milwaukee Road thereafter. The train had number 103 westbound and number 104 eastbound.
A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or observation. Beginning in 1945, dome cars were primarily used in the United States and Canada, though a small number were constructed in Europe for Trans Europ Express service, and similar panorama cars are in service on Alpine tourist railways like the Bernina Express.
The Silver Meteor is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was the flagship train of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) and one of its flagship trains of its successor, the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). The train was transferred to Amtrak when it took over intercity passenger rail service in 1971.
The Silver Star is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand, the Silver Meteor, are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century.
The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service, arrived at their destinations.
The Coast Daylight, originally known as the Daylight Limited, was a passenger train on the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, via SP's Coast Line. It was advertised as the "most beautiful passenger train in the world," carrying a particular red, orange, and black color scheme. The train operated from 1937 until 1974, one of the few passenger trains retained by Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak merged it with the Coast Starlight in 1974.
The Columbian was a named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It was the all-coach supplemental train of the all-Pullman Capitol Limited. It operated from 1931 to 1964. The train's initial route was between Jersey City, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., but in 1941 the Columbian route was lengthened to Jersey City – Chicago, Illinois. It was the first air-conditioned train in the United States.
The National Limited was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. It operated from 1925 to 1971. For much of its life it offered exclusive all-Pullman service, and it was the first long-distance train to be entirely air-conditioned. The National Limited was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971. Amtrak revived the name for another New York–St. Louis service which did not use the B&O route.
The Branson Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad in Branson, Missouri. The Ozark Zephyr, Branson Scenic Railway's historic zephyr train, departs from an old depot in downtown Branson and operates in the scenic Ozark Mountains for an approximate 40-mile (64 km) round trip.
The Royal Palm was a named train of the Southern Railway that ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on the Florida East Coast Railway's East Coast Champion to Miami, Florida. The train was discontinued in 1970.
The Southerner was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Southern Railway in the United States between New York City and New Orleans via Charlotte, Atlanta and Birmingham. It operated from 1941 to 1970.
The Champion was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Florida East Coast Railway between New York City and Miami or St. Petersburg, Florida. It operated from 1939 until 1979, continuing under the Seaboard Coast Line and Amtrak. It was a direct competitor to the Seaboard Air Line Railway's Silver Meteor, the first New York-Florida streamliner.
The Gulf Wind was a streamlined passenger train inaugurated on July 31, 1949, as a joint operation by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The Gulf Wind replaced the heavyweight New Orleans - Florida Express on this routing. The Gulf Wind was a limited stops train and offered amenities such as dining cars and Pullman service. The train left Jacksonville at night and arrived in New Orleans in the evening, as the Express had done.
The City of Miami was a seven-car coach streamliner inaugurated by Illinois Central Railroad on December 18, 1940. Its route was from Chicago to Miami a total distance of 1,493 miles (2,403 km).
The Vacationer was a seasonal passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. The Vacationer, like its predecessor the Florida Special, was designed to supplement regular Northeast—Florida service during the winter months. It made its final run on March 31, 1974. The Florida Special dated back to 1888; the Vacationer originated in 1938.
Phoebe Snow was a named passenger train which was once operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) and, after a brief hiatus, the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL).
The Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad operates a historic train line centered in Trego, Wisconsin on 26 miles of track, between Spooner, Wisconsin and Springbrook, Wisconsin. It was founded on April 1, 1997. The line runs dinner trains, bed and breakfast trains, and scenic sight seeing tours.
Media related to Saloon coaches at Wikimedia Commons
