Amtrak castoffs wait for next chapter

The heritage dining cars attracted the most attention. Here, Ray Getty from Frametown, W.Va., surveys No. 8502, a former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy diner built by the Budd Co. in 1952. The railroad named it Silver Cuisine, and Amtrak kept that moniker for many years.  

Inside the cold, darkened interior of the Silver Cuisine, etched glass still exudes the pride and class the Burlington established when it commissioned the car for its Midwest streamliner fleet.

Dusty menus from 2005 and 2006 were left on a table in another diner, ex-New York Central No. 8554, built in 1948. The dinner choices: New York strip steak, lamb shank, seared catfish, roast chicken, cheese ravioli, and “this evening’s special.” A mixed green salad was included. The inscription on the cover: “The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a planet — Anthelm Brillat-Savarin”

Remember smoking lounges? In the brief period after Amtrak’s 50 Viewliner sleeping cars arrived in 1995-96, but before the company adopted a no-smoking policy, the bedroom section of some heritage sleepers was converted to a smoking lounge, while roomettes became dormitory accommodations for the on-board service crew. This car is No. 2500, formerly Santa Fe’s Pine Brook, built by Budd in 1949.   

Wayne York from the Fort Wayne Historical Society weighs the pros and cons of former Santa Fe baggage car No. 1257, built by American Car & Foundry in 1955. He prefers the smooth-sided ACF baggage cars over fluted stainless steel Budd baggage cars for excursion service, and expected he would need to bid at least $10,000 for the right car. Bids were due Jan. 4, but Amtrak is not publicly divulging the winning bidders or the minimum threshold to keep a car from being scrapped.

Hocking Valley Scenic Railway’s Frank Brose and Dave McPherson (in white hard hat) clamber aboard Pacific Parlour Car Santa Lucia Highlands, still on the property from a previous sale. Originally a Santa Fe hi-level lounge, the car was refurbished to enhance sleeping car passengers’ Coast Starlight travel experience in the 1990s. It and its four counterparts were abruptly retired in early 2018 by current Amtrak management. All five have reportedly been sold to a single buyer.

A testament to the resourcefulness and ability of Beech Grove shop forces to keep the Pacific Parlours rolling when parts are unavailable is illustrated by the new battery box installed below the car's ventilation fans. It was fabricated to accept standard Superliner batteries during a previous Trains visit to the facility.

What fate will befall the cars being sold now? Many wished Amtrak would have held on to cars like this former Great Northern dome coach, but keeping it around was hard to justify in May 1995, when Trains visited a similar sale at Beech Grove. It and the coach behind it were sold that year to Montana Rockies Railtours. Perhaps some of the equipment inspected on this rainy December morning in 2018 will also find a home elsewhere and live to run another day.