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Hi All, Can anyone tell me whether any of the Amtrak trains run the older style lounge cars, which were just tables and a snack bar, not the dome lounge the superliners run today. Thanks.
TBlack Member # 181
posted Do you mean the single level cars?
sutton Member # 1612
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yes, more or less. Are there bi-level lounges with lots of tables on both levels? I've only ever been in a superliner lounge, with the seats facing the windows. Scott
rresor Member # 128
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Amtrak has several types of lounges.
1) The Superliner lounges are, AFAIK, all the same, with booths downstairs and rotating and fixed seats upstairs under glass. THese are the only double-deck lounges still in service.
2) There are several flavors of Amfleet lounges. All have the center snack bar section. They are configured with:
coach seats both ends booths one end, coach seats the other booths one end, lounge area the other (fixed chairs and tables) lounge area one end, enclosed smoking lounge the other (these are recent rebuilds)
The table-and-lounge cars and all-lounge cars are assigned to Eastern LD trains
3) Horizon lounges
These are similar to Amfleet, except I am not aware of any table-and-lounge or full-lounge Horizon cars
There are no Heritage lounges left in the active fleet.
sutton Member # 1612
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Is there any place where we can know which lounge style is on which train? Thanks for the info guys Scott
barrydraper Member # 737
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Superliner lounges are not the only two level lounges in service on Amtrak. The Coast Starlight has the First Class Pacific Parlour lounge, which (normally) is a rebuilt ex-Santa Fe high level lounge. Also, the Surfliners, San Joaquines, and Capitols have Cafe/Lounge cars, which are high level cars, but have coach seating as well as lounge. These are short haul trains, so don't have a full lounge.
Mr. Toy Member # 311
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I fondly remember the old style lounges on the Coast Starlight in the pre-Superliner days. There were basically two types. Those that had a bar in the middle, and those that had the bar at one end. I prefered the bar in the middle, as it made each section feel more intimate. Both types, however, encouraged social interaction.
I don't care for Superliner lounges as they face people away from each other, and discourage interaction. They are great for sightseeing, though. Superliner lounges really aren't very comfortable, either. The seats are more like you'd find in a fast-food place than a lounge. Someday they should re-do them with more comfortable furnishings, and with more than one type of seating so that people can use it for a variety of purposes, not just for looking out the window.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
Y'all need to go find a copy of Arthur Dubin's Some Classic Trains (Kalmbach, 1964).
Lounge cars, of all forms (observation, dome, or mid-train) were part of the signature a railroad applied to its trains. To say there was any standardization of these cars is a bald-faced lie. UP alone used end-of-train obs, as well as mid-train club cars (not to mention Pullman cars with 6DBR and a lounge), as well as dome coaches and dome lounges (originally for the end-of-train, later modified to run mid-train).
Most lounges had one or two banquette spaces for the card players, but the rest of the seats either faced inward (and you snuggled and flipped around to look outward) or faced outward. The "Lookout Lounges" on NYC's "Creek" and "Brook" series cars are examples of outward facing seats.
This fleet is essentially gone from revenue service. A good chunk left when Amtrak decided to retire cars built by Pullman-Standard, ACF, and Saint Louis Car. The rest went away as Amtrak retired the Heritage Fleet. With that said, a fair bit of the fleet survives in PV and excursion service (IIRC the AOE observation car is ex-NYC Hickory Creek from the Century).
What is available now is new construction for Amtrak or conversion from coaches.
John
------------------ The City of Saint Louis (UP, 1967) is still my standard for passenger operations
[This message has been edited by PullmanCo (edited 04-04-2003).]
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