Coast Starlight Train 14 at dawn of Amtrak

[Willbridge]

Recently I turned up fifty-year old consists for Train 14, the Coast Starlight, at Salem. These show the evolution of Amtrak's fleet on its first big succcess. On Train 11 a couple of days earlier, dinner was served till Klamath Falls to handle the demand. Note that the train was operating tri-weekly north of Oakland.

19 Jun 72

[I don't have the engines, but were usually SP.]
Baggage SFe 3670
Dorm SFe 1380 'San Miguel'
Sleeper SFe 'Palm Loch'
Sleeper SFe 'Pine Lodge'
Sleeper SP 9021
Diner SP 10213
Lounge SP 10408
Coach SFe 2845
Coach Amtrak 4858
Coach SFe 2840
Coach SFe 2849
Coach SFe 2899
Coach SFe 2942
Coach SFe 2847

To come = a year later.

 

[Willbridge]

Recently I turned up fifty-year old consists for Train 14, the Coast Starlight, at Salem. These show the evolution of Amtrak's fleet on its first big succcess. On Train 11 a couple of days earlier, dinner was served till Klamath Falls to handle the demand. Note that the train was operating tri-weekly north of Oakland.

19 Jun 72

[I don't have the engines, but were usually SP.]
Baggage SFe 3670
Dorm SFe 1380 'San Miguel'
Sleeper SFe 'Palm Loch'
Sleeper SFe 'Pine Lodge'
Sleeper SP 9021
Diner SP 10213
Lounge SP 10408
Coach SFe 2845
Coach Amtrak 4858
Coach SFe 2840
Coach SFe 2849
Coach SFe 2899
Coach SFe 2942
Coach SFe 2847

To come = a year later.

A year later, the Coast Starlight looked like an Amtrak train. This was quite an accomplishment given what they were up against. Food service had been improved with the quiet addition of a cafe car in the coach section. Daily service was launched.

11 June 1973

Engine SP 3201
Engine SP 3203
Engine Amtrak 6459
Baggage Amtrak 1022
Dorm Amtrak 1502
Coach Amtrak 4432
Coach Amtrak 4811
Coach Amtrak 4534
Coach Amtrak 4881
Cafe Amtrak 8117
Coach Amtrak 4866
Coach Amtrak 4447
Lounge Amtrak 3330
Diner Amtrak 8060
Sleeper Amtrak 2685
Sleeper Amtrak 2725 ('Pine?')
Sleeper Amtrak 2241 'Natural Bridge'

 

[joelkfla]

Recently I turned up fifty-year old consists for Train 14, the Coast Starlight, at Salem. These show the evolution of Amtrak's fleet on its first big succcess. On Train 11 a couple of days earlier, dinner was served till Klamath Falls to handle the demand. Note that the train was operating tri-weekly north of Oakland.

19 Jun 72

[I don't have the engines, but were usually SP.]
Baggage SFe 3670
Dorm SFe 1380 'San Miguel'
Sleeper SFe 'Palm Loch'
Sleeper SFe 'Pine Lodge'
Sleeper SP 9021
Diner SP 10213
Lounge SP 10408
Coach SFe 2845
Coach Amtrak 4858
Coach SFe 2840
Coach SFe 2849
Coach SFe 2899
Coach SFe 2942
Coach SFe 2847

To come = a year later.

What was the Lounge: a food service car, a bar car, or just a place to stretch out & socialize?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Recently I turned up fifty-year old consists for Train 14, the Coast Starlight, at Salem. These show the evolution of Amtrak's fleet on its first big succcess. On Train 11 a couple of days earlier, dinner was served till Klamath Falls to handle the demand. Note that the train was operating tri-weekly north of Oakland.

19 Jun 72

[I don't have the engines, but were usually SP.]
Baggage SFe 3670
Dorm SFe 1380 'San Miguel'
Sleeper SFe 'Palm Loch'
Sleeper SFe 'Pine Lodge'
Sleeper SP 9021
Diner SP 10213
Lounge SP 10408
Coach SFe 2845
Coach Amtrak 4858
Coach SFe 2840
Coach SFe 2849
Coach SFe 2899
Coach SFe 2942
Coach SFe 2847

To come = a year later.

One of the Trains no doubt!

 

[Willbridge]

What was the Lounge: a food service car, a bar car, or just a place to stretch out & socialize?

As I recall, it was all of those things. In 1967 I ran into B. F. Biaggini in the lounge of the predecessor, SP 12, the Cascade after dinner while I was having a Coke and we talked rail passenger service for about 20 minutes. In 1974 on the Coast Starlight while doing passenger surveys between PDX and KFS for ODOT my colleague had a conversation with a woman who we were sure was a prostitute.

Having the bar on the same level as the lounge probably encouraged a different ambience than in a Sightseer Lounge with its empty workstation on the top floor.

Some railroads restricted that type of lounge to First Class only, but then they either had a cafe car in the coach section or ran a separate economy train. I looked up a 1951 SP schedule and their Overland Route lounges were First Class only, but their Cascade Route lounges served all.

 

[Willbridge]

One of the Trains no doubt!

Looking through my notes it was more the Coast Chief. There was one Big Sky Blue coach in the four-day cycle, but most of the time it was stainless steel. When the light hit right, the SP cars said "Sunset." The trains were based with the Santa Fe in Los Angeles. Steam ejector air conditioning, anyone?

The PDX<>SEA Pool Line trains were the circus in Portland, with all sorts of Northern Lines colors. That was partly due to the GN having been caught in mid-stream by the BN merger in their Big Sky Blue conversion. So, we had Apple Green on some NP and GN cars.

 

[Steve4031]

I ride this train in the summer of 1978. I recall a full length dome car. Even though the dome ran the length of the car one end of the car had a lounge are with tables on the main floor with a counter that served alcohol and snacks. There was also a lunch counter car. This car had a counter with chairs and you could sit at the counter and order food. There were also tables to sit at and eat. There was also a full service diner. And several dome coaches.