interior pictures of Slumbercoach rooms

[AlanB]

******* Warning *************

This is a 3 year-old topic.

 

[zephyr17]

Interesting - so the Chateau cars have duplex, while the Manor cars have the traditional roomettes? I've done the latter on VIA, but wasn't aware of the duplex, so I may have to work one into future travel plans

Yes, that is absolutely correct.

 

[terry cripe]

Slumbercoaches were also used on Amtrak's Broadway Limited. We used to ride them from Trenton to Ft Wayne. They were a bargain compared to roomettes, especially because you didn't lose the use of the commode when the bed was folded down. Although I am 6' 1" I never felt that cramped.

Terry

 

[Devil's Advocate]

This is a 3 year-old topic.

Unless the thread predates Amtrak I'd be willing to let it slide.

Personally I think bringing slumbercoaches back would be a great idea for new rolling stock. However, I would suggest we avoid any pink interiors. Bleh!

 

[Jersey Jeff]

After looking at the photos, I believe that I rode in a Slumbercoach on the Montrealer from NYP to Montreal in 1995.

 

[Pastor Dave]

I realize this is an old thread - but I used Slumbercoach several times on the LSL and these pics bring back good memories. I always seemed to have the "lower level" where my feet would end up under the head of the next room.

 

[Bill Brings back memories.]

I always said this about slumbercoaches---it was broom closet space----but broom closet prices!!! The prices made the cramped space more than worth it.

One of my travel secrets for a person traveling alone was this: ride in a double slumbercoach room. That is not that uncomfortable, one person in a room meant for two, and the prices still ridiculously low. The prices were always closer to coach price than to sleeper yet the space so much more comparable to sleeper.

They had one for several years on the Crescent. It just went NYC to ATL, not enough of them to go all the way to NOL.

Bill Brings back memories! That NYP -ATL slumber coach was my first ever ride in a sleeping car which I rode until after my first promotion which allowed me to move up to a roomette !

This might help:

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=258385

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=258386

Tim

 

[dlagrua]

I have some pictures I took at the Illinois Railroad Museum and will post them when I get home. The intrinsic characteristic differential between the slumber coach rooms and todays sleepers is that the rooms were staggered one high and one low and the lower bedroom had a bed that when opened "tunneled" under the upper bedroom. In other words your head and torso were exposed while your legs were in the "tunnel" During the day there was a single seat and a toilet right by it. The staggered room arrangement allowed the largest quantity of sleepers on a rail car.

 

[spacecadet]

Slumbercoaches were also used on Amtrak's Broadway Limited. We used to ride them from Trenton to Ft Wayne. They were a bargain compared to roomettes, especially because you didn't lose the use of the commode when the bed was folded down. Although I am 6' 1" I never felt that cramped.

Terry

Amtrak used to run a lot of old New York Central equipment on both the LSL and Broadway Limited, and I believe the majority of their slumbercoaches were ex-NYC. (Edit: woops, apparently Amtrak owned all the slumbercoaches ever built! There were only 18 of them.) I rode them on both of those trains, and it was interesting to think that I might be riding in a car that ran on that same route (in the LSL's case, anyway) in NYC garb, possibly even on the famed 20th Century Limited, albeit past that train's prime. This was actually one of the things I loved about early Amtrak, thinking about the history of all of their equipment. Their trains were like rolling museums that were still fully functional.

Anyway I'm 6'4 and have been since I was 12, and while I was young when I rode the slumbercoaches and don't remember it all *that* well, I was already at that height and I don't remember ever feeling cramped either. I'm sure I couldn't fully stretch out (I think the beds were under 6') but it was still a pretty nice way to travel for only like $20 more than coach over the full run of the route. I was very disappointed when these cars were discontinued because it meant I'd have to travel coach most of the time; upgrading to a roomette was usually too expensive.

Most people who rode the slumbercoaches were making that same choice; it wasn't slumbercoach vs. roomette, it was slumbercoach vs. coach. If you thought about it like that, the slumbercoach was a very nice alternative and was insanely cheap.

btw, this pdf has some interesting photos and interior diagrams: http://www.srmduluth.org/Exhibits/SlumberCoaches.pdf

 

[Bierboy]

We rode slumbercoaches on the Northern Pacific's North Coast Limited in the early 60s Chicago to Seattle and back. Loved 'em...

BTW, great post OBS Chief....loved reading that document and checking out the photos....

 

[had8ley]

The slumbercoach was the RR's last shot at attracting pax off the planes and highways. I remember when the NYC rolled one into GCT. They even put out the 20th Century's red carpet for all to view "the latest and the greatest". This was probably around 1957 or 8.For their age I'm surprised more haven't lasted but then again they were an economy car and may have been built accordingly.