Twist trains

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CHamilton

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I'm surprised that Amtrak hasn't resurrected this idea.

"In West Germany, the prevailing dance of 1964 was still the twist. Here the government was so concerned about vandalism on the country’s railway service that it experimented with running ‘twist trains’ for young people, with a section of each coach prepared as a dance floor, and twist music piped through the carriages."

Peter Doggett, Electric Shock
 
So basically just a train with a bunch of dance floors. That could make a lot of sense on a party or dinner train, though I doubt that would work for anything particularly mainstream. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), you'll find plenty of people on the NYC subway who make it their own twist train.

 
Back in the 1960's, Rich East High School in Park Forest, IL., sponsored a post prom that featured a chartered illinois Central train. After the prom, the teens would board the train in Homewood and go for a ride. The train featured baggage cars where the students could dance the night away.
 
When I rode Alaska RR's AuRoRa train from Fairbanks to Anchorage back in Sept. of 1970, the train had a lounge car with a jukebox(!) in it. And yes, college kids were dancing!

The car was one of those surplus US Army 'Hospital' cars, of which Amtrak also inherited, and made lounge cars out of...it only had a few windows on each side, so was ideal for 'internal entertainment'....
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Actually Deutsche Bahn/PKP still do something very similar today. Every Saturday and Sunday between Berlin and Wroclaw formerly Breslau the EU Culture Train operates.

The whole point of the culture train is to expose Germans and poles to their shared history in Silesia. The train itself is a DB Class 628 Railcar with the baggage/bike section hosting a silent disco on the Westbound leg. Passengers wear a belt that vibrates to simulate the bass and wear headphones for the music. All the while a disco ball hangs overhead.

On the eastbound leg they have book readings, and live music in the baggage room that relate to the culture of the region. All seat backs have a photo of German and polish historical residents of the area the train travels.
 
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