Pacific Parlor Car

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skyguy

Train Attendant
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Messages
44
Hello, all.

It's been a while since I've been on this page but DW and I are taking the CS (LAX - SEA) in July.  We've been on this train a few times before and we're pretty sure what to expect.  But... The last time we were on the train (3+ years ago) we were told that the Parlor Car was being taken out of service (age and maintenance issues, I was told).  Now that we've booked the train, I started looking at the consist and see that the Pacific Parlor Car is still in the consist.  Was I dreaming that it was being removed, did they repair it (them) or what?  Any comments would be appreciated.
 
Gone baby gone. 

If you're seeing it in a consist somewhere, you're looking at an old consist. 
 
I don't know what you're thinking of, because they got rid of the Parlour Cars permanently, more than a year ago. Amtrak doesn't even own them anymore.
 
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According to what I read in Trains Magazine, all the Pacific Parlor cars were brought back to Beach Grove and will be auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder. The heritage diners and some of the baggage cars have met or will meet a similar fate.
 
According to what I read in Trains Magazine, all the Pacific Parlor cars were brought back to Beach Grove and will be auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder. The heritage diners and some of the baggage cars have met or will meet a similar fate.
Corridor Capital bought the PPCs, the Heritage cars, and pretty much everything else that was put up for auction then.
 
I never rode in a PPC. The only time I’ve ridden on the CS, the PPC was full. I’ll be riding again next month, but too little too late.
 
I never rode in a PPC. The only time I’ve ridden on the CS, the PPC was full. I’ll be riding again next month, but too little too late.
Even when there was an extra sleeper during holiday travel, I never saw the ppc completely full.  Sometimes the purple chairs would be full, but there were plenty of other seats in the car. Did you not have the opportunity to eat a meal in the car either?
 
The Parlor car also had a movie theater downstairs. My main gripe was people who camped out in the nice swivel chairs while plugged into a computer or reading a book instead of enjoying the scenery or having a friendly conversation. The wine tasting usually got rid of them. 
 
crescent-zephyr said:
Even when there was an extra sleeper during holiday travel, I never saw the ppc completely full.  Sometimes the purple chairs would be full, but there were plenty of other seats in the car. Did you not have the opportunity to eat a meal in the car either?
By the time the Dining attendant came around to us (I was with my mom and sister) she said it was full and we had to eat in the dining car.  If I had to do it all over again, I'd go back to my roomette and get our reservations there.  They were in the accessible room (room H) and I was visiting with them.  As a "consolation prize" my sister took a picture of me standing outside the PPC to commemorate the fact I was there.  /monthly_2019_02/ppc.jpg.ae7c0bfd4f7abc4cb9f7cca99de22bf8.jpg
 

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Hello, all.

It's been a while since I've been on this page but DW and I are taking the CS (LAX - SEA) in July.  We've been on this train a few times before and we're pretty sure what to expect.  But... The last time we were on the train (3+ years ago) we were told that the Parlor Car was being taken out of service (age and maintenance issues, I was told).  Now that we've booked the train, I started looking at the consist and see that the Pacific Parlor Car is still in the consist.  Was I dreaming that it was being removed, did they repair it (them) or what?  Any comments would be appreciated.
Don't know how or why or where you see the PPC on the consist. Any link?

Me,  I rode the Starlight a few years back in Coach.  Slept on the floor in the Coach-Bag -- a good deal. But by morning there was a half dozen of us coach pax sleeping on the floor of the coach-bag.

There's been a lot of praise and a lot of annoyance on this forum about the Parlor Cars. Me never used, didn't need to. The nostalgia thing -- what can I say? I'm older than most of us . The many complaints here from those who wanted an "exceptional experience" have been mostly negative. Like -- people try to reserve swivel couch all day by leaving their bag on the chair, and the attendants don't care !!

Or suchlike. But I never was there, never used the PPC, don't care that it's gone. The scenery on the Starlight is good,  amazing -- the facts about how the West Coast got to be how it is, also amazing. It's  been a half-century or more since the Stanfords and Mulhollands wanted super-deluxe service on trains, and almost as long ago since the top 1% would even use any form of public transport.

The starlight is better off not pretending to be what it's not. What it is, is a good way without flying or driving, to get along the West Coast. Dining car service yes.

Get you from Albany to San Luis Obispo -- yes.

From Tacoma to Redding, sure.

LAUS to SEA or TAC or PDX  sure.

Why should this train have to do anything more?

I like it, even on the dirty carpet of the downstairs coach-bag, where I (and a half-dozen others) could stretch out,  when the very good wide reclining seats just couldn't compensate for a gout attack.
 
Let’s hope if Capital corridor did by them they don’t sit for 20 years like  the rest of their equipment has.

Some of the PPC’s should be road ready or close to it. Obviously Anderson’s private car restrictions are a huge kink. That being said they should try to run them somewhere occasionally. We talked about the Surfliners not being feasible anymore. Maybe the Cascades? The SWC, the CONO? I’d pay a premium to ride one again a few times a year. 

Total wish list item as there’s bigger issues to deal with but in a closer to a perfect world it would be doable.
 
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 My main gripe was people who camped out in the nice swivel chairs while plugged into a computer or reading a book instead of enjoying the scenery or having a friendly conversation. The wine tasting usually got rid of them. 
How dare people try to enjoy train travel in their own way!!! The nerve!
 
I’m glad I got to ride them as much as I did. But I still wish I had ridden them more. :-/  
I never got to ride in one, but I was exceedingly lucky in that my transfer from the TE to the LSL last February happened to line up with the three hours that the four just-retired PPCs were there in the CHI yard (switching from the SWC to the Hoosier State on their way to Beech Grove). As the TE approached the station I happened to notice two off to the side and freaked out, so after dropping our bags off in the Met Lounge, we went straight to the yard for some pictures, and subsequently noticed the other two on the other side of the yard. We then asked a couple Amtrak employees, and they had no issue letting us into the yard AND into one of the PPCs (I think it was Colombia Valley).

I still can't fully wrap my head around how lucky I was that my eight hours in Chicago (the only time I've ever been) just happened to line up with the PPCs' three hour on their way to Beech Grove.
 
Most of my experiences in the PPC were going north from Salinas to Sacramento in the evening, when the business class attendant set it up. But rode it as a sleeper passenger too. The thrill of riding a 1950s museum piece, as such, lasted about five minutes. They were well enough maintained – no more scuffed or worn than newer cars – but clearly showing their age.

A greater benefit was being in a less crowded lounge with generally quieter companions. Except sometimes around the bar :). What really made or broke the experience for me was how the attendant filled the role of a bartender. A good one, like any good bartender, drew diverse strangers into the conversation and kept it going as necessary, made everyone feel like a regular, and mixed drinks with a touch of performance. The ordinary ones take your money and hand you a cup. It's either a convivial, extended cocktail hour with nighttime scenery going past or a trip on a rolling McDonalds.

It's the people, not the hardware, that matter.
 
I feel your pain at my nerve to suggest that a party is out of line for bogarting one or more of the limited seats in a popular car for most of the daylight hours,  two  straight days. Its just my lack of patience suppose.
Well computer use was encouraged in the ppc car, since WiFi was advertised in the car.  Reading a book was also encouraged since there was an on board “library” so I’m not sure what the problem is? I was always able to find a seat when I rode the ppc cars. If all the purple chairs were taken I would sit elsewhere until one was available.

no one can possibly sit in the chairs 24/7 unless they want to skip meals. 

I agree with the attendant helping to make or break the experience. The wine tasting could be a really fun, classy experience. Or it could feel like you were an annoyance to the attendant for even wanting to partake. I had mostly good attendants on my rides. 
 
Good times (and fond memories) during a wine tasting in the PPC (photo credit: Jis)

Alan and Penny in PPC.jpg
 
Really any experience PPC, PV, or regular Amtrak is based on the service given. I've had remarkable Amtrak attendants who have made the trip incredible. But I've also had some who have made me feel unwelcome because of their attitude. Same goes for the PV world, and airlines. If you put out a good service people will come back. If you don't it cheapens the whole thing.
 
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