Silver Solarium in St. Paul

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Ispolkom

Engineer
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
3,060
Location
St. Paul, Minn.
My co-worker's six-year-old son, Max, shares my two greatest interests: trains and dinosaurs. Yesterday he saw a couple of "silver dome cars," and told his mom to ask me what they were. After a couple of minutes of puzzlement, I thought of Silver Solarium, the ex-CB&Q dome-observation-sleeper. Sure enough, it, along with sleeper Silver Rapids, is leaving on the end of tonight's #7, bound for Portland and then Emeryville.

After work, Mrs. Ispolkom and I drove by the depot to see the cars, which were a fine sight in the evening sun. We could see people dining in the dome, and it occurred to me that I was seeing perhaps the first ever set-out sleeper at St. Paul Midway Station. After all, the #7 leaves MSP at 11:15 p.m., and many of the old set-out sleepers were available for use after 9 or 9:30 p.m. In fact, I'm not aware that the Twin Cities ever had such a car, though in the long history of Pullman operations I'm probably wrong.

The only disappointment is that I didn't have a proper camera with me at the station, and only took a snapshot with my cellphone.
 
My co-worker's six-year-old son, Max, shares my two greatest interests: trains and dinosaurs. Yesterday he saw a couple of "silver dome cars," and told his mom to ask me what they were. After a couple of minutes of puzzlement, I thought of Silver Solarium, the ex-CB&Q dome-observation-sleeper. Sure enough, it, along with sleeper Silver Rapids, is leaving on the end of tonight's #7, bound for Portland and then Emeryville.

After work, Mrs. Ispolkom and I drove by the depot to see the cars, which were a fine sight in the evening sun. We could see people dining in the dome, and it occurred to me that I was seeing perhaps the first ever set-out sleeper at St. Paul Midway Station. After all, the #7 leaves MSP at 11:15 p.m., and many of the old set-out sleepers were available for use after 9 or 9:30 p.m. In fact, I'm not aware that the Twin Cities ever had such a car, though in the long history of Pullman operations I'm probably wrong.

The only disappointment is that I didn't have a proper camera with me at the station, and only took a snapshot with my cellphone.
Set out sleepers at Midway Station, probably not. But in the old days yes there were set out sleepers from each of the two cities to Chicago both on the Burlington and the Chicago and Great Western.

Interesting thing about Silver Rapids, it is was actually a PRR car, but matching stainless steel with the rest. It would have been in pool service for the New York to SF run.

As to the dining service you saw in Silver Solariam it was not that way at first. Those cars on the CZ were remarkably similar to the Park cars on the Canadian. Sleeping car rooms, buffet lounge dome observation. The seats in the dome were of the common 24 straight seats design.
 
Set out sleepers at Midway Station, probably not. But in the old days yes there were set out sleepers from each of the two cities to Chicago both on the Burlington and the Chicago and Great Western.
You're right, of course, and I'll expect that I can find some Rock Island set-out sleepers as well. I was just thinking of the main lines between the Twin Cities and Chicago, as if that was the only way people traveled. That's the problem with only having traveled in the Amtrak era, it concentrates your mind.

I certainly hope to take the Canadian while they still have a proper dome-observation-sleeper, but I have to admit I'd settle for the Silver Solarium if the price were right.
 
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