Re: My trip on the CZ in August 1969
Author: Jon Clark
Date: 02-11-2009 - 05:33
Lee's photo also clearly shows the CB&Q dome coffee shop coach that was filling in for the bad-ordered Cable Car dome lounge dormitory on his trip. The substitute car would have been either the Silver Patio or Silver Garden, originally built for the Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr.
Looking closely at that car in Lee's photo, you can see one large window that is frosted. That is where there was a dorm in those cars, but it was a very small room with just a 3 tier bunk. Adequate for the KCZ or ARZ, but obviously not adequate for the full CZ diner crew, hence the need for the GN 16-4 "Glacier" series sleeper as dorm space for the dining car crew. Another point of interest about the Patio and the Garden was that those cars ran vestibule/long end forward, in order to properly orient the dome stairs to the rear of the dome as per Budd Co. practice. Just glancing at the photo, it might appear that the car is running backwards, but it was correctly oriented.