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26-525: The Santa Fe had previously ordered six " Pleasure Domes " from Pullman-Standard for use on the Super Chief . These were first-class lounges, with parlor car-style swivel chairs in the dome area and a private dining room on the lower level. These were "short domes": the dome was centered and did not extend the full length of the car. For the new Big Domes the Santa Fe and Budd went in a different direction. Like

52-520: A cocktail lounge and nurses' room. The second six (numbered 550–555) had a smaller bar-lounge and crew dormitory. Much of the lower area in both configurations was given over to mechanical use, including air-conditioning . The cocktail lounge was decorated in a "unique Indian decor", a common motif on the Santa Fe. When the Auto-Train Corporation purchased 13 of the Big Domes in 1971 it renovated

78-405: A single entity, generally with one car containing a galley as well as table or booth seating and the other car containing table or booth seating only. In the dining cars of Amtrak 's modern bilevel Superliner trains, booth seating on either side of a center aisle occupies almost the entire upper level, with a galley below; food is sent to the upper level on a dumbwaiter . Dining cars enhance

104-461: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") in 1950. The cars were used exclusively on the Super Chief from their introduction in 1950 until the end of Santa Fe passenger service in 1971. Amtrak retained all six cars and continued to operate them until 1980 when they were retired. All six were preserved. The Pleasure Dome, with its famed "Turquoise Room" private dining room, contributed to

130-636: The Great Northern Railway . He said that "on a dining car, three elements can be considered -- the equipment, the employee, then passenger." In other words, "the whole is constituted by two-thirds of human parts." As cross-country train travel became more commonplace, passengers began to expect high-quality food to be served at the meals on board. The level of meal service on trains in the 1920s and 1930s rivaled that of high-end restaurants and clubs. They were first introduced in England on 1 November 1879 by

156-534: The Great Northern Railway Company on services between Leeds and London. A Pullman car was attached to the train for the purpose. As of 2018, Great Western Railway is the only UK train company to provide a full dining Pullman service on selected trains to the West Country & Wales . Elegance is one of the main words used to describe the concept of dining on a train. Use of fresh ingredients

182-706: The Royal Gorge Route Railroad excursion train in Colorado; and eight were owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings before being sold to multiple museums, tourist railroads, and major railroads after Iowa Pacific's bankruptcy. No. 551 "SkyView" is in daily seasonal operation at the North Shore Scenic Railroad in Duluth, Minnesota. Pleasure Dome (railcar) The Pleasure Domes are a fleet of six streamlined dome lounge cars built by Pullman-Standard for

208-645: The Super Chief . For this picture the Santa Fe provided actual railroad cars, including a Pleasure Dome, which were temporarily disassembled on the Republic Pictures backlot. Amtrak retained the Super Chief almost unchanged after it took over operations in May 1971, including the Pleasure Domes. However, Amtrak could not hope to keep service at the levels previously maintained by the Santa Fe, and relations between

234-555: The Super Chief s reputation for elegance and luxury. The Pleasure Domes were lounge-dining cars, but with some unusual variations. Most dome lounges had two areas: the dome seating area above, and the lounge area below. The Pleasure Domes added a third area: a private dining room named the "Turquoise Room" which was available by reservation only and could seat 12. Newspaper reports of the 1950s noted that these cars constituted "the first private dining room on wheels." The dome seating area featured parlor car-style swivel chairs. Meals in

260-536: The Super Domes which Pullman had built two years previously for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road"), these were "full-length" domes: the dome extended the entire length of the car. The top level featured coach-style seating for 57, plus a lounge area which could seat an additional 18 on sofas and in booths. The lower level came in two variations. The first eight (numbered 506–513) featured

286-569: The Turquoise Room , promoted as "The only private dining room in the world on rails." The room accommodated 12 guests, and could be reserved anytime for private dinner or cocktail parties, or other special functions. The room was often used by celebrities and dignitaries traveling on the Super Chief . Edwin Kachel was a steward for more than twenty-five years in the Dining-Car Department of

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312-534: The La Posada's owner had acquired one of the Pleasure Domes, which has been moved to the property. Dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (English), also a diner , is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant . These cars provide the highest level of service of any railroad food service car, typically employing multiple servers and kitchen staff members. Consequently, they are

338-411: The Santa Fe owned and operated when they entered service on the Super Chief in 1950. In June 1952, Warner Bros. Pictures released Three for Bedroom "C" , a romantic comedy starring Gloria Swanson , James Warren , Fred Clark , Hans Conried , and Steve Brodie . In the film, an aging movie star (Swanson) hides out in a compartment during a cross-country journey from New York to Los Angeles aboard

364-522: The Turquoise Room were prepared in an adjoining dining car . The Santa Fe named them "Pleasure Domes" from a line in Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's poem Kubla Khan : In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man     Down to a sunless sea. The Pleasure Domes were the first dome cars

390-474: The counter are generally considered to be an "intermediate" type of dining car. Before dining cars in passenger trains were common in the United States, a rail passenger's option for meal service in transit was to patronize one of the roadhouses often located near the railroad's " water stops ". Fare typically consisted of rancid meat, cold beans, and old coffee. Such poor conditions discouraged some from making

416-454: The familiar restaurant experience with the unique visual entertainment of the ever-changing view. While dining cars are less common today than in the past (having been supplemented or in some cases replaced altogether by other types of food-service cars), they still play a significant role in passenger railroading, especially on medium- and long-distance trains. Today, a number of tourist-oriented railroads offer dinner excursions to capitalize on

442-479: The interiors. Reclining seats replaced the fixed seating, reducing capacity to 51. Two cars had their upper-lounge areas rebuilt as "night clubs." The Santa Fe took delivery of all 14 domes between January and May 1954. Contemporary advertisements touted the Big Domes as "the world's most beautiful railroad car." The cocktail-lounge Big Domes were assigned to the El Capitan , Chicagoan , and Kansas Cityan , while

468-521: The journey. Most railroads began offering meal service on trains even before the First transcontinental railroad . By the mid-1880s, dedicated dining cars were a normal part of long-distance trains from Chicago to points west, save those of the Santa Fe Railway , which relied on America's first interstate network of restaurants to feed passengers en route. The " Harvey Houses ", located strategically along

494-405: The line, served top-quality meals to railroad patrons during water stops and other planned layovers and were favored over in-transit facilities for all trains operating west of Kansas City . As competition among railroads intensified, dining car service was taken to new levels. When the Santa Fe unveiled its new Pleasure Dome lounge cars in 1951, the railroad introduced the travelling public to

520-506: The lounge-dormitory domes went to the brand-new San Francisco Chief . The assignment to the El Capitan proved short-lived: already in 1954 the Santa Fe operated two prototype Hi-Level coaches on the El Capitan , and completely re-equipped it with those cars in 1956. The Big Domes moved to the Chief , where they remained until that train's cancellation in 1968. Their final home on the Santa Fe

546-413: The most common dining car configurations, one end of the car contains a galley (with an aisle next to it so that passengers can pass through the car to the rest of the train), and the other end has table or booth seating on either side of a center aisle. Trains with high demand for dining car services sometimes feature "double-unit dining cars" consisting of two adjacent cars functioning to some extent as

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572-401: The most expensive to operate. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do not duplicate the full-service restaurant experience, such as buffet cars , cars in which one purchases food from a walk-up counter to be consumed either within the car or elsewhere in the train. Grill cars, in which customers sit on stools at a counter and purchase and consume food cooked on a grill behind

598-522: The route in the late 1970s. Amtrak sold all six domes to private operators in the early 1980s. The Pleasure Domes remain part of the Super Chief' s legacy of premium rail service. At the former Santa Fe station in Winslow, Arizona (still served by Amtrak), the "Turquoise Room" restaurant at the La Posada Hotel carries on the tradition of elegant dining, albeit in a stationary fashion. By June 2016,

624-411: The two companies deteriorated. It was Amtrak's decision in early 1974 to remove the Pleasure Domes and first class-only dining car (a decision it later reversed) from the Super Chief which provoked the Santa Fe to rescind permission for Amtrak's use of the name. Amtrak eventually retained the Pleasure Domes, but the train now carried the name Southwest Limited . Amtrak eventually retired the domes from

650-938: Was encouraged whenever possible. Some of the dishes prepared by chefs were: Braised Duck Cumberland, Hungarian Beef Goulash with Potato Dumplings, Lobster Americaine, Mountain Trout Au Bleu, Curry of Lamb Madras, Scalloped Brussels Sprouts, Pecan and Orange Sticks and Pennepicure Pie to name a few items. The Christmas menu for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway in 1882 listed the following items: Hunter's Soup, Salmon with Hollandaise Sauce, Boned Pheasant in Aspic Jelly, Chicken Salad, Salmis Prairie Chicken, Oyster Patties, Rice Croquette, Roast Beef, English Ribs of Beef, Turkey with Cranberry Sauce, Stuffed Suckling Pig with Applesauce, Antelope Steak with Currant Jelly, potatoes, green peas, tomatoes , sweet potatoes, Mince Pie, Plum Pudding, Cake, Ice Cream , Fruits and coffee. In one of

676-648: Was the Texas Chief . Amtrak retained the Texas Chief but did not purchase any of the Big Domes. They continued on the Texas Chief until September 1971, when the Santa Fe sold all but one to the new Auto-Train Corporation . After Auto-Train's bankruptcy in 1981 the fleet was broken up. Two (#550 and #555) have since been scrapped. The remaining 12 are privately owned: BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern each operate one in their respective business car fleets; two operate on

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