| Budd Slumbercoach | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Budd Company |
| Constructed | 1956–1959 |
| Number built | 18 |
| Number in service | None |
| Capacity | 40 beds: 24 single rooms, 8 double rooms |
| Operator | Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (4) Northern Pacific Railway (4) New York Central Railroad (4) Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (5) Missouri Pacific Railroad (1) Amtrak |
| Specifications | |
| Car body construction | Shotwelded stainless steel |
| Car length | 85 ft 0 in (25.91 m) |
| Braking system(s) | Air |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Slumbercoach is an 85-foot-long, 24 single room, 8 double room streamlined sleeping car originally built in 1956 by the Budd Company for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad for service on the Denver Zephyr. Subsequent orders were placed in 1958–1959 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Missouri Pacific Railroad for the Texas Eagle/National Limited, and in 1959 by the Northern Pacific Railroad for its North Coast Limited and also the New York Central Railroad for use on the 20th Century Limited.
Slumbercoaches contained a central aisle flanked on each side of the car by one-person and two-person rooms with one or two narrow, six-foot-long beds provided with basic sheets and blankets. Each room featured a fold-away washbasin and private toilet similar in design to contemporary standard Pullman but on a smaller scale.
To maximize the number of rooms per car, the designers chose a “duplex” or staggered design for the single rooms such that every other room was accessible by a small flight of steps. This allowed the beds in the car to either overlay or underlay the room in front of it.
The slumbercoach, in economic terms, was part of the American railways’ attempt, in the 1950s, to recapture market share lost to airlines, buses and the automobile by providing upgraded accommodations for non-first class passengers. Demand for private accommodation (bedrooms and roomettes) remained high, while demand for the traditional Pullman open section was declining. Other types of economy sleeping car did not have the capacity of the slumbercoach — the 16 duplex roomette 4 double bedroom car slept only 24, while the traditional 16 section Tourist Pullman slept 32. Thus the slumbercoach, sleeping 40, allowed railroads to offer coach passengers private sleeping car accommodation at little more than coach fare. In its first year of using slumbercoaches on the North Coast Limited, the Northern Pacific Railway had an average of 27/32 room and 34/40 passenger occupancy rate[1] In late 1964 and early 1965, Northern Pacific bought eight slumbercoaches second hand – four from New York Central, three from Baltimore and Ohio, and Missouri Pacific's sole example. This enabled them to expand slumbercoaches to their secondary transcontinental passenger train the Mainstreeter, and to discontinue the pooling of slumbercoaches between the North Coast Limited and Burlington's Denver Zephyr[1]
Western railways (and some eastern lines) chose to redesign the coach seat for greater width and comfort, with the result that by the time U.S. passenger rail transport was nationalized, railway coach seats provided, at a basic price, comfort available only in first class on airlines. The cramped accommodations of the slumbercoaches were considered, by some, oppressive and strange. Nevertheless, the cars were popular and Amtrak used them well into the 1990s.
A total of 18 slumbercoaches were built[2]. All 18 eventually served on Amtrak although two, built for the Baltimore and Ohio's Columbian, were not acquired until the early '80s. At that point, Amtrak rostered and used all 18 cars. However, the first casualty was on July 7, 1984, when the northbound Montrealer hit a culvert that had washed out[3], destroying car #2083 which originally had been owned by the New York Central Railroad. About the same time, an ex-Denver Zephyr slumbercoach, the #2086 Silver Siesta, was burned by vandals while resting in Queens, NY, Sunnyside Yard between trips. The 16 remaining cars soldiered under Amtrak until 1995, when they were discontinued because of age and the lack of retention toilets and the newly introduced Viewliners.
Several Slumbercoaches have been preserved:
Internationally, the slumbercoach can be compared to “second class” and “hard” sleeper facilities on Asian and European lines, but economically comparable facilities such as those provided on the “Train Bleu” between Paris and the south of France which de-emphasized American privacy, and in place of this provided multiple-occupant couchette compartments with foldaway beds.
The development of midlevel accommodation like the Slumbercoach has ceased, due to changing demand in mass transit.
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