Pacific Parlour Cars on the Southwest Chief

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No, Amtrak hasn't started using Pacific Parlour Cars on the Southwest Chief, but it is the preferred method for deadheading them between California and Beech Grove, Indiana where they are refurbished and maintained.
The Pacific Parlour Car is a First Class lounge car that operates exclusively on Amtrak's Coast Starlight between Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA. It is open only to passengers carrying a Sleeping Car ticket. The car features many amenities including a lounge area, library, dining area, bar, and theater. Amtrak owns 5 of these cars which were built in 1956 by The Budd Company for the Santa Fe Railway. Budd also made coaches and sleeping cars similar to this car, many of which operated for several years on Amtrak but have since been retired or sold off. In recent years, Amtrak refurbished these cars and named them after different areas where there are a large number of vineyards and wineries. The cars featured in this video are the "Sonoma Valley" and "Willamette Valley".
There are five Pacific Parlour Cars still in use:
39970 / Columbia Valley

39971
Gateway Railcar (formerly ITAC)
Madison, IL
The only car NOT owned by Amtrak, this car was actually sold to Northwest Sky Rail Charters when Amtrak sold multiple cars around 2001. It is currently in storage in Illinois however and is not running.

39972 / Napa Valley

39973 / Santa Lucia Highlands

39974 / Sonoma Valley
This car was featured in the 2003 feature film Italian Job. It also carried Amtrak President, Alex Kummant during his tour of Coast Starlight train in 2007.

39975 / Willamette Valley
 




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