About the train (1): overall

I figured I should put all the info I have about the train into a group of posts so most of you can easily just skip it all.

This train has two engines pulling 13 cars. The first engine does the pulling and the second one provides the electrical power to all the cars.

The cars themselves were built in 1954 and have been refurbished multiple times over the years. The cars themselves are still in very good shape.

There are four sleeper cars (plus one that is exclusively for crew). There is only one car for coach passengers. I'm guessing very few people are willing to sit in a coach seat for 4 days, so those passengers are mostly only on board for a portion of the trip. In addition, there is one Prestige (Prestige passengers pay 2 to 4 times more than the most expensive sleeper passengers) class sleeper car.

There are three dome cars. (See other entry for more info).

The other three cars are the baggage car, the dining car, and a deadhead car (car that is not in use - just being repositioned).

The dining car has two seatings for lunch and dinner (three if the train is very full - one if the train is very empty). You request/are assigned your seating the night before.

The order of the cars is: engine (traction) - engine (electrical) - deadhead - baggage - coach seats - dome (coach) - sleeper (crew) - sleeper (me!) - sleeper - sleeper - sleeper - dome (activity) - dining - Prestige bedrooms - dome (Park). So no wonder it took me more than a day to discover the Park car.

I've added captions to most of these photos explaining what they are. I don't know how obvious those captions are. You may have to click on something to see them.Read more