Hello All,
I don't how many of you know this or not, but the CPR converted several A and W
Class Dining Cars in early 1953. I believe there were 5 or 7 A Class and 3 W
Class Dining cars in all. There Dining Rooms were converted from 36 dining
seats to 48 seats and had a Bar installed in the opposite end of the car from
the kitchen. These cars where to be used on the Dominion, starting at the
change of card in the spring of 1953. The main dining area had 24 seats, and
the lounge area had 16 seats next to the bar.
Now the BUDD dining car has a similar set up. There main dining area has 24
seats with two lounge areas on each end of the main dining room, with a total
of 16 lounge seats.
Now your probably asking why, and this is what I was told many years ago. The
dining car basically divids the train between 1st class and lower classes.
First class passengers used the lounge in the tail end car on train weather it
be Cape, Bay, Mount, or Park car. Any of the lower classes are not aloud passed
the dining car. So the railway added lounge areas to there dining cars for the
lower classes to use in none dining hours.
I believe the thinking was to use the heavyweights on the Dominion being that
at the time they were still running two sections. Being the Toronto-Vancouver
and the Montreal-Vancouver trains.
Of course when there thinking changed in 1955 at the change of card with
combining both the Dominion and the Canadian at Sudbury. These cars were used
in other trains as well as the Dominion.
In my collection I have these cars Substituting for BUDD Dining Cars on the
Dominion. And when the Mountianeer was running up though Thief River Falls to
Winnipeg in the 1960's one BUDD Dining Car and one A Class Dining ran between
Thief River Falls and Winnipeg each way.
These is just my turn on the soap box, back to you.
Regards,
Fred Shannon
