CP, and likely other railways, used narrower 4-seat tables for 4-4 seating than
for 4-2 seating. In my first job working for CP Bygones selling surplus dining
car china and silver, I was told that the largest size of oval silver platters
were only used on heavyweight diners with 36 seats. They were too big to fit on
the narrow tables used in 48-seat cars. Those cars would use round china plates.
Don Thomas
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Dave &
Marilyn Pottinger
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 7:36 PM
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpha] Re: Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
There was a recent discussion on the Passenger Car List regarding the capacity
of dining cars. Most railroads/ways modified their dining cars from 36 seats
to 48 seats in order to increase capacity. Normally there would be 6 4-seat
tables along one side of the car and 6 2-seat tables along the other side. At
some point in time, the 2-seat tables were changed to 4-seat tables, but the
problem here became a lack of room for the waiters to work in the narrow aisle.
No other changes were made to the cars to accommodate this increase in
capacity – they looked the same from the outside. I am sure that you can use
the BGR A diner model to simulate either capacity.
Regards
Dave Pottinger
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robert Kirkham
Sent: Tuesday, 7 July, 2020 8:46 PM
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [cpha] Re: Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
Hmmm, I didn’t know about the two floor plans for A diners. now I’m going to
have to figure out which plan the BGR A diners model. Is there a visual
difference in the windows between the two plans?
Rob
On Jul 7, 2020, at 3:35 PM, Jeff Pinchbeck (Redacted sender "jpinchbeck" for
DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >
wrote:
I should also add, without knowing a specific car name it wouldn’t be possible
to know seating. There were 2 floor plans for A diners with capacity of 36 or
48 patrons. The W diners had a capacity of 48 patrons.
Jeff
From: Jeff Pinchbeck [ <mailto:jpinchbeck@xxxxxxxxxx>
mailto:jpinchbeck@xxxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 6:27 PM
To: ' <mailto:cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: [cpha] Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
I don’t think it wouldn’t be 7 sleepers for the entire run of the train.
According to timetables the consist (not including baggage) was diner, 4
standard sleepers, a compartment sleeper and observation car. Additional cars
were added between specific destinations. For example a parlor car between
Ottawa and Montreal, standard sleepers between Toronto and Sudbury (westbound)
or Winnipeg and Fort William (eastbound) and an additional compartment sleeper
between Montreal and Winnipeg.
Jeff
From: <mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [
<mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf ;
Of Kaley Hoffman (Redacted sender "khoffman" for DMARC)
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 3:43 PM
To: <mailto:cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpha] Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
I was reading a book about the TCL and noted that in later years of operation,
there was an “A” series diner assigned to the train, with a seating capacity of
36. The train would typically have 7 sleepers each accommodating between 20-27
people each (R, S, G series). Assuming the train was sold out, there would be
between 140-180 people on the train, all fed by a single diner. That equates
to 4-5 sittings for each meal.
How would that have worked practically? Assuming each sitting took 45 minutes
to an hour, it would be 3-5 hours for each meal. If you started serving at 7
am, you might be done by 11 am, but that is a pretty late lunch, and then it is
straight into lunch. Dinner could start around 5 pm, but would run to 9 or 10
at night?
In the plans for the tail car, there is a small buffet area, but doesn’t look
large enough to serve any significant numbers of people.
Am I missing something here? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
KALEY HOFFMAN
