Thanks Don,
Great information, much appreciated.
KALEY HOFFMAN
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Don
Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 5:37 PM
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpha] Re: Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
The A diners were introduced in 1929. The 1929 issue of CP’s Summary of
Equipment (form MP14) showed all dining cars to have 36 seats. W series diners
only had their capacity raised to 48 in the early 1950s, according to the 1952
and 1955 editions of MP14.
The August 17, 1930 CP timetable Form A shows 5 sleeping cars from Montreal and
Toronto through to Vancouver. The timetable notes that all sleeping car space
is reserved for long distance passengers. The solarium car does not advertise
food service, and whatever the buffet could supply would have been fairly
limited. Most of the passengers would have used the dining car.
It is likely that all the sleeping space in the train was rarely full. By the
late 1920s upper berths were becoming difficult to fill, especially on premium
trains such as the TCL. People traveling together increasingly asked for two
lower berths if they were available. Railways made the best of this by offering
“single occupancy sections,” where for a premium the upper berth was stowed in
the closed position and the passenger had the benefit of full headroom at
night. The August 1930 timetable contains an advertisement for this plan, and
the table of sleeping car fares shows a cost between Montreal and Banff of
$21.25 for a lower berth, $17.00 for an upper and $29.75 for a single occupancy
section.
In addition, wealthier travelers could pay a premium for single occupancy of a
compartment, or for two adjoining compartments for a couple. And drawing rooms
were often occupied by two passengers rather than the maximum three.
Some passengers, probably not a large number, would elect to eat in their
compartment, which would reduce the load on the dining room though not on the
kitchen.
The normal consist west of Winnipeg in the summers of 1929 and 1930 included
two 12-1 sleepers, two 8-1-2 sleepers and a 10-compartment car, with a capacity
of 120 (assuming one person to a lower berth). The average load would likely be
rather less than this. I wouldn’t hazard to guess by how much, but I presume by
enough to limit the diner to three sittings.
Don Thomas
