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
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of I.W.P.
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 5:34 PM
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpha] Re: Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
I am not sure that everyone onboard actually ate in the dining car.
Ian
Dorval,QC
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > On Behalf Of
Dale Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2020 19:02
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [cpha] Re: Trans Canada Limited diner capacity
You’re right! The pattern of sleeping cars being carried for part of the
distance only was carried through to The Dominion later. In the summer of 1928
there was a sleeper out of Toronto for Little Current on the Manitoulin Island,
handed over to the AER in Sudbury.
Dale Wilson
dale.wilson@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dale.wilson@xxxxxxxxxx>
On Jul 7, 2020, at 6:26 PM, Jeff Pinchbeck (Redacted sender "jpinchbeck" for
DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >
wrote:
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
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