Heavyweight observation cars on named trains generally had a 'parlor' or 'lounge' area in the middle of the car. Private varnish and railroad division and above cars could have had a small kitchen, dining room, a few bedrooms and the inside observation area. Did any Pullman pool observation cars have bedrooms? Thank you, John
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Yes. If the train accommodations included a drawing room, it was often in the Pullman observation-lounge car.
Sometimes parlor-observation cars were railroad cars, and other times they were Pullman cars. It depended on the agreement between Pullman and that railroad.
Pullman lettering vs railroad lettering should be somewhat helpful, but there were many configurations and the only foolproof way to determine your answer is to use an Official Guide or a roster of Pullman cars.
Yes. The last unmodified Pullman Explorer series observation lives at the Scottdale McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. It was used by several presidents. It's sister the "Ferdinand Magellan" is the same series, but has been heavily modified with armor and bullet resistant glass and currently weighs 134.25 tons which is significantly more than it's original 80 ton weight.
Roald Admundson Observation History
[Edited on 08.11.2021 after a forum member kindly emailed correcting my misinformation. Thank you. Seriously, I do not mean this in any sarcastic way.]
@GG1 4877 posted:Yes. The last unmodified Pullman Explorer series observation lives at the Scottdale McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. It was used by several presidents. It's sister the "Ferdinand Magellan" is the same series, but has been heavily modified with 300 tons of armor.
Roald Amundsen was also part of the FDR funeral train "properly pointed with the remains of President Roosevelt in this car".
There's a great story about it in the PRRT&HS Keystone Volume 48 no. 1 (Spring 2015).
Well when I rode with the N.S. "Blue Ridge" back in the 1990s there were two rooms plus the rear lounge. The dining room, the kitchen and the porters room.
Boy those were some GREAT Railway Journeys! THANKS GARY at the LOOSE CABOOSE, Bogota, NJ for some great trips!
I am hoping to convince the wife to take a rail journey across either Canada or somewhere in Europe, she is not ready yet.
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