Evening star., 1947-03-02
T raveIer's Notebook
By Jacques FutreIIe. Jr.
The stur's TYoyeI EdIter

Two completely new postwar
trains will be serving Washington
soon. Without the fanfare Of a
formal premiere, the Seaboard Air
Line Railroad is splicing into its
Silver Meteors coaches Of the latest
design as they arrive from the man
ufacturer. Seven new cars already
are running on the New York
Washington Florida route of the
Meteors, with full replacement of
all types of present cars scheduled
by mid-April.
Like other new trains that are
now introducing the long promised
postwar era of luxury, convenience,
speed and novelty in rail travel, the
coaches carry out number Of re-
f1nements and features suggested by
the public. These include improved
air conditioning, individually con-
trolled huorescent lighting over the
seats, footrests that can be adjusted
to greater comfort, a public address
system and larger and more beauti-
fully appointed dressing rooms, or
lounges. Hand baggage is stored
out Of the way in car locker, readi-
ly accessible.
Plans to reconvert the two Me-
teors required an order for As pieces
of rolling stock, including diners,
sleepers and recreation cars. Last
to be delivered under the Budd
Manufacturing Co. schedule are the
diners and feature cars, due in
April.
Also to be put in service by the
Seaboard, perhaps in late April, is
the streamliner Silver Comet, COM
bining both coaches and sleepers.
1t will run between New York,
Washington, Atlanta and Birming-
ham.
While the Baltimore & Ohio Rail-
road introduced to Washington in
January the first postwar train, the
Cinctnnatian, the rail travel spot
light shifted to Chicago in Febru-
ary. There, a 100000 fleet of
five Empire Builders, the latest If
not the last word in transcon-
tinental streamliners, was intro
duced to the public in a trial-run
ceremony preparatory to inaugural
ing daily service between Chicago
and Seattle on February %.
TxN - l,,.,v,
beauty and comforts to travellers
bound for the Puget Sound area, the
trains fulfill the promise of speedier
rail travel. More than 13 hours are
cut from the Chicago-Seattle run,
setting up a 45-hour schedule.
Chicagoans and other travellers
bound for the Pacific Northwest re-
ceived another windfall in faster
transportation when the Union Pa
cif1c also inaugurated daily stream
liner service February Is between
Chicago and Portland. Westbound,
the UP train will leave Chicago at
pm. and arrive in. Portland at 8
o'clock the second morning. Each
streamliner offers sleeping-car ac-
commodations, including drawing
rooms, compartments, bedrooms,
roomettes and berths, and also has
reserved-seat coaches.
Neither the Empire Builders nor
the new UP trains charge extra fare.
" y X
Newer trains than the Empire
Builders will be serving Chicago by
summer, but there is nothing to in
dicate they will greatly exceed in
luxury and comfort the five stream
liners the -Pullnlan-Standard Car
Manufacturing Co. turned over to
the Great Northern and the Bur-
lington Railroads as the first post
war tranScontinenta1 train. One of
the new Empire Builders went to
the Burlington and four were de-
livered to the Great Northern.
They are new from stem to STERN
from the sleek 4,000-horsepower
Diesel locomotives to the observa-
tion-lounge car. And in between
are novelties of designing, subdued
but striking combinations of color
and new comfort.
The train introduces to the public
. sleeping accommodation that will
be more widely spread over the Ma
tion's railroads as production be-
gins to catch up with orders. It is
the duplex roomette. Differing lit
tie from the prewar roomette, except
in appointments and redesign, this
type of private room is staggered"
up and down through car. It's
principal appeal is the price. As
constructed, the dovetailing of the
roomettes permits a greater carry
ing capacity per car, which lowers
the cost. The plan so far has been
to sell them at a charge bit higher
than the conventional open-section