Placid series

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)Notes/references[1][2]

The Placid series was a fleet of ten lightweight streamlined sleeping cars built by Pullman-Standard for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1956. Each car contained eleven double bedrooms. Amtrak acquired all ten from the Union Pacific and operated them into the 1980s; it retired the last in 1996. Several cars remain in private use.

Design

As with all cars built for the Union Pacific, save the Pacific series sleeping cars, the Placid series cars were smooth-sided, not corrugated.[3]

Service history

The Union Pacific took delivery of all ten cars in 1956 and they saw service on a variety of trains, including the City of Portland and City of Los Angeles.[4]

Amtrak acquired all ten cars from the Union Pacific in 1971 and operated them through the 1970s; all but one were retired by 1981. The remainder, Placid Scene, it converted from steam heating to head end power (HEP) in 1984 as part of its Heritage Fleet program, part of a pool of nine 11-bedroom sleeping cars.[2] Amtrak assigned Placid Scene to the revived Auto Train.[5] In 1996 Amtrak sold it to American Orient Express, who renamed it Grand Canyon.[2] There it was reunited with three other of the Placid series: Berlin (ex-Placid Lake), Vienna (ex-Placid Waters), and Placid Bay.[6]

Table of names and numbers
Name UP No. Amtrak No. Notes
Placid Bay 1501 2260
Placid Harbor 1502 2261
Placid Haven 1503 2262
Placid Lake 1504 2263 Renamed "Berlin" during its time in the American Orient Express[7]
Placid Meadow 1505 2264
Placid Scene 1506 2265 Renamed "Grand Canyon" during its time in the American Orient Express. After the dissolution of the AOE, it was renamed back to Placid Scene. Currently for sale as of Feb 2024 [8]
Placid Sea 1507 2266
Placid Vale 1508 2267
Placid Valley 1509 2268
Placid Waters 1510 2269 Renamed "Vienna" during its time in the American Orient Express

References

  1. ^ Strack, Don (March 1, 2014). "Union Pacific Named Lightweight Sleeper Cars". UtahRails.Net. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Simon, Elbert; Warner, David C. (2011). Holland, Kevin J. (ed.). Amtrak by the Numbers: A Comprehensive Passenger Car and Motive Power Roster – 1971–2011. Kansas City, Missouri: White River Productions. ISBN 978-1-932804-12-6.
  3. ^ Orth, Steven (August 2002). "Modeling Corrugated Passenger Cars, Part 2". Railmodel Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-05-31.
  4. ^ Welsh, Joe (2008). Union Pacific's Streamliners. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2534-6.
  5. ^ Ely, Wally (2009). Auto-Train. Images of Rail. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-7385-6785-3. OCLC 606897616.
  6. ^ Zimmermann, Karl R. (2007). The GrandLuxe Express: Traveling in High Style. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34947-7. OCLC 123136805.
  7. ^ https://www.sleeponatrain.com/
  8. ^ https://ozarkmountainrailcar.com/railEquipment.php?itemId=3714&category=Passenger%20Equipment

External links

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