Great Northern 1146

Streamlined Coach-Diner

Great Northern 1146 was ordered as part of the complete upgrading of the heavyweight Seattle to Vancouver 'Puget Sounder'. This was a four-hour service operated two times a day, each way. Two complete sets of new lightweight, streamlined equipment were first ordered in 1946 and greatly anticipated. It was not delivered until June of 1950, however, because the car builders were extremely busy with a post-war business boom. To match the all-new equipment, the service was also given a new name; the 'International', and upgraded to three trips a day.

In Seattle, connections were made with all the GN's east-west long-distance trains, the north-south "Coast Pool Train", and other railroad's trains. In Vancouver, it connected with Canadian railroad's services. American and Canadian customs agents rode the train to speed passenger's passage across the border, and the food service could make change in either country's currency. Breakfast was served on the morning train, Lunch on the noon train, and supper on the evening train.

Front to rear, the train consisted of:

• 511 - EMD E7A passenger locomotive.
• 1106 - ACF baggage and 30' Railway Post Office.
• 1117 - ACF 60-seat coach with conductor's office.
• 1118 - ACF 60-seat coach.
• 1146 - ACF coach-diner with 28 coach seats and 24 dining seats, arranged 'serpentine bench' style with four tables for four and four tables for two. The kitchen separated the coach and dining sections.
• 1196 "Port of Vancouver" - ACF parlor-observation with customs office, a kitchenette for beverage service, a bedroom, 17 overstuffed revolving parlor chairs, a table for four, twelve observation chairs, and a love seat facing the rear.

Car numbers of the "Internationals" - and also the "Red River", which was delivered by ACF at the same time - were fit in around the car numbers of the 1947 "Empire Builder" equipment:

Notice a couple oddities in the numbering. Coach-diners 1145 and 1146 are unique among GN diners in that (1) they are numbered as coffee-shop cars and (2) they are not named. The other streamlined GN diners were in the 1150's or 1250's, and named for lakes. The numbering logic suggests they should have been 1155 and 1156, and named for lakes between Seattle and Vancouver. Also, the Red River's obervation car was the only GN round-end obs not in the 1190's or 1290's.

The exterior decor was identical to the GN's premier 'Empire Builder' streamliner, except that the letterboard said 'Great Northern' instead of 'Empire Builder'. The observation carried a drumhead featuring an illuminated GN logo surrounded by 'The International' in red neon. The interior decor featured artwork and hand-carved Oregon myrtle wood bas-relief friezes. The coaches closely resembled the 60-seat short distance coaches in the 1951 "Empire Builder", such as MTM's 1213, except they featured better Heywood-Wakefield "Sleepy Hollow" seats. The coach-diner's coach section was similar. It's dining section featured white table cloths and china, silver service, tan leatherette upholstery, gold-painted valence lighting and edge-lit artwork above the windows. The piers between the windows were wood-grained with bas-relief friezes, and the ceiling had recessed indirect lighting. The parlor-observation featured a rust-colored carpet and muted green, blue, or rust upholstery. An edge-lit half-height glass panel, decorated with leaf patterns, separated the parlor and observation areas. The windows had venetian blinds (as did the rest of the train) and were separated by wood-grain piers. The wall below the windows was painted light green. Polished aluminum valence lighting ran above the windows, and the ceiling was painted suede.

Mechanically, the cars all had inside swing hanger, clasp-brake trucks. Brakes were D-22 with antilock protection and the HSC electric-control option. The electrical system was 32 volts DC from a 20 kw axle-driven generator and storage batteries, with provision for 208v three-phase standby hook-up. A motor-generator provided 120 volts AC for lighting and recepticles. Air conditioning was a five-horse Frigidair electro-mechanical compressor, wet condensor, and overhead evaporator coils, ductwork, and diffusers. Steam provided overhead and baseboard heat, and hot water. The coach-diner's kitchen was equipped with frigerator and freezer, with ice cream well, a pie cabinet, a steam table, a propane range, a 3-gallon coffee pot, an open-top dishwasher, and a sanitizing sink.

Click here for the GN equipment diagram. (Big)

The two "International" coach-diners, 1145 and 1146, led rich and varied careers. After builder's photos in St. Charles, MO, the GN included them in an advertising shot of the "Red River" taken in St. Paul. They then went to work on their intended train between Seattle and Vancouver. However, after twelve short years, declining passenger traffic prompted a reshuffling. In 1962 the coach-diners were moved back to St. Paul to serve on the "Red River" to Fargo. They then moved to the St. Paul - Fargo "Dakotan" in 1968 in a further reshuffling. When the "Dakotan" was cancelled, the cars sat idle in St. Paul coach yards. Amtrak purchased them in 1971, renumbered them 8400 and 8401, and used them until the great cut-backs of 1979. 8401 was photographed in Montana on the "North Coast Hiawatha", but little else is known about how Amtrak used them.

In 1971, Amtrak bought 1145 and 1146 and renumbered them 8400 and 8401. (The numbering of Amtrak's initial fleet was extremely logical, and would make an interesting study.) The exterior was painted in Amtrak's then-standard platinum mist (silver) with the window band half red and half blue, and the "pointless arrow" logo at each end of the window band. Their interior decor was changed to blue carpet on the floor and walls, solid-blue wallpaper on the end walls, purple-ish upholstery, and off-white paint everywhere else. The GN-custom artwork thrown away. Mechanically, Amtrak changed the range from propane to charcole, and changed the kitchen exhaust vents, but little else. They were probably retired by Amtrak around 1979, when old steam-heated equipment was either being upgraded or replaced.

Click here for the Amtrak equipment diagram. (Big)

1145's whereabouts in the 1980's and 1990's aren't known, but by 2001 it was languishing in a scrap yard in Newark, New Jersey. It had suffered a fire in the dining room, and by now is presumed scrapped. Interestingly, when GN 1224 was given to MTM by the United Railway Historical Society in New Jersey, it had 1145's burned dining room end-door mounted in place of its own blind end door.

1146 went a different path. It appears that Amtrak used it for parts, then sold it to a midwestern museum (Indiana Railway Museum?) They stored it in the New Orleans area (Louisiana Railway Heritage Trust?) for about fifteen years. While at one point they had sandblasted and primed the exterior, by the late 1990's it no longer fit their plans. Collector Bob Moen purchased it and moved it to Hooper, Nebraska. While it was there he installed wheel sets with more life left, replaced window gaskets, renumbered it PPCX 1146, and painted it. (The kitchen side is in "Empire Builder" colors, and the opposite side is in "Big Sky Blue" - Bob likes both equally well.) Bob moved it to Randolph, MN, then in 2001 sold it to the current owner, Eric Hopp.

An early-spring inspection in 2001 revealed a neat, but much-neglected car. On the positive side, it was still in its original coach-diner configuration, having never been extensively remodeled. The dining section, with serpentine benches, diamond- and triangle-shaped tables, and indirect lighting, was particularly attractive. However, it had been stripped of hinges, latches, and faucets, as well as major electrical and air-conditioning components. The 1970's-vintage plexiglas windows were totally opaque, and fifteen years in a salty, humid environment had caused tremendous rust damage to the floor and exterior sheet metal. Finally, someone had opened all junction boxes and cut the wires back to the conduits. She had potential, but she really needed help.

The first restoration project completed was replacement of the windows with single-pane FRA type-II safety glazing. Besides looking nice, great care was taken to ensure water-tight seals - to halt the decay. Mechanically, because the 32vdc electrical and air conditioning were so damaged, it was decided any restoration was foolish. Instead it will be able to run off a 480-volt Amtrak train line, 208-volt shore power, or an on-board 52kw gen set. It will also be able to power other 480-volt or 32vdc cars. All in-car wiring is being replaced with 2kw Exane. Other current projects include replacing non-essential (for a freight car) air brake parts, which had been removed, and re-plumbing the restrooms. 1146 has also changed identities to "ERIX 1146".

In July 2005, MTM leased 1146. Initially it will move to Jackson Street, where needed steel work can be done. When restored to the point of being usable, MTM will have the use of it for their first-class and dinner trains. 1146 joins MTM's GN streamlined passenger train set.

More photos of 1146

	In Amtrak service at Williston, North Dakota. Photo by Bob Moen.
	The "Big Sky Blue" side of 1146.
	The dining room, looking towards the end of the car. The decor is pure 1970's Amtrak - originally it was leather, walnut, mirrors, and gold. The carpet and upholstery have suffered extensive water damage. The lighting on the left side is missing because I'd taken it home for restoration.
	The dining room, looking towards the middle of the car. The kitchen is barely visible on the right, and the hall to the coach is on the left. In the dining area, the square tables seat four and the triangular two. (The eight dining chairs are missing.)
	Inside the kitchen, looking towards the dining room. Clockwise from left are the refrigerator, open-top dishwasher and sanitizing sink, coffee pot location, cup warmer, entry door with gate, freezer cabinet, cabinet, work table, steam table, and range.
	Rewiring lighting ciruits. This is the right-side luggage rack in the coach section. This is a good example of the Amtrak decor.
	New plumbing under a restroom sink. Still missing the mop bucket spigot and the sink drain pipe.
	Restroom window, etched to resemble the pressed-glass original.
	New electrical control equipment, by NW Rail Electric. Originally built for SP business car "Arieles" in 1996, but never installed.
	Kitchen ceiling fan, cleaned, painted, and made to work again.

Sources:

• "Mech. Dept. Passenger Car Diagrams," pub. by the Great Northern, 11-1-69; data & plan, p111.
• "Amtrak Car Spotter - A guide to the new Amtrak car numbers and pre-Amtrak histories of Amtrak's 1262 cars," by Robert J. Wayner; Data p48.
• "Dining by Rail - The History and the Recipies of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine," by James D. Porterfield; Photos, p70.
• "Amtrak Equipment Plan and Specification Data for Cars," Pub. internally by Amtrak;
• "The Passenger Car Library - Vol 3," by W. David Randall; Photos and data p9-12.
• "Amtrak Trains & Travel," by Patrick Dorin; Photo p91.
• "Great Northern Pictorial - Vol 4," by John F. Strauss, Jr; Photos and data p94-106, 162, 165.
• "Great Northern Pictorial - Vol 5," by John F. Strauss, Jr; Data p120, 141.
• "Great Northern's Internationals," by James H. Larson, reference sheet 313 pub. by the GNRHS;