UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD Dining Car "City of Chandler" |
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Dining cars, also called ″diners,″ provide meals for hungry travelers on long-distance passenger trains.
This one was built for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1949 and ran on the ″City of Portland″ train between Chicago and Portland, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Its 12 tables can seat 48 people at a time, with meals prepared in its own kitchen. The car was purchased by the Alaska RR in 1971, and it ran in that state until 1998 when it was acquired by a used equipment dealer in California.
The car was purchased by the museum in 2003, and arrived in 2005. It has been restored as an operational dining car and has a fully functional kitchen. It was repainted and named ″City of Chandler″ to honor the city that provides the location for the museum.
This 83-foot car was manufactured by American Car and Foundry as one of 17 ordered by the Union Pacific railroad in February 1946 and built in lot number 3032, floor plan 7667157. They were referred to as ″dry ice diners″ because the refrigeration system used dry-ice technology instead of water-based ice. The cars were delivered from January through March of 1949 and were placed in service on Union Pacific's "City" trains.
This car became Union Pacific No. 4815, with initial assignment on the "City of Portland" serving Chicago, Omaha, Boise, and Portland. In 1972 it was sold to the Alaska Railroad where it received some upgrades and ran there until 1998. In 2002 it was sold to Monad Railway Equipment of La Mirada, California. The museum purchased the car from Monad in May 2003 using funds from a Boeing ″Crystal Vision″ grant. It was delivered to the museum's Pecos Road storage track in August 2005, then was moved with the rest of the equipment to its Tumbleweed Park location in 2006.
The car has been restored using as many original systems as feasible. In the dining room the tables are from Union Pacific, and the chairs were purchased from a restoration supply company. The kitchen has a combination of original and replacement equipment. The water raising system uses compressed air, either from an onboard compressor or from the brake trainline. All steam lines were removed and electric baseboard heat was installed. The air conditioning and electrical systems were extensively repaired. Electricity is provided by a 32-volt motor-generator, stepped up to 110 volts as needed. The car was repainted in the Union Pacific color scheme and was named "City of Chandler" following the U.P. lettering style.