Where are they now?
Tracking the Ex-Pacific Parlour Cars

Updated by the Midwest Rail Rangers
E-mail: info@railrangers.org
Last Updated: 02/27/2023

This article is (c)2023 Midwest Rail Rangers Corporation. Note: Amtrak, Pacific Parlour Car, and Coast Starlight are all trademarks of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. This website is operated for information purposes only and has no affiliation with Amtrak, The Coast Starlight, Budd Company, or any other organization besides the Midwest Rail Rangers.

Many fans of the former Amtrak Pacific Parlour Cars have sent us e-mails asking where the cars are now --- following Amtrak's decision to auction them off to private collectors in late 2018 and early 2019.

As a result, the Midwest Rail Rangers have decided to create this section of the website; it will cover where the six cars are located now and their current status and ownership.



The Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso, Michigan offers rides on their two former Pacific Parlour Cars (#39970 and #39975) during the Christmas season as part of its North Pole Express Train. The "Pere Marquette Parlour"s provide an adult-only option. The cars operated in 2019, 2021, and 2022 and will likely operate again in late 2023. For more information: www.MichiganSteamTrain.com.

Meanwhile, the lone un-refurbished former Pacific Parlour Car (#39971) is now at the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler, Arizona. It arrived there in late February 2023. For more information about the Arizona Railway Museum, check out their website at http://azrymuseum.org. This car was never refurbished by Amtrak. The Arizona Railway Museum plans to restore the car to its Santa Fe appearance in the coming years and then keep it on stationary display. This car had been stored outside of St. Louis, Missouri (Gateway Rail Services in Madison, Illinois) for 20 years, from 2003 to 2023. The car was owned by Dave Hoffman of Northern Sky Rail Charters. It was listed "for sale" as recently as early 2022.

One former Pacific Parlour Car (#39972) is currently owned and operated by the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, a tourist train operation in Trego, Wisconsin, about an hour south of Duluth/Superior, or about two hours northeast of the Twin Cities. It operates select days during the week as part of their tourist train business.

The remaining two refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars (#39973 and #39974) arrived at the Dallas Terminal Railroad (owned by John Radovich) in November 2020. The cars are kept in the railroad's facility and yard near the Cotton Bowl in Downtown Dallas. The Dallas Terminal Railroad normally charters out some of its other Hi-Level cars for the North Pole Express at the Galveston Railroad Museum. It has not been announced yet if the cars will be used for this purpose in 2022, or if the cars will be chartered out for other trips. For more information about the Dallas Terminal Railroad: www.DALT.us.

If you have any verified updated information about the status of a former Pacific Parlour Car not listed here, we encourage you send us an e-mail as soon as possible so we can get it posted here. You can reach us at board@railrangers.org.

More details about each car in its post-Amtrak life, including photos, are located below:



Pacific Parlour Car #39970 - "Columbia Valley"
(ex-Santa Fe #575, ex-Amtrak #9970)
Status: ACTIVE
Current Owner: Steam Railroading Institute - Owosso, MI
Last Seen: Owosso, MI



This was one of two Pacific Parlour Cars used in Amtrak's "final" revenue run on the Coast Starlight between February 2-5, 2018. It then dead-headed on the rear of the Southwest Chief between Los Angeles and Chicago on February 17-19, 2018. After a few days, it was taken down to Amtrak's Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana on the back of the Hoosier State.

In Februrary 2019, the Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso, Michigan announced that it purchased two former Pacific Parlour Cars -- including #39970 and #39975. Its' first revenue runs were aboard the railroad's North Pole Express train in November and December 2019. #39970 was renamed MSTX #575. The trips featured a 50 minute ride from Owosso, MI to the community of Ashley, MI. Passengers got off the train and had about two hours to shop and take photos of the steam locomotive that was pulling the train. Then, passengers got back on for the ride to Owosso, MI. Ticket prices ranged between $100 (for a table seat) to $150 (for a seat in the purple swivel chairs).

The Steam Railroading Institute cancelled its Christmas trips in 2020 due to COVID-19, but trips resumed in 2021. The 2021 trips featured some slight changes to the car, including the Coast Starlight glass being removed in the booth area... new lights throughout the interior... removal of the theater seats on the lower level... and removal of the Amtrak red, white, and blue stripes on the exterior.

Photos from November 2019:











Photos from November 2021:


Here is where you can purchase your tickets:
https://www.michigansteamtrain.com/tickets-reservations/north-pole-express.



Pacific Parlour Car #39971
(ex-Santa Fe #576, ex-Amtrak #9971)
Status: UNDER RESTORATION AS STATIONARY EXHIBIT CAR
Current Owner: Arizona Railway Museum
Last Seen: Arizona State Railway Museum; Chandler, Arizona



This was the only Pacific Parlour Car NOT to receive a complete interior makeover. It served as a "back-up" for the other five cars on the Coast Starlight during the late 1990's before being moved to Amtrak's facilitates in Beech Grove, Indiana in 2001.

It was purchased in 2003 (along with four other Santa Fe Hi-Level cars) by Dave Hoffman, owner of Northern Sky Charters. For a period of 20 years, the car remained un-used at Gateway Rail Services in Madison, Illinois.

In 2022, Dave Hoffman made the decision to donate the car to the Arizona Railway Museum in Chandler, Arizona. It arrived at the museum during the last week of February 2023. The plans are to restore the car to its original Santa Fe appearance in the coming years. It will be a stationary exhibit, along with other Hi-Level cars which have been restored.

Photos from car's arrival at the Arizona Railway Museum in February 2023 (All photos courtesy: Chartreuse Railfanning)









(See separate article, written a few years ago, on the #39971 car by clicking this link.)



Pacific Parlour Car #39972 - "Napa Valley"
(ex-Santa Fe #577, ex-Amtrak #9972)
Status: ACTIVE
Current Owner: Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad
Last Seen: Wisconsin Great Northern - Trego, Wisconsin



This was one of two Pacific Parlour Cars used in Amtrak's "final" revenue run on the Coast Starlight between February 2-5, 2018. It then dead-headed on the rear of the Southwest Chief between Los Angeles and Chicago on February 17-19, 2018. After a few days, it was taken down to Amtrak's Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana on the back of the Hoosier State.

In May 2019, the Wisconsin Great Northern made the announcement they had purchased this car. After nearly one month in transit on the CSX and Canadian National... it arrived in Trego, Wisconsin on July 11, 2019. It went into service just 10 days later as part of a wine and cheese train.

The Midwest Rail Rangers, who manage PacificParlourCar.com, got to visit the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad on August 11, 2019 and rode this car. The Wisconsin Great Northern re-named Pacific Parlour Car "Napa Valley" to Sky Parlour Car "Namekagon View", honoring both its heritage as a Santa Fe Sky Parlour (1956-1971) and Amtrak Pacific Parlour Car (1995-2018)... while also taking in some local history with the Namekagon River name. The Wisconsin Great Northern used #39972 as a Wine & Cheese Train through the end of October 2019.

The car was not open to the public in 2020 and 2021 due to the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad completely shutting down passenger operations in the wake of COVID-19.

The Wisconsin Great Northern reopened to passenger train service on May 10, 2022. During the first half of the 2022 season, the Midwest Rail Rangers presented onboard educational programs aboard the #39972 car, including a special nine-minute movie that aired before every Wine & Cheese Train ride in the lower level of the car.

Today, the Midwest Rail Rangers is no longer affiliated with the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad, however the former #39972 Parlour Car continues to operate on select tourist trains, however without any MRR historical programs provided.














Pacific Parlour Car #39973 - "Santa Lucia Highlands"
(ex-Santa Fe #578, ex-Amtrak #9973)
Status: ACTIVE
Current Owner: Dallas Terminal Railway / John Radovich
Last Seen: Dallas, TX



This car was used for the second-to-last revenue run on the Coast Starlight in late January 2018. It then dead-headed on the rear of the Southwest Chief between Los Angeles and Chicago on February 18-20, 2018. After a few days, it was taken down to Amtrak's Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana on the back of the Hoosier State.

Records released from Amtrak indicate this car was sold off in early 2019 to the Dallas Terminal Railway (Owned by John Radovich of Dallas, Texas). For most of 2019 and 2020, the car remained parked at Amtrak's maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana. On Sunday, November 15, 2020, both ex-Pacific Parlour Cars bought by Radovich (#39973 and #39974) were spotted in the consist of the "Cardinal" (Train #51) between Indianapolis, IN and Chicago, IL. The following day (Monday, November 16, 2020) both cars were spotted together again as the first two cars on the "Texas Eagle" (Train #21/421) between Chicago, IL and Dallas, TX. They arrived at their new home at the Dallas Terminal Railroad on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. The train cars are stored at the Dallas Terminal Railway's yard near the Cotton Bowl. The car is now DALT #39973.

Photos from November 2020 - Courtesy: Keiwoon Krause





One of the most recent photos of DALT #39973:



Pacific Parlour Car #39974 - "Sonoma Valley"
(ex-Santa Fe #579, ex-Amtrak #9974)
Status: ACTIVE
Current Owner: Dallas Terminal Railway / John Radovich
Last Seen: Dallas, TX



This car was used for the second-to-last revenue run on the Coast Starlight in late January 2018. It then dead-headed on the rear of the Southwest Chief between Los Angeles and Chicago on February 18-20, 2018. After a few days, it was taken down to Amtrak's Shops in Beech Grove, Indiana on the back of the Hoosier State.

Records released from Amtrak indicate this car was sold off in early 2019 to the Dallas Terminal Railway (Owned by John Radovich of Dallas, Texas). For most of 2019 and 2020, the car remained parked at Amtrak's maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana. On Sunday, November 15, 2020, both ex-Pacific Parlour Cars bought by Radovich (#39973 and #39974) were spotted in the consist of the "Cardinal" (Train #51) between Indianapolis, IN and Chicago, IL. The following day (Monday, November 16, 2020) both cars were spotted together again as the first two cars on the "Texas Eagle" (Train #21/421) between Chicago, IL and Dallas, TX. They arrived at their new home at the Dallas Terminal Railroad on Tuesday, November 17, 2020. The train cars are stored at the Dallas Terminal Railway's yard near the Cotton Bowl. The car is now DALT #39974.

Photos from November 2020 - Courtesy: Keiwoon Krause






Pacific Parlour Car #39975 - "Willamette Valley"
(ex-Santa Fe #580, ex-Amtrak #9975)
Status: ACTIVE
Current Owner: Steam Railroading Institute - Owosso, MI
Last Seen: Owosso, MI



This car was undergoing refurbishment in Amtrak's Beech Grove, Indiana shops in January 2018 when the announcement was made that the Pacific Parlour Cars would be retired from the Coast Starlight. This car remained at Beech Grove and was never part of the "final runs" of the Pacific Parlours conducted in January and early February 2018.

In February 2019, the Steam Railroading Institute of Owosso, Michigan announced that it purchased two former Pacific Parlour Cars -- including #39970 and #39975. Its' first revenue runs were aboard the railroad's North Pole Express train in November and December 2019. #39975 was renamed MSTX #580. The trips featured a 50 minute ride from Owosso, MI to the community of Ashley, MI. Passengers got off the train and had about two hours to shop and take photos of the steam locomotive that was pulling the train. Then, passengers got back on for the ride to Owosso, MI. Ticket prices ranged between $100 (for a table seat) to $150 (for a seat in the purple swivel chairs).

The Steam Railroading Institute cancelled its Christmas trips in 2020 due to COVID-19, but trips resumed in 2021. The 2021 trips featured some slight changes to the car, including the Coast Starlight glass being removed in the booth area... new lights throughout the interior... removal of the theater seats on the lower level... and removal of the Amtrak red, white, and blue stripes on the exterior.

Photos from November 2019:











Photos from November 2021:


Here is where you can purchase your tickets:
https://www.michigansteamtrain.com/tickets-reservations/north-pole-express.




PacificParlourCar.com was founded by Anton Lazzaro and is currently maintained by the Midwest Rail Rangers. If you enjoyed the content, please consider making a donation to our 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Click the link below; even the smallest amounts help our research, web design, and domain hosting. You can also get in touch with us by e-mailing our Board of Directors: board@railrangers.org.