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Daily afternoon wine tastings featuring regional wine and cheese were one of the many things to look forward to while riding the Pacific Parlour Car on Amtrak's Coast Starlight train between 1995 and 2018.

The days really looked numbered for the former Santa Fe Hi-Level lounge cars when the mid-1990's rolled around. They were brought to Amtrak's shops in Beech Grove, Indiana in 1994 for possible sale or even scrapping.

Before the six historic Hi-Level lounge cars would face either of those fates... in stepped Brian Rosenwald. At the time, he was an Amtrak executive who often took the Santa Fe in the late 1950's and early 1960's between the Chicago area (his hometown) and New Mexico (where he had extended family). Rosenwald had fond memories of riding the Hi-Level lounge cars as a child and wanted Amtrak to keep them operating in some capacity. Rosenwald approached his then-boss at Amtrak, Gil Mallery, with the idea of refurbishing the cars and turning them into a special First Class lounge car that sleeping car passengers on the Coast Starlight could enjoy.

Amtrak decided to spend three million dollars in order to completely refurbish most of the former Hi-Level lounge cars in preparation for this project. You could say the cars just happened to be in the right place at the right time... and overseen by the right person (Rosenwald). Many of the Hi-Level coaches and diners were indeed sold off or scrapped by Amtrak in the late 1990's and early 2000's. None are currently in use by Amtrak... and very few remain in operation by private railcar owners and tourist railroads. The odds are, if it was not for Rosenwald and his love for the Hi-Level lounges, the fate of the cars would have been a lot different and you would not have the opportunity to ride on them today.

All six of the former Hi-Level lounges were formally re-branded as Pacific Parlour Cars in early 1995. However, despite being called Pacific Parlour Cars and having a sign attached to the exterior deeming them as such... the cars retained their Hi-Level Lounge interiors and exteriors for the first couple of years of service. Yes, no big purple comfy chairs and dark wood on the inside for the initial years... as the three million dollars in restoration plan took a few years to fund.

TrainWeb.com founder Steve Grande is one of the few people to have documented the pre-refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars. Below are a few of his photos of what the cars looked like. The 'Christmas lights' on the interior were supposed to be a sign of ambiance of the new cars before the refurbishments could take place. Also note that the downstairs bar area featured the last hints of the Santa Fe Kachina Coffee Shop with its glass etchings and designs over the stove/cooking top.

Between 1996 and 1999, five of the six cars (#39970, #39972, #39973, #39974, and #39975) were pulled out of service to receive a complete interior refurbishment at Amtrak's overhaul facility in Beech Grove, Indiana. Again, this was done so the three million dollars needed to restore the cars would be spread out over the budgets of multiple years. It was also done so that the other cars could remain on the train as un-refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars. The upstairs of the car was re-built to feature mahogany-paneled walls, beveled glass with the Coast Starlight logo, swivel armchairs, banquettes, booths, and an open-style bar. The downstairs was turned into a cinema with a big screen television set and theater-style seating for 19 people.

Amtrak Executive Brian Rosenwald (pictured above in the brown sports jacket and red tie) was the person responsible for saving the former Santa Fe Hi-Level Lounge Cars. (Photo Courtesy of Holland Sentinel / J.R. Valderas) .

An announcement in the 1995 timetable talks about the new First Class Lounge Car that was going to be offered.

A diagram used for the rebuilding of the cars into Pacific Parlours in 1995.

Lounge Car #39972 begins its transition into a Pacific Parlour Car -- still in old Amtrak paint here, but with a new Pacific Parlour logo by the door.

Amtrak's Pacific Parlour Car #39975, still in its original paint job, but with a Pacific Parlour Car sign by the door.

The new paint scheme release in the late 1990's for the Pacific Parlour Car -- the "Pacific Parlour" lettering matched that of "Superliner" that many cars featured at the time.

Another view of the Pacific Parlour Car in its new paint scheme and lettering..

Pacific Parlour Car #39972 in its "Pacific Parlour" lettering -- note the paint is beginning to get quite worn out by the early 2000's here.

A shot of a Pacific Parlour Car #39973 in Beech Grove, Indiana in 2006. It was taken out of service for an extended period of time after facing heavy vandalism while being stored in Los Angeles.

This was the design on the exterior of the Pacific Parlour Cars for much of their last decade of service -- often referred to as a "Phase IV" paint job.

A magician performs for passengers on the Pacific Parlour Car in the late 1990's.

When put into service on the Coast Starlight, musicians and entertainers were brought aboard the car between certain stops to give performances. Rosewald's idea for these cars became a huge success for Amtrak; there was nothing like them on any other train in the entire Amtrak system. Rosenwald added a complimentary buffet breakfast for passengers and even a free mid-afternoon wine and cheese tasting. Attendants who ran the Pacific Parlour Car were specially trained on customer service. This even included classes on wine --- to be able to pour correctly, intelligently discuss the wine product, and the ability to up-sell bottles.

The result was an incredible 77 percent jump in First Class revenue on the Coast Starlight between 1994 and 2001. Passengers were loving what Rosenwald called a "land-cruise experience", with ever-changing scenery from the Pacific Coast in Southern California to the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington State.

The new motto "Superior Service" was truly becoming popular on the Coast Starlight thanks to the historic Santa Fe Hi-Level lounge cars. Each of the five refurbished Pacific Parlour Cars even received a formal name (for the first time in their history!) for a portion of the route they traveled near. #39970 was named "Columbia Valley"; #39972 was named "Napa Valley"; #39973 was named "Santa Lucia Highlands"; #39974 was named Sonoma Valley; #39975 was named "Willamette Valley". Passengers also had the option of eating their meals in the Pacific Parlour Car which featured special menu options (not featured anywhere else on Amtrak), instead of going to the Superliner Dining Car. Passengers also were not required to share tables with other travelers if they ate in the Pacific Parlour Car.

The Pacific Parlour Cars pretty much looked the same on the interior between their 1996-99 re-build and their 2018 retirement. The only significant difference was the fabric color was changed out on the bench seating in the middle of the car. Here is a look at the original fabric that was used -- it was grey and had a Southwestern-like pattern on it; it was changed to a more purple and black fabric in the mid-2000's.

Pacific Parlour Car #39974, "Sonoma Valley", even had its silver screen debut when it was used during the final scene for the hit 2003 movie "The Italian Job". The main characters had a toast aboard the car to celebrate getting away from their rivals following a gold heist.

The final scene of the hit 2003 movie "The Italian Job" was filmed aboard one of Amtrak's Pacific Parlour Cars in Los Angeles, California. (Courtesy: De Line Pictures)

The authors of this article, Robert & Kandace Tabern, have enjoyed many trips on the Pacific Parlour Cars in recent years.

Author Robert Tabern enjoys the Pacific Parlour Car's "big purple comfy chairs", as seen here in May 2009.

Authors Robert & Kandace Tabern enjoy some time together sitting on the couches in the Pacific Parlour Car.

One of the beautiful features of the car was the etched glass with the Coast Starlight logo from 1995; it survived through the last run in 2018.

Authors Robert & Kandace Tabern enjoy sharing time with their friend Mike Pace on the Pacific Parlour Car in 2015.

With all of the success, there were also many challenges Amtrak faced with running a unique fleet of heritage lounge cars such as the ex-Santa Fe Hi-Levels on the daily Coast Starlight. In 2001, management decided to sell off the un-refurbished Pacific Parlour (Car #39971). The reasoning behind this was only five cars were really needed for their new assignment on the Coast Starlight --- four in operation at any given time and a fifth that would serve as a spare when one of the regular cars went in for heavy maintenance. So why spend the money refurbishing and maintaining the sixth car? (or so was their thinking at the time).

Unfortunately, as the Pacific Parlours aged even more in the 2000's and into the 2010's, repairs and regular service work regularly caused more than one car to be pulled from service at a time. Passengers who booked a trip on the Coast Starlight to experience the elegant nature of the Pacific Parlour were finding themselves without the dedicated First Class lounge car as much as half of the time. Problems with air conditioning seemed to a major on-going issue, with passengers reporting the interior of the cars reaching over 100 degrees at times.

Some with-in Amtrak's management, especially those who did not really appreciate the historic nature of the car, were wondering if the complaints about the Pacific Parlour Car availability were really worth keeping the car as an amenity. Brian Rosenwald was quoted in an interview as saying there were four unsuccessful attempts with-in Amtrak upper management to terminate the Pacific Parlour Car project.

Another difficulty for Amtrak was finding 60-year-old parts to fix the aging ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level lounge cars when extensive repairs were necessary. Often times, the work could not be done in Los Angeles and the car would have to be taken to Amtrak's heavy repair facility in Indiana -- sometimes rendering it un-usable for months on end.

Meanwhile, even though the special meals and wine/cheese tastings offered on the Pacific Parlours were covered in a passengers' sleeping car fares, some government leaders began to question why elegant amenities were being offered to passengers when overall operations were so heavily subsidized by tax payers.

This photo provides a good view of the interior of the Pacific Parlour Car; note the "comfy purple chairs" behind Robert and Kandace. The buffet serving area and stairs are located next to them. The couches and tables are in front of them.

Kandace Tabern and the Pacific Parlour Car's famed "big purple comfy chairs".

Kandace Tabern uses her cell phone to take photos of the California Coastal Mountains from the Pacific Parlour Car.

A glass of white wine and the Pacific Ocean out your window of the Pacific Parlour Car -- could it get any better than this?

The beginning of the end for the Pacific Parlour likely came about in 2013 when Brian Rosenwald retired from Amtrak; simply put --- the cars lost their biggest supporter. Within a year or so, it was announced the Pacific Parlour Cars would no longer operate on the Coast Starlight during the off-peak months (January to March). Passenger advisories explained winter-time overhauls were needed to make the cars more reliable for the more heavily-traveled spring, summer, and fall periods. Unfortunately, numerous reports surfaced the cars were mainly just sitting in the Los Angeles Amtrak Yards with little to no work being done on them.

In late 2017, an advisory was released indicating the Pacific Parlour Cars would be removed from the Coast Starlight between January 8, 2018 and March 15, 2018 for their "annual maintenance period".

However, on Wednesday, January 17, 2018, Amtrak released an updated advisory delivering the jaw-dropping news that the Pacific Parlour Car was going to be permanently retired following a couple of special "farewell trips" planned for the following weeks.

The final round-trip of Pacific Parlour Cars on Amtrak's Coast Starlight departed Los Angeles on the morning of Friday, February 2, 2018... arriving back on Monday, February 5, 2018. Due to the historic nature of the trip and the influx of passengers who were riding the cars "one last time", Amtrak added two Pacific Parlour Cars on this round-trip run --- the only time this had happened in recent-memory.

Midwest Rail Rangers President Robert Tabern and Midwest Rail Rangers Educational Officer Kandace Tabern were lucky enough to ride a portion of the last northbound Coast Starlight featuring the Pacific Parlour Cars on Saturday, February 3, 2018. To read their in-depth trip report, please click on the "Final Run Trip Report" over on the left menu bar.

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