NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Sleeping car

The sleeping car or sleeper is a railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. Some of the more luxurious types have private rooms, that is to say fully and solidly enclosed rooms that are not shared with strangers. Image File history File links The interior of a Chicago and Alton Railroad Pullman car circa 1900. ... Image File history File links The interior of a Chicago and Alton Railroad Pullman car circa 1900. ... 1885 map The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago, Illinois to Alton, St. ... 1900 (MCM) is a common year starting on Monday. ... Restored passenger cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI. A passenger car is a piece of railroad rolling stock that is designed to carry passengers. ...

In the United States, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Amtrak. Amtrak offers sleeping cars on most of its overnight trains, using modern cars of the private-room type exclusively. In Canada, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by VIA Rail Canada, using a mixture of relatively new cars and refurbished midcentury ones. The latter cars include both private rooms and "open section" accommodations (the latter to be described later in this article). An example of a more basic type of sleeping car is the European couchette car, which is divided into compartments for four or six people, with bench-configuration seating during the day and privacyless double- or triple-level bunk-beds at night. Even more basic is the Chinese "hard" sleeping car in use today, consisting of fixed bunk beds, which cannot be converted into seats, in a public space. Chinese trains also offer "soft" or deluxe sleeping cars with two beds per room. Amtrak train in downtown Orlando, Florida Amtrakâ€™s high-speed Acela Express at Penn Station New York, NY Amtrak, is the brand name of the intercity passenger train system created on May 1, 1971 in the United States. ... VIA Rail Canada (also referred to as VIA Rail and VIA; pronounced vee-ah) is an independent Crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. ... The couchette car is a railroad car conveying basic sleeping accommodation. ...

The first sleeping car appeared in the 1830s, but was not economically successful. The man who made the sleeping car business profitable in the United States was George Pullman, who began by building an unusually luxurious sleeping car (named Pioneer) in 1865. The Pullman Company, founded as the Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867, owned and operated most sleeping cars in the United States until the mid twentieth century, attaching them to passenger trains run by the various railroads. (There were also some sleeping cars that were operated by Pullman but owned by the railroad running a given train.) During the peak years of American passenger railroading, several all-Pullman trains existed, including the Super Chief on the Santa Fe Railway, and the 20th Century Limited on the New York Central Railroad. Pullman cars were normally a dark "Pullman green", although some were painted in the host railroad's colors. The cars carried individual names, but usually did not carry visible numbers. In the 1920's the Pullman Company went through a series of restructuring steps, which in the end resulted in a parent company, Pullman Incorporated, controlling the Pullman Company (which owned and operated sleeping cars) and the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. In 1947, in consequence of an antitrust verdict, a consortium of railroads bought the Pullman Company from Pullman Incorporated, and from then on railroads owned and operated Pullman-made sleeping cars themselves. Pullman-Standard continued in the manufacture of sleeping cars and other passenger and freight railroad cars until 1980. // Events and Trends Electromagnetic induction discovered by Michael Faraday Dutch-speaking farmers known as Voortrekkers emigrate northwards from the Cape Colony Croquet invented in Ireland Railroad construction begins in earnest in the United States Egba refugees fleeing the Yoruba civil wars found the city of Abeokuta in south-west Nigeria... George Mortimer Pullman (March 3, 1831 â€“ October 19, 1897) was an American inventor and industrialist. ... The Pullman Palace Car Company, owned by George Pullman, manufactured railroad train cars in the mid to late 1800s through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. ... This article is about trains in rail transport. ... The Super Chief being serviced at the Albuquerque, New Mexico depot in March, 1943. ... The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AAR reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the largest railroads in the United States. ... The 20th Century Limited was a passenger train operated by the New York Central (NYC) railroad. ... 1918 map The New York Central Railroad (AAR reporting mark NYC), known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the North-Eastern United States. ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car), also known as an item of rolling stock in British parlance, is a vehicle on a railroad or railway that is not a locomotive - one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

From the nineteenth to the mid twentieth century, the most common type of sleeping car accommodation on North American trains was the "open section". "Open section" accommodations consist of pairs of seats, one seat facing forward and the other backward, situated on either side of a center aisle; the seat-pairs can be converted into the combination of an upper and a lower "berth", each "berth" consisting of a bed screened from the aisle by a curtain. As the twentieth century progressed, an increasing variety of private rooms came to be offered. Most of these rooms provided significantly more space than open-section accommodations could offer; some of them, however, such as the rooms of the misleadingly named "Slumbercoach" cars manufactured by the Budd Company and first put into service in 1956, were triumphs of miniaturization.

Today, Amtrak operates two main types of sleeping car: the bilevel Superliner sleeping cars, built from the late 1970's to the mid 1990's, and the single-level Viewliner sleeping cars, built in the mid 1990's. In the most common Superliner sleeping car configuration, the upper level is divided into two halves, one half containing "Bedrooms" (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; and the other half containing so-called Roomettes (formerly "Economy Bedrooms" or "Standard Bedrooms") for one or two travelers; plus a beverage area and a toilet. The lower level contains more Roomettes; a Family Bedroom for as many as two adults and two children; and an "Accessible Bedroom" (formerly "Handicapped Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion; plus toilets and a shower. The Viewliner cars contain an Accessible Bedroom (formerly "Handicapped Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion, with an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; two Bedrooms (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; so-called Roomettes (formerly "Economy Bedrooms", "Standard Bedrooms", or "Compartments") for one or two travelers, each Roomette containing its own unenclosed toilet and washing facilities; and a shower room at the end of the car.

A particularly interesting practice in sleeping car operation, one that is not currently employed in North America, is the use of "set-out" sleepers. In this practice, sleeping cars are picked up and/or dropped off at intermediate cities along a train's route, so that what would otherwise be partial-night journeys can become in effect full-night journeys, with passengers allowed to occupy their sleeping accommodations from mid evening to at least the early morning.

One possibly unanticipated consequence of the rise of Pullman cars in the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was their effect on civil rights and African American culture. Each Pullman car was staffed by a uniformed porter. These were almost always African-Americans and, by convention, were often addressed as "George" by passengers. Although this was servant's work, it was relatively well-paid and prestigious, and so "Pullman porters" were in a position to become leaders in the black communities where they lived, contributing to the nucleus of the nascent black middle class. And, like all the other railroad trades, the porters came to be unionized. Their union became an important source of strength for the burgeoning civil rights movement in the early 20th century, notably under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph. Because they moved all about the country, Pullman porters also became an important means of communication for news and cultural information of all kinds. The African-American newspaper the Chicago Defender gained a national circulation in this way. Porters also used to resell phonograph records bought in the great metropolitan centers, greatly adding to the distribution of jazz and blues and the popularity of the artists. Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... This article discusses human bearers of burdens. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Asa Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 â€“ May 16, 1979) was a socialist in the labor movement and the US civil rights movement. ... The Chicago Defender announces President Harry S. Trumans order in 1948 desegregating the United States Armed Forces. ... Manufacturers put records inside protective and decorative cardboard jackets and an inner paper sleeve to protect the grooves from dust and scratches. ... Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ...

In Europe the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (French for "International Sleeping Car Company") first focused on sleeping cars, but later operated whole trains, including the Simplon-Orient Express, Nord Express, Train Bleu, Golden Arrow, and the Transsiberien (on the Trans-Siberian railway). Today it once again specializes in sleeping cars, along with onboard railroad catering. In present-day Europe, a substantial number of sleeping car services continue to operate, though they face strong competition from high-speed day trains and budget airlines. In the United Kingdom, a network of trains with sleeping cars operates daily between London and Scotland, and between London and the West Country as far as Cornwall. Using rolling stock designed and formerly operated by British Rail, these services offer a choice of single- or double-occupancy bedrooms. One of the more substantial examples of current-day European sleeping car service is the Train Bleu, an all-sleeping-car train that has the longest-distance run of any train in France, from Paris to Nice. The train leaves the Gare d'Austerlitz in mid evening and arrives in Nice about 8 in the morning; it provides both first-class rooms and couchette accommodations. The train's principal popularity is with older travelers; it has not won the same degree of popularity with younger travelers, who, perhaps not fully appreciating the time-saving advantages of comfortable overnight sleeping car travel, are strongly drawn to budget flights or the daytime TGV. Image File history File links CFR 50 53 71-31 061-4 WLABmee sleeping car in new livery at Budapest Keleti station, in train EN371 Ister Budapest-Bucuresti. ... Image File history File links CFR 50 53 71-31 061-4 WLABmee sleeping car in new livery at Budapest Keleti station, in train EN371 Ister Budapest-Bucuresti. ... CÄƒile Ferate RomÃ¢ne (Romanian Railways, abbreviated as CFR) is the official designation of the state railway carrier of Romania. ... Nickname: Pearl of the Danubeor Queen of the Danube Motto: Official website: www. ... Bucharest (Romanian: BucureÅŸti ) is the capital city and industrial and commercial centre of Romania. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... A french company that runs the sleapers in France for Sncf. ... Poster advertising the Orient Express Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. ... The Nord Express (Northern Express) was introduced in 1896 by CIWL, a Belgian night train company. ... Trans-Siberian line in red; Baikal Amur Mainline in green. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within the UK Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 kmÂ² 1. ... The West Country is an informal area of southwestern England, roughly corresponding to the administrative region South West England. ... Motto: Onen hag oll (Cornish: One and all) Geography Status Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county Region South West England Population - Total (2004 est. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...

Railroad sleeping cars, though reduced in prevalence in recent decades, retain a powerful ability to provide travel that is both exceptionally comfortable and remarkably time-saving, especially between points that are between 400 miles (ca. 600 km) and 1000 miles (ca. 1600 km) apart, distances that one can travel in a simple overnight trip, perhaps with dinner at the beginning of the journey and/or breakfast at the end. Persons traveling in this way, engaging in activities on board the train that are little more than the activities they would normally engage in at their home or in a hotel during the same hours, can annihilate time and distance more effectively than most high-speed day train travelers or air travelers on the same route could ever hope to. Even overnight sleeping car trips that also take up several hours of the preceding and/or following day can in many cases compare favorably with travel by high-speed day train, conventional-speed day train, or airplane, particularly when the origin and/or destination is a smaller community that is hard to reach by air. It is ironic that the airlines, with their increasing offers of bed-like accommodations for overnight flights, are only now beginning to permanently recognize the value of true rest during nighttime travel, and to permanently embrace standards of comfort comparable to those that railroads having been embracing for more than a century. (Airlines did offer sleeping-car-like accommodations on some planes in the mid twentieth century, but those services were rare and short-lived.) On certain trips, the use of sleeping car accommodations also offers the possibility of obviating one or two nights of hotel stay at the destination. Although sleeping car services have been harmed by the various market distortions that governments are endlessly tempted to impose on the transportation industry, there is little doubt that, particularly if those market distortions can be lessened in the future, sleeping car services will be able to continue playing a valuable transportation role, and perhaps even become more appreciated by a wider segment of the traveling public than they are today. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2032x1524, 288 KB)Picture of one of the second-class sleeper cars of the Train Bleu File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2032x1524, 288 KB)Picture of one of the second-class sleeper cars of the Train Bleu File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

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