Near the entrance to popular Pismo Beach, California, is this Rock & Roll Diner in Oceano. It consists of two streamlined passenger cars: a smooth-side diner and a fluted Budd obs-lounge. The cars are still on trucks and seem to have most or all of their underbody equipment, but the interiors have been modified, of course.
I was unable to learn anything about the identities of these cars from the man running the restaurant. But food was good, the music is non-stop rock & roll, and you can watch trains roll by on the coast route across the street. What's not to like?
Near the entrance to popular Pismo Beach, California, is this Rock & Roll Diner in Oceano. It consists of two streamlined passenger cars: a smooth-side diner and a fluted Budd obs-lounge. The cars are still on trucks and seem to have most or all of their underbody equipment, but the interiors have been modified, of course.
I was unable to learn anything about the identities of these cars from the man running the restaurant. But food was good, the music is non-stop rock & roll, and you can watch trains roll by on the coast route across the street. What's not to like?
3 comments:
The obs car looks like one of those New York Central tavern lounge cars, much like the Art Train car Randy photographed this past fall in Michigan. the only major difference is that the NYC cars did not have the large casing on the rear, holding the rear Mars light.
This may have been one of the NYC cars sold to the Kansas City Southern in the 1960s. Look at the rear door, it has a shape approximating the old KCS logo, which were affixed to these cars.
My guess is a Seaboard Air Line tavern-observation lounge, used on their New York - Florida trains. Early 1960's SAL time tables show a similar car on the covers, same-shaped drumhead.
Chuck Amstein
The observation car was built from the Budd company for the Seaboard Airline Railroad for it's flagship passenger train, the Silver Meteor. It ran for many years under Seaboard Airline, then in 1967 the Seaboard Coast Line, and after 1971 under the Amtrak banner until the late 70s when it was retired and sold. These classic Budd railcars were well built and offered a very comfortable ride. A good number of them survive today in tourist rail and dinner train service.
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