Pennsy´s "Nocturne" and "Eventide"

[Anonymous]

As far as I know these two were the ONLY Heavyweight Duplex Sleepers ever built for any railroad in North America. Am I right? Or where there more of this type? But even about these two cars, I don´t know anything closer. What kind of sleepers have they been? Did they have sections, compartments, drawing rooms or have they been All Room cars? And where can I find some photos of them? I´ve only seen them on a picture as a model in HO scale, but I never saw a picture of the originals. Can anybody help me?

[Anonymous]

They were duplex single rooms. The two (only) cars were built for service on the PRR. Rivarossi had a model of them, in who knows how many road names.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the answer! Can you also tell me how many Duplex Single Rooms one car featured? On which PRR name trains did they run?

[Eddystone]

Deluxe, there is a picture of each side of the Nocturne in the book PRR Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment Vol. 3. The caption says the car had 16 duplex single rooms.

"Nocturne was originally Adair, a plan 2951 baggage-buffet club smoking car with a barber shop built in July 1923 for assignment to the New York Central. During May 1933, Adair was rebuilt as plan 4029 with 16 duplex single rooms, renamed Nocturne and put in PRR assignment."

I don't know what trains they ran in. The pictures were taken in June 1947 and the car is painted Tuscan Red with Pullman on the sides. the side with the staggered windows has the Pullman name between the 2 window bands.

[Alexxx]

   I've seen a picture of the real NOCTURNE taken in 1959 under the electric wire. It is identical to the AHM/Rivarossi car, except that AHM gave it number- 118 which is inaccurate. It didn't have a car number on it, only the name below the belt rail in the center. The name board had PULLMAN on it instead of PENNSYLVANIA. The actual car number was 8572 on the books. The Nocturne and the Eventide were rebuilt together in 1933. They ran opposite of each other on opposing overnight mail/passenger trains between New York and Washington, DC. The two trains would pass each other somewhere around Wilmington, De. The cars were experimantal and were the pre-curser to the lighweight duplex sleepers of the late 1930's. The rooms must have been much wider than than the later ones, perhaps as wide as a compartment. You can tell that by the window arrangement on both sides. There were 16 duplex rooms.  No other railroad had these cars. There were the only two ever made. The PRR had two other duplex sleepers rebuilt by Pullman in 1931. These were also heavyweight converts but they were different and had less duplex rooms. There names were VOYAGER and WANDERER. I don't know where they were used.

   Pullman records show that the Nocturne and Eventide were withdrawn from lease in 1956 and dismantled that same year, but yet the Nocturne was photographed on a passenger train in 1959. That is the picture I saw.

JW

 

 

 

[rcdrye]

Voyager and Wanderer were initially assigned to the PRR and painted in PRR colors. They were repainted standard Pullman colors in 1950 AFTER the Pullman breakup and under PRR ownership.  This would suggest that they were in assigned PRR service until around 1950, then leased to Pullman for the pool.  As a footnote, both got ice "A/C" in 1934, suggesting that they were assigned seasonally rather than year-round.

Nocturne and Eventide got Pullman colors in 1951.

 

 

[rcdrye]

Duplex single rooms never found much acceptance by other railroads than the PRR.  The 19 cars in the "Brook" series and 24 cars in the "Creek" series were the only large groups, with DSRs showing up on Pullman's Bear Flag (articulated with California Republic, originally Advance and Progress), along with the NP dome sleepers, where the rooms were all on the same level.  Amtrak carried the designation in its tariffs until about 1974, when the dome sleepers DSRs and any other single bedrooms were redesignated roomettes.

[Deggesty]

Perhaps Amtrak wanted to reduce confusion in the part of new rail passengers who were not familiar with the original designations? In 1974, I rode in a duplex roomette out of Boston; it was styed "roomette."

Also, VIA does not, in its information, distinguish between bedrooms and compartments--both are called "cabin for two." When ever I made reservations for travel on VIA, I would use the former designations (bedroom, roomette, drawing room)--and the person taking the reservations knew what I meant.

[rcdrye]

At the same time single bedrooms were redesignated roomettes, compartments were redesignated double bedrooms.  I think drawing rooms were still listed.

I don't think anyone mentioned it but Voyager and Wanderer were 10 section 4 Duplex Single Room cars.  The DSRs were put in to replace a pair of sections and the Drawing Room.

[ZephyrOverland]

Just as an FYI, the Autumn 2015 (Vol 48, No. 3) Keystone from the PRRT&HS contains an article concerning the Nocturne and Eventide.