Transportation question.

[Anonymous]

What ever happened to the following transportation related items.
Pan Am Airways (I believe this still exist)
the observation car
the vista dome
Sinclair gas stations (I believe this still exist out west)

[Anonymous]

Well...Pan Am exsisted a few years ago as a short line and was flying 2 flights a day from Gary, Indiana. 1 to New England, and 1 to Florida. But they're not running there now.
Sinclair...Went the way of the dinosaur.
As for the dome and observation cars. We've improved on that. We can place a sofa facing backwards on the roof of our SUVs.
Mitch

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CHPENNSYLVANIA

What ever happened to the following transportation related items.
Pan Am Airways (I believe this still exist)
the observation car
the vista dome
Sinclair gas stations (I believe this still exist out west)

Pan Am is now owned by Tim Mellon and others and is a small charter airline operating from Manchester, NH. Tim Mellon is also a major owner of Guilford Transportation and its subsidiaries the Maine Central RR, Boston & maine RR and Springfield Terminal RR.

Observation cars. A number exist in private ownership. See www.aaprco.com

Vista Domes. Many still exist in private ownership. Check out Web Lurkers site :http://community-2.webtv.net/web_lurker/WebLurkersDOMEmain/

Haven't seen a Sinclair Station in a LONG time, but I'm not out west...

LC

[Anonymous]

plenty of sinclair stations in the west - Denver, Salt Lake, etc.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Both Pan Am and Sinclair are not the original corporations. Sinclair merged into Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) in the late 1960's and the rights to the name were later sold. The original Pan American went into Chapter 11 and later suspended operations. The estate sold the rights to the name to the current operator.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CHPENNSYLVANIA

What ever happened to the following transportation related items.
Pan Am Airways (I believe this still exist)
the observation car
the vista dome
Sinclair gas stations (I believe this still exist out west)

theres a sinclair gas station in OK

[jeaton]

Amtrak still has a full length former Empire Builder Doom car on the roster. Mostly used for the rare charter.

And what do you think the window in the rear of the last car is for?

I think the real reason Dave Gunn is dropping the express business is the the express boxes and road railers block the view from the rear of the Beech Grove. That would be the only reason I would need.

Jay

[CShaveRR]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

Amtrak still has a full length former Empire Builder Doom car on the roster.

Doom car...is that the one with the shackles?

(Sorry, Jay...couldn't resist!)

[railman]

Sinclair is alive and somewhat well in MN...one in Rogers, Minn. and in Anoka. The dinosaur has not gone extinct...

[jeaton]

What can I tell you, dog ate my dictionary?

Paraphrasing the late Mayor Richard J. Daley (a.k.a., in Chicago media circles, TLMRJD), I have often instructed my computer "Show what I think, not what I type".

Jay

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeaton

Amtrak still has a full length former Empire Builder Doom car on the roster. Mostly used for the rare charter.

And what do you think the window in the rear of the last car is for?

I think the real reason Dave Gunn is dropping the express business is the the express boxes and road railers block the view from the rear of the Beech Grove. That would be the only reason I would need.

Jay

If Amtrak and Mr. Gunn really wanted to have their cake and eat it too (keep the RoadRailers and still have a nice rear view), they could utilized distributed power, running with the first locomotive, then the RoadRailers, then the second locomotive, then the rest of the passenger consist. This would solve the problem of RoadRailers not being allowed midtrain, since the balanced power would keep the drawbar strain off the bi-modal units.