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Pullman records show that the Nocturne and Eventide were withdrawn from lease in 1956 and dismantled that same year, but yet the Nocturne was photographed on a passenger train in 1959.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
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.
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.
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.
Johnny
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.
Just as an FYI, the Autumn 2015 (Vol 48, No. 3) Keystone from the PRRT&HS contains an article concerning the Nocturne and Eventide.
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