Just as the words say. Coach has coach seats, sorta like sofa's but not as plush, either seating two or three; can be reversed. Chair cars have chairs, easy chairs, sometimes fixed back to the outside wall, sometimes swivaled, one person seating thus only one chair opposite another per aisle.
Again...ATTENTION Jim Wrinn and others at Kalmbach and TRAINS: we need more on explaining how railroads used to operate, how equipment was designed for customers and railroad operations, how people operated trains and trains provided services. Classic Trains is good, but it too often has been shrouded in nostalgia rather than real operating railroads. Maybe need to re publish a lot of old TRAINS materials. The way things used to be is more than weeping nostalgia, it is a way things were done that led to the way things are done.
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Just speculating, but maybe a combination of 1/2 coach and 1/2 parlor car seating?
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
What is the difference between a "Coach" and a "Chair car" in classical passenger service?
I used to think that the two terms were interchangeable. But an old Wabash RR ad posted a few threads down list a "Combination Coach and Chair Car" in the consist, reminding me that I also have seen the two terms simultaneously used in historic Southern Pacific consist info, implying that they were somehow distinct.
Was it the difference between a car with reclining seats, most often found on the long-distance services, as opposed to the "walk-over" bench-type seating I remember from the old SP Commute "subs" (aka "Harrimans", though they really weren't)? If so, why would there be both types on one train?
Thanks in advance.
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