The Sun Lounges were a fleet of three

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

sleeper-

lounge car A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable train seats to creat ...

s built by

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

for the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL) in 1956. The cars featured a distinctive glazed roof area meant to capture the ambience of a

dome car A dome car is a type of railway Passenger car (rail), passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a Coach (rail), coach, lounge c ...

in a lower profile, as

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

s on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

prevented the use of dome cars there. The Seaboard employed all three Sun Lounges on its flagship ''

Silver Meteor The ''Silver Meteor'' is a Long-distance Amtrak routes, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was t ...

'' between

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. The cars later saw service with the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

(SCL) and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

. Two of the three survive in private ownership.

Design

The first successful dome design in the United States was the "Vista Dome", which began test runs in 1945. The

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

("CB&Q") rebuilt a stainless steel Budd-built coach in their shops in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

, with the Vista Dome design imagined and sketched by Cyrus Osborn. The dome area featured seats positioned lengthwise in the cabin facing double-pane windows which were designed to improve insulation. While popular with travelers, dome cars could not be used on most railroads in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

because of the low clearance on various

s. Even the low-slung " Strata-Domes", designed by

for the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

, could not travel north of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

due to low tunnel clearances in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

and

. The concept of a "sun lounge" or a "sun parlor" was not new in railroading. The

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

's ''

Panama Limited The ''Panama Limited'' was a passenger train operated from 1911 to 1971 between Chicago, Illinois, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The flagship train of the Illinois Central Railroad, it took its name from the Panama Canal, which in 1911 was three y ...

'', introduced in 1911, included a "sun-parlor"

observation car An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad Passenger car (rail), passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a plat ...

, with wrap-around windows and a mahogany interior. In 1931 the Seaboard itself added a "lounge sun-parlor car" to the ''Southern States Special'', one of its New York-Florida trains. The SAL turned to Pullman to design a sleeper-lounge which captured the ambiance of a dome car in a single-level car. The resulting "''Sun Lounge''" was split into two parts. At one end were five double bedrooms with a lounge for use by sleeping car passengers on the train at the other. A small bar was located between the bedrooms and lounge area to serve sleeping car passengers. The lounge was unique, enclosed by large picture windows and glass windows on the roof, creating the effect of a dome without a dome. The lounge interior included such Floridian touches as

light fixture A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to ...

s made of

driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

. In contemporary advertising the Seaboard touted the Sun Lounges as "unlike anything on the rails at present."

Service history

Pullman delivered three Sun Lounges to the Seaboard: ''Miami Beach'', ''Palm Beach'', and ''Hollywood Beach'', numbered 18-20 respectively. All three entered service in 1956 on the ''

''. When the Seaboard merged with its rival the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

(ACL) in 1967 to create the

(SCL), the cars remained in service but were renamed. ''Hollywood Beach'' became ''Sun Ray'', ''Miami Beach'' became ''Sun View'', and ''Palm Beach'' became ''Sun Beam''. The cars were also renumbered 6500-6502 respectively. The reason for the change was SCL's efforts to standardize the names of their passenger equipment. The old "''Beach''" names were given to the three 5 double bedroom-buffet-lounges SAL had owned in order to bring those cars in line with ACL's "''Beach''" cars of the same configuration. Those cars were used on the ''Silver Meteor'' prior to the delivery of the Sun Lounges, and were occasionally used afterward when a Sun Lounge was unavailable. Amtrak inherited all three lounges in 1971, keeping the SCL names but renumbering the cars for a second time. The cars were assigned numbers 3200–3202, and were ''Sun Beam'', ''Sun Ray'', and ''Sun View'' respectively. The cars were kept in service on the ''Silver Meteor'', but were transferred to the '' Florida Special'' for the 1971-1972 winter season. Amtrak retired ''Sun View'' in 1977, and ''Sun Beam'' and ''Sun Ray'' followed in 1981. None of three were converted to

head-end power In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, ...

under the

Heritage Fleet Amtrak's Heritage Fleet consisted of the rolling stock provided to it when it assumed passenger service on commercial railroads. The name was applied to a 1977–1983 program that converted the older, mainly streamliner cars (rail), streamlined ...

program. The ''Sun Beam'' (''Palm Beach'') was scrapped in the 1980s. The other two cars are privately owned.

References

External links

* {{Pullman rolling stock Pullman Company Rail passenger cars of the United States Seaboard Air Line Railroad Vehicles introduced in 1956