Glen,
As you are probably aware, NYC had scores of "River" series 10-6 Pullmans.
Cars Names Numbers and Consists page 29 lists nearly a hundred. As Rich
Gortowski mentioned earlier, it's a good guess as to why one would show up as
CZ-15 in the California Zephyr as shown in the Domeliners book.
Railroads in the glory days often borrowed cars from other roads. Steve
Sparling, an Amtrak employee who worked for the Burlington reservation desk
in Denver, in the early sixties told me when cars were needed, a simple phone
call to another road would secure additional cars to meet demand for space on
short notice. This was usually the case for chair cars.
In addition, tour groups would often travel cross country in Pullmans,
providing a colorful mix to regular consists. So one can only speculate why
a NYC Pullman is in line as CZ-15 on the California Zephyr.
If you look at the book Northern California Railroads "The Silver Age" by
Fred Mathews, page 144 shows a rare photo of a Union Pacific 2-tone grey
"Pacific" series Pullman running directly in front on the Vist Dome
Observation on the California Zephyr in 1959. Foreign Pullmans did not have
wiring for the California Zephyr public address system, (announcements came
from the stewards station in the diner) which would be a logical reason to
put the car behind other Pullmans in front of CZ-10 the Vista Dome
Observation.
Hubert
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