The interesting post on the DZ two section operations in January
1956 caught my interest, especially that the diner and coffee shop
cars were split.
I have presumed, and probably incorrectly, that the CZ and DZ diners,
and coffee shop cars respectively were essentially laid out in
similar fashion insofar as the food service functions were concerned.
The CZ diners and coffee shop cars were designed specifically to work
with other back-to-back, especially when it came to pantry and
storage space. Specifically and essentially, the CZ diner had by
design very little pantry space, relying on such space in the coffee
shop car.
For this reason, the CZ diners did not do well when unconnected to
the coffee shops. When in early Amtrak service on the SFZ, part of
the problem was solved by routinely situating the former SP Domes
ahead of the diner, the vast empty space below the dome floor
substituting in a fashion for the otherwise absent former coffee shop
space.
I do not have specific information at hand at how long the CZ diners
lasted in Amtrak service, but I understood that they were not popular
because of the poor storage.
I would presume that the DZ diners might have been able to "make do"
in this regard (absent the coffee shop) because they only had to
serve evening and morning meals between terminal commissary visits.
Curious: how did the DZ diners do in Amtrak service?
Denny
--
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Sacramento, CA
|