Denny,
Interesting discussion.
As you know, when the CZ began service the diner ran sandwiched between the
Pullmans (CZ-13 and CZ-12) so it would require a short walk of 200 feet to a
pantry in the Vista Dome Dormitory Buffet car. Not very ideal but certainly
practical.
I used to work at the former GM&O St.Louis Commissary for a Mr. Tony Cermak who
was a cook on the GM&O. This was during early Amtrak years. The Amtrak diners
required alot of canned items, pre-maid bakable pies, etc. Tony described when
he arrived for work on the diner in earlier years he would begin peeling apples
for apple pies made from scratch.
I understand the needs of a pantry in 1949 were different than the needs of a
pantry under Amtrak. Storage was much more of an issue in the later "almost
ready made" Amtrak era.
In Kansas City in the early 1970's, we would see ex CZ cars Silver Cafe and
Silver Diner operating routinely on the National Limited.
Do you have more information about the "false floor" under the dome of the
Vista Dome Buffet Dorm cars?
Again, this is an interesting topic.
Hubert
--- In CBQ@yahoogroups.com, Denny Anspach <danspach@...> wrote:
>
> A distinct feature of the CZ diners was their minimal pantry storage
> capacity, so designed because they made use of dedicated pantry space
> in the accompanying coffee shop dome, i.e. the two cars being designed
> to operate routinely as a married pair. This poor storage capacity
> limited the CZ diners' attractiveness to Amtrak and their eventual
> life span. For awhile after Amtrak's initiation of the SF Zephyr, the
> CZ diners were in service for a short period, but only as a married
> pair with the former SP dome lounges- which had ample easy-to-get-to
> storage capacity under the false floor of the dome.
>
>
> It would be a pertinent question as to whether or not any of the other
> CBQ diners would have had the same limitations, given their different
> route assignments.
>
>
> Denny
>
> Denny S. Anspach MD
> Okoboji, IA
>
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