Email correspondence earlier this year with persons knowledgeable about the big SCL wreck at Winter Haven indicate that the wrecked Sun Lounge was in fact the Hollywood Beach. I would say that whoever did the repairs on that car back then did some nice work.

Topfuel is correct about the Hollywood Beach being the car that was wrecked. When the car was being rebuilt at Illinois Transit Assembly Corp by Les Kasten, the car had signs of wreck damage and repairs (corner posts rebuilt, different rivets used in the roof, car not square when it arrived, etc.).

The Miami Beach was not slab-sided by SCL, but was done by a previous owner in Syracuse, NY who intended to make it match a smooth-sided consist.

Hope this helps.

For those who were wondering about the current status of the Hollywood Beach, I will leave this link here:
http://www.willettsrailcarservices.com/Hollywood.htm

Hope this helps!

-Eric Shock

Thanks, Topfuel and WMSR1, for clarifying that it was the Hollywood Beach involved in the Winter Haven wreck, not the Miami Beach, and that the Miami Beach was slab-sided by a private owner after sale by Amtrak!

Thanks, Eric, for the link to the Hollywood Beach website!

Now, does anybody have a full list of the cars involved in the Winter Haven wreck? Besides Hollywood Beach, I'm guessing that there were other cars that were repaired and returned to service. Thanks in advance!

Now to throw a wrench in this long-neglected post and raise a query:

It is strongly implied in the above back-and-forth that car 3222 Palm Beach was sold off/scrapped 1978.

However, here's a car that's been sitting next to Titletown Brewing (former C&NW passenger depot) in Green Bay, WI for many years now--to the point where the siding it sits on has been cut off from the passing track and the siding now isolated/landlocked:



The car sports the Amtrak/AAPRRCO number 800239 next to the vestibule. The info I can find online suggests the following:


http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=3993020

Further, this appears to NOT be one of the three SAL "Sun Room" glass-roof-lounge cars which started this entire discussion/thread. Did someone switch names or completely rebuild this car away from that configuration (Amtrak post-wreck)?

So what gives here? Anyone have an update on THIS car, especially since there's a rail museum with a national focus across town? The appearance of this car in my 2017 photo also seems to refute the information upthread that the car was "slabsided" in the 1970s--though a car COULD have fluting restored, I have my doubts this happened here.

And, dammit, why didn't I ask the brewery owner while I was interviewing him?

This is the other Palm Beach. There were 2 different sets of sleeper-buffet lounges on the SAL/SCL which carried the 3 Beach-series names.

The 3 cars which were discussed previously in this thread, including the first Palm Beach, are the well-known Sun Room cars, and were built by P-S in 1956 in Lot #6970 to Plan #4202, with 5 double bedrooms and 21 lounge seats, as SAL #18-#20, and were respectively named Miami Beach (stored with fluting removed at ITAX/Gateway), Palm Beach (scrapped back in the 1980's at Naparano), and Hollywood Beach (in regular charter service). These 3 cars were renamed to the Sun-series in October 1967 as the Sun View, Sun Beam, and Sun Ray respectively. These 3 cars became SCL #6502, #6500, and #6501 in that order and then Amtrak #3232, #3230, and #3201 in that order, with the number of lounge seats reduced by 2.

The 3 cars, including the one seen in the above photo, were built by AC&F in 1949 in Lot #3045 to Pullman Plan #9003, with 6 double bedrooms and 24 lounge seats, as SAL #15-#17, and were respectively named Red Mountain, Stone Mountain, and Kennesaw Mountain. These 3 cars were renamed to the Beach-series in October 1967 as the Palm Beach (the car seen above), Miami Beach, and Hollywood Beach. These 3 cars became SCL #6602, #6601, and #6600 in that order and then Amtrak #3222, #3221, and #3220 in that order, with the number of lounge seats reduced by 4. The Palm Beach (2nd) (ex-Red Mountain) seen here is listed as retired in 1978 and sold in 1979 to a Mr. Nelson.