Pleased to report that I just completed a roundtrip Chicago-New Orleans aboard Iowa Pacific's new Pullman service on the rear of Amtrak's City of New Orleans. Please see www.travelpullman.com for details.

The observation car Ponchatrain Club and the 11 bedroom sleeper and dome diner were all nicely restored and functional.

The crew was way above average, well trained and very attentive. Meals in the dome were a special treat.

If you enjoy traveling by train and appreciate great service and fully restored Pullman ambiance I strongly recommend it.

Iowa Pacific has now assembled a fleet of over 150 passenger cars and several dozen passenger locomotives with the objective of restoring them into a fleet of first class consists that will serve select makets throughout the nation catering to the growing retired community looking for a different recreational experience. With a modicum of help from Amtrak I believe they will succeed.



Ross Rowland

What about having you supply one of the locomotives, Ross?

First available video clip I could find of the equipment in revenue service:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh83_SzhQ4Y

I noticed one of their advertised cars is a former L&N Pine series sleeper, in the 6 roomette, 4 double bedroom, 6 open section(!) configuration. These cars were build in the mid 1950s, and probably some of the last open section Pullman cars built.

So, in 2012 it is possible in the United States to travel via an open berth Pullman in overnight service. Tempting.....

Decided to do some checking to see what, if anything, was in the media before this service started, and before the big attention that came to it with the "memorandum of understanding" with the Adirondack Scenic.

What I have found suggests much of this has been relatively low-key, compared with the big glamour build-up that came with American Orient Express. This story is particularly interesting for a comment that says two principle routes or markets were clearly identified; one was Chicago-New Orleans, the other New York-Chicago. The latter would certainly tie in with the Adirondack Railroad proposal. Imagine, set-out sleepers coming back at Syracuse!

http://lagrange.suntimes.com/14184711-4 ... -cars.html

Discussion at RailroadNet dating from back in February and running into May:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 46&t=92254

On the Adirondack service by Railway Age:

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/pas ... Ja_QG_R6So

Yahoo Finance:

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/pullma ... tml?page=1

The "Colorado Pine" is an ex L&N sleeper. It was based for many years in Denver, Co. When the Denver Union Station redevelopment was started, there appeared to be no room for Private Cars as well as no track access for at least four years. The then owners made a sound business decision to sell the car.
This is a non-official reply.

Ira Schreiber
Aurora, Co

Colorado Pine info (Plantation Pine): http://cozx.com/copine.html

Wow. I was expecting to see 2 or 3 Pullmans on the back of the train and much to much surprise there are 6 cars. I hope they can pull it off.

Wow, were there really 150 decent (Amtrak-compatible) passenger cars and several dozen locomotives on the market out there? That's what amazes me...

How often does this service operate and is there a way to see the schedule other than going to their site and going through the motions as though to book passage? Seems like only a handful of dates are shown. Are there many runs that are sold out and do not show up?

Steve

Use the Travel by Pullman website and sign up for their email list so that you'll be kept updated on their offerings.

Ross Rowland

Maybe as the build a relationship with Amtrak they will be able to restart the Ski Train out of Denver.

We, here in Denver, hope there is a "new" Ski Train and Ed Ellis is the guy to do it, IMHO.
Ira Schreiber
Aurora, CO

What do you think the time frame is for getting a ski train out to Denver? I overheard some people in the lobby of the Hampton Inn Times Square New York say that it would be done in the next 3 years. Is this the case?

My guess is a VERY long time.

Mike