Beginning May 11 the train will depart Burlington at 5:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays offering a three-hour round trip to Middlebury. Passengers will be served a three-course meal.
The train, which will be pulled by Vermont Railway System freight units, includes five cars from what Green Mountain refers to as its “Silver Fleet.” These include the following, which were all built by Budd in 1937 for the Santa Fe as coaches:
No. 3074: Built for Santa Fe as part of Lot 977, an order for 30 52-seat coaches made in February of 1937, and delivered between July and October 1937. The cars were originally assigned to the Scout but later were assigned to trains such as the San Diegan, Golden Gate, Kansas Cityan/Chicagoan, Tulsan, and El Capitan. In 1969, the car was sold to the New Jersey Department of Transportation and rebuilt as 82-seat commuter coach 3074. In 1989, it was sold to Green Mountain and has since been rebuilt into a 64-seat dining car.
No. 3075: Sold by Santa Fe to NJDOT in 1969 and converted to 82-seat commuter coach 3075. Sold to GMRR in 1989, today it serves as a 60-seat dining car.
No. 3089: Sold in 1969 to NJDOT and rebuilt as 82-seat commuter coach 3089. In 1989 it sold to Green Mountain and later rebuilt into a 48-seat dining car with a bar on one end.
No. 3091: Sold to NJDOT in 1969 and rebuilt as 82-seat commuter coach 3075. In 1989, the car was sold to the Green Mountain and later rebuilt into a 21-seat lounge car with a large bar on one end.
No. 3101: Sold this car to Penn Central in 1970, which converted it to 84-seat commuter coach 2403. Later it went to New Jersey Transit before being sold to Green Mountain Railroad as car 3101. It has been rebuilt into a 68-seat table car with a small lounge area on one end.
“In addition to the Silver Fleet, we will, of course, be pulling our new Kitchen Car 3010, to prepare all meals on board,” says Nicole Wulfson, who handles passenger marketing and customer service for Green Mountain.
No. 3010 is former Ringling Brothers “pie car” No. 63010 built by St. Louis Car Co. in 1962 for Union Pacific as postal storage car 5770. It was sold to Ringling Brothers in 1999 and came to Green Mountain in 2017. In addition to the kitchen area, No. 3010 also has a dining area for 24 passengers.
“We will seat up to 150 people, even though the capacity of the train is probably about 260. Strangers won’t be sitting with strangers; we are going to spread everybody out so everyone gets the most of their experience,” Wulfson adds. “It’s a really nice, relaxing experience where people can just unplug, enjoy it, and not worry about rushing. Passengers can lose track of time, take in the scenery and enjoy a very nice, new experience.”
The train will also offer a smoother ride, which is one reason the railroad decided to operate dinner trains out of Burlington, Wulfson says. The line south of Burlington now has welded rail installed in preparation for the expansion of Amtrak service from Rutland to Burlington, which is expected by 2020 or 2021.
Tickets for the train are $85 per person. First Class service is available at $100 for 18 passengers that include a complimentary drink and seating in a first class lounge car after the meal. There will be special brunch trips offered on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
For the past two years, the railroad operated the Green Mountain Dinner Train fall foliage trips out of Chester. That train will resume Sept. 14 after the Lake Champlain Dinner Train ends its season Sept. 1. The Green Mountain Dinner Train will run through Oct. 20.
For more information, go to www.rails-vt.com/cvdinnertrain.
This story was edited April 19 to correct the photo caption.
Here in New Jersey, I remember when these cars were acquired as temporary additions to the Stillwell and “Boonton” car fleet until the new Pullman-Standard pushpulls arrived. I actually filmed the first train with these cars at Ridgewood, complete with a ceremony and the high school band! In use they turned out to be less than satisfactory as commuter cars because they had doors only at one end.
Raymond – No, because I would be eating and not talking to him. There would be no words for him to have to listen to. There are some people who simply can’t shut up and who can’t stand the thought that they could sit at a dining car table facing someone who doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. So, “Bravo!” to the folks at Vermont Railway who will try to keep customers from having to sit with strangers.
@Ron. If you were sitting at a full lunch counter next to a stranger, wouldn’t you be a stranger to him having to listen to all your,,,,,,,,,,,,,?
One of the great pleasures of eating in the dining car has been being seated with strangers. Too bad they’re not doing that.
These are the first individual stainless steel passenger cars built by Budd (as opposed to the Pioneer Zepher and following articulated sets). Budd built well!
Not everyone thinks that it’s a pleasure to be seated with strangers in a dining car. What they seem intent on doing is making sure that groups of 3 or 4 are seated together at one table. One nice thing about the old days was that some trains had a coffee- shop car with a long lunch counter with individual stools much like a roadside diner. Passengers traveling alone could sit there without having to put up with strangers and their hot air and b.s.
Green Mountain expands dinner menu and Amtrak shrinks it.
Your photo actually shows the train at the Ludlow, VT depot. The Chester station is much more elaborate, with a copper roof sheltering the platform. Also, there is only a single track in Chester.