A parlor car (or parlour car outside the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

) is a type of

passenger coach A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...

that provides superior comforts and amenities compared to a standard coach.

History

Parlor cars came about on United States railroads to address the absence of separate class accommodations. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, passenger trains carried first-, second- and third-class coaches, with the first-class coaches offering the best seating and costing the most. In contrast, American trains offered a flat rate and standard accommodations. For 19th-century writers this represented a difference between class-bound Europe and the democratic United States. Parlor accommodations were appreciated by those who used them because of their exclusivity.

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

called the parlor car "the best investment open to an American": Most parlor cars were found on daytime trains in the

Northeast United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic list of regions of the United States, region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast ...

. In comparison to a standard coach, parlor cars offered more comfortable seating and surroundings, as well as food and beverages, but were far inferior to

sleeping cars The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars s ...

for overnight trips.

Today

United States

Elevated service survives on

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

although the term "parlor car" has fallen into disuse. One recently discontinued example was the Pacific Parlour Car on the ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...

'', converted

Hi-Level The Hi-Level was a type of Bilevel rail car, bilevel intercity railroad passenger railroad car, passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never pr ...

lounges which featured a mixture of 1x1 swivel-chair seating and cafe-style seating. In contrast to past usage, this car was provided as a sleeping car passenger-only lounge and was not itself bookable. Amtrak discontinued the Pacific Parlour in February 2018. The '' Acela'' offers First Class service, including at-seat service and improved seating. Other Amtrak trains offer a Business Class, which includes roomier seating and, on some routes, a complimentary beverage and newspaper.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parlor car Passenger railroad cars