Heritage Fleet


's Heritage Fleet consisted of the rolling stock provided to it when it assumed passenger service on commercial railroads. The name was applied to a program begun in 1977 to convert the older, mainly streamlined, cars from steam heating to head-end power. Head end power conversions were performed at Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops, outside of Indianapolis. The program was completed by the mid-1980s, and the fleet was fully retired by 2019. The last car was a former Great Northern Railway full-length dome car, which was manufactured in 1955 and retired in 2019 by Amtrak, due to the age and expense of maintaining the Great Dome Car.

History

The rebuild cost $300,000 per car. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway handled the conversion of the Hi-Levels in its Topeka, Kansas shops.
Heritage baggage and dining cars were used on the single-level trains serving the Eastern U.S. out of New York City through late 2017. The baggage cars from Amtrak's Viewliner II order, placed in 2010, fully replaced the Heritage versions: the last was delivered in December 2015. Twelve diners are also now in revenue service. In January 2018, due to high maintenance costs for the 60+ year old cars, Amtrak announced the retirement of the last five remaining "Pacific Parlour" Hi-Level lounge cars still in active service on the Coast Starlight, bringing an end to the era of Heritage Fleet equipment in regular revenue service. The last run using one of these cars was on February 4, 2018. The last remaining Great Dome car, Ocean View, was retired in 2019 by Amtrak, due to the age and expense of maintaining the Great Dome Car.

Roster

Fleet numbersTypeBuilderYear builtNumber builtNotes
1000–1006BaggageNSC1957–19587
1127BaggageACF19501
1126, 1128–1136, 1175–1177BaggageP-S1947–195713
1137–1138BaggageACF19562
1139BaggageStLC19621
1140–1158BaggageACF1946–194713
1159–1174BaggageBudd1947–195316
1178–1195BaggageStLC1952–195417Rebuilt from Baggage Dormitories and Lounges
1203–1249BaggageBudd1953–195746
1250–1272BaggageACF1950–195423
1350–1379Short BaggageStLC195330
1450–1455Baggage DormitoryStLC19524
1610–1617, 1628–1633Baggage DormitoryStLC195214Some renumbered from 1400 series
1618–1627Baggage DormitoryBudd1946–19509
1700–1740BaggageBudd1950–196139Converted from 4000, 4600, 4700 series coaches
1750–1763Mail CarBudd1950–196114Converted from lower 1700 series Baggage cars
2050–2056Slumbercoach Budd19497
2080–2097Slumbercoach Budd1956–195918
2220–2222Sleeper Budd1952–19563
2230–2235Sleeper P-S19566
2430–2482Sleeper Budd1948–195240
2500–2524Dormitory LoungeBudd1949–195025Rebuilt from 2800-2900 series sleepers
2871–2997Sleeper Budd1949–195036
3100–3105LoungeStLC19546
3106–3127LoungeBudd1948–195220
4000–4023Coach Budd1950–195421
4600–4626, 4646–4647Coach StLC1960–196429
4627–4645, 4648–4649Coach Budd1950–196121
4700–4742Coach Budd1948–195343
7000–7007Coach Budd19528
7600–7629Coach Budd1952–195329Some cars rebuilt from 4700 series
8500–8532DinerBudd1948–195832Some cars rebuilt from 8700 series
8550–8559Diner GrillBudd1948–195810Rebuilt from lower 8500 series
8600–8603Table CarStLC1960–19644Rebuilt from 4600 series
8700–8716CafeteriaBudd1950–195612
8750–8752KitchenBudd19493Rebuilt from 8500 series
9300–9302Dome LoungeBudd19553
9310–9312Dome LoungeP-S19523
9400–9412Dome CoachBudd195513
39900–39938Hi-Level Transition Coach DormBudd1956–196437Ex-Santa Fe, El Capitan service
39940–39964Hi-Level CoachBudd1956–196420Ex-Santa Fe, El Capitan service
39970–39975Hi-Level LoungeBudd19566Ex-Santa Fe, El Capitan service
39980–39985Hi-Level DinerBudd19566Ex-Santa Fe, El Capitan service