CHICAGO — From the outside, stainless steel gallery car No. 6103 looks just like any other Nippon Sharyo multi-level coach. But it will soon take turns roaming Metra’s BNSF, Milwaukee District, and Union Pacific routes though mid-November, offering snacks and beverages. The upstairs seating and dual walkways have been removed on one half of the car by the engineering wizards at Metra’s ex-Rock Island 47th/49th Street shop complex to create a café car prototype.
Its forays on these routes will help Metra management gauge customer acceptance of the car’s interior layout while ascertaining snack and beverage preferences that commuters would likely buy should such a car be regularly deployed.
No. 6103 made its rolling debut last Tuesday through Thursday on a series of Rock Island District rush-hour trains, including an evening “showcase” at Metra’s LaSalle Street Station. It will next run on BNSF Line trains Oct. 14-16, as shown on this page of Metra’s website, which also lists the weeks it will operate on other routes.
The schedule for its BNSF trial:
Tuesday, Oct: 14: Inbound train No. 1226, departing Fairview Avenue (Downers Grove) at 7:12 a.m.; outbound No. 1281, departing Chicago Union Station, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 15: Inbound No. 1308, departing Lisle 7:08 a.m.; outbound No. 1277, departing Union Station 6:05 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 16: Inbound No. 1214, departing Fairview Avenue at 6:12 a.m.; outbound No. 1259, departing Union Station 4:50 p.m.
Trains.com visited the car when it was on display Monday (Oct. 6) on LaSalle Street station’s track 1. The car features a colorful, cathedral-like space fitted with a variety of tables and counters with bar stools. The double set of windows on each side is a welcome change from intruding overhead racks and walkways above a narrow center aisle.
Chicago-area commuters have been riding in gallery cars since the 1950s, when they were first introduced on the Burlington and behind Chicago & North Western steam locomotives. Then, a number of mostly C&NW longer-distance commuter trains featured heavyweight railroad-operated “bar car” hand-me- later replaced by surplus lightweight lounges following the demise of the 400 streamliners. Metra carried on the tradition as long as their operation was subsidized by regular riders. The last car to operate was CNW 553, coupled to limited stop weekday rush-hour trips to and from Kenosha, Wis.
Metra’s café car experiment bears no resemblance to those earlier suburban incarnations, but similar modifications were made by the Alaska Railroad conversions of former North Western long-distance lounge and parlor cars.
Regarding the menu, “We haven’t decided what we will offer, that’s why we are asking everyone who comes in here to fill out a survey on their smart phone,” says Elaine Teter, Metra’s director of marketing. Presiding over the snack bar as people walk in, she offers a complimentary snack, soft drink or iced coffee, and a piece of paper with a QR code. The questions range from asking about the route and frequency of trips; impressions about seat comfort and if there are enough tables; what they would purchase in the evening or morning commute, and if they currently buy food and drink at stations.
“We expect to have hot coffee soon; whether we will offer alcoholic beverages is still to be decided, based on responses, costs, and logistics. Everything is on the table at this point,” says Teter.
