Traveling Outside of Time
So Rosenwald did. He reimagined the Coast Starlight and initiated a series of dramatic upgrades, from regional specialties in the dining car to distinguished local wines (uncorked and poured, not the screw-top splits that were standard elsewhere on Amtrak), from fresh flowers and souvenir appreciation gifts in sleeping car bedrooms to live onboard entertainment.
But his greatest innovation was the Pacific Parlour Car, a separate upscale bi-level lounge for first-class passengers, the place Joseph and I whiled away the hours eating peanuts, watching the scenery and pitying the people who traveled by plane. Rosenwald found several vintage 1950s Santa Fe Railway lounge cars, possibly some of the same cars he traveled in as a kid, and spent $3 million refurbishing them. The new Pacific Parlour Cars featured upstairs lounges with mahogany paneled walls, glass sconces, domed viewing windows, swivel armchairs, couches, banquettes and full bars, and downstairs cinemas with big-screen TVs and classic movie theater seating for 19.