SP Passenger Car Statistics - (Part 1) 72 & 77ft Arch Roof Dining Cars

This is a blog page post designed to cover the basic classes and history of the SP's Dining Cars leading into the 1930's rebuilding to Air Conditioning, which formed the backbone of the SP's older HW diners into the 1950s reduction in passenger train assignments for premier HW dining cars.  I'll be covering the later "Clerestory" 77ft and 80ft dining cars in a future post.

Aisle side of 77-D-4 A/C'd Diner SP 10112 in pre-war SPL Dark Olive Green scheme with extra window at right end. - Bob Zenk collection

My main focus of all my blog posts is providing this information to modelers of the SP during this era, as such, I'll be using some of my kitbashes, some still in-progress, to show as I don't have permission to use many prototype photos.  Thanks to Bob Zenk for use of a couple of his photos in this series.  I will also be looking at possible prototypes of the new Dining Car models from Golden Gate Depot, as of the time of the posting of this blog, we only have early renders for the cars.  So I am looking to provide some more in-depth historical background on SP's 77-D-1/3/4 series of HW Diners, so we can make informed decisions about what models we may want to pre-order.  I will also be making a separate post on just those classes that GGD is planning to release in the form of a "Pre-review", but this post is needed first to set the context of what the contemporary cars were in the SP fleet. 

Prototype Information on 72-D & 77-D-Series Diners

My interests really focus on the 1940s to the mid-1950s.  The SP's Dining Car fleet during my era of interest reaches back to the 72 foot all-steel dining cars of 72-D-1 in the early 1900s, but most of those were out of service or going out of service during my era, but we'll start with them.

72-D-1 - T&NO (4 cars)

T&NO 911 retired 1953

T&NO 912 retired 1949

T&NO 913 retired 1953

T&NO 914 retired 1952

This small group of steel dining cars were reconfigured with 40-seats (all 4-seat tables) in 1943 to boost the SP's supply of dining cars for military troop and special train movements.  Only the 911 was upgraded in 1943 with ice A/C.  In 1947 the four cars were returned to 30-seats (aisle-side of car 2-person tables, 4-person tables on kitchen side).  All of these cars were retired starting in 1949 and gone by 1953.

72-D-2 - SP/UP (4 cars SP, 1 car UP)

SP 10012 Stored Oct '32, Rebuilt A/C'd to SP 10912 Cafe-Lounge in Nov'37, back to 34-seat Diner SP 10012 May'42 to 44-seat Diner in 1944, restored to 33-seat Cafe-Lounge in Feb'50.

SP 10013 Stored May'33, Rebuilt A/C to SP 10913 Cafe-Lounge Oct'37, to 34-seat Diner SP 10013 June'42, to 44-seat Diner in 1944, restored to 33-seat Cafe-Lounge in Mar'50.

SP 10014 Stored Oct'32, Rebuilt A/C to SP 10914 Cafe Lounge Sept'37, to SP 10014 June'42, reconfigured to 34-seat Diner July'42, to 44-seat Diner 1944, Retired 1951, to SPMW 646 Feb'53

SP 10015 Stored Oct'32, Rebuilt A/C to SP 10915 Cafe Lounge Sept'37, to SP 10014 June'42, reconfigured to 34-seat Diner July'42, to 44-seat Diner 1944, restored to 33-seat Cafe-Lounge in Mar'50.
UP 343 to UP 4043 3/43, to sandwich car 12/46, to boarding 04363 in 5/51 to 904363 5/59.

SP 10913 after rebuild to Cafe-Lounge, the lounge windows opposite the kitchen were moved, creating the blank wall section in the middle of the car-side. (my kitbash model)

All cars held as spares from the early 1930s until their 1937 rebuilds into the 72 foot Cafe-Lounges.  The rebuilds of this group consisted of bumping the last three sets of windows towards the non-kitchen end of the car by about 3ft, which allowed installation of lounge servicing nooks for the waiters for coffee and drinks.  When the cars were put back into dining service during the war, the cars were simply reconfigured by taking the lounge chairs and standees out and putting tables and dining chairs back in their place.  These "conversions" became more common, including on the San Joaquin Daylight's Coffee-Shop section of the triple-unit 1939 cars in 1949 during the off-season, turning the rear 1/3 of the car into a lounge by changing the tables and chairs for lounge seats and drink standees.

UP also received six of this class after the Harriman anti-trust settlement, which were retired between 1950 and 1952.  None of these cars ever wore anything but standard SP/UP Olive Green paint.

72-D-3 - SP, C&A, & OSL (Total of 9 cars, 6 SP, 2 C&A, 1 OSL)

Aisle-side of SP 10005 after being retired to SPMW 7021D. (my kitbash model)

SP 10011 Rebuilt to SP 10911 Cafe-Lounge in 1937

C&A 608 Renamed 'Monticello', renumbered 1071 in 1935, rebuilt to Baggage Car in 1941

C&A 609 Renumbered 1072 in 1935, rebuilt to Baggage Car in 1941

OSL 369 to UP 4018 in 1943, to MW diner 011296 in 1951

SP 10000 retired to SPMW 7032F in 1948

SP 10001 retired to SPMW 7029B in 1949

SP 10002 had a busy but abusive life: Shriner Specials in 1936, to CCC in 1937-39, then leased to R&LHS in 1938, stripped of interior, then lease was cancelled in 1940, finally retired to "LA wrecker" SPMW 7025H in 1941.

SP 10004 retired to SPMW 4314 in 1948

SP 10005 retired SPMW 7021D in 1948 - which is the Bakersfield Wrecker outfit.

Kitchen-side of SP 10005 after being retired to SPMW 7021D with swamp-cooler A/C added to roof.

77-D-1 T&NO (5 cars)

I'm going to try to provide some of the car-by-car info on these cars, as there will be a number of us wanting to model these cars with the upcoming Golden Gate Depot models.

Kitchen-side of modernized 1937 A/C SP 77-D-1/3/4 class cars as of 2025 CAD rendering of the upcoming Golden Gate Depot model.

T&NO 915 Vac in 1955, scrapped 1956.

T&NO 916 to TNOMW 3335 in 1953.

T&NO 917 Vac in 1955, scrapped 1956.

T&NO 918 Vac in 1955, scrapped 1956.

T&NO 919 to 30-seat Diner-Lunch+12-seat Lounge in 1952 for Hustler service (possibly painted in Daylight colors for this service? Slightly too early for SSS/red stripe scheme on the Hustler/Sunbeam pool. - No info, just a guess from the service assignment.), Vac in 1955, scrapped 1956.

These cars didn't have much updating outside of the 1930's installation of A/C.  They seem to have lasted well into the last years of T&NO passenger service, I'm guessing probably on the last HW trains still running, such as the Argonaut.

While I'm sure the T&NO - Sunset Route modelers will bite on getting the GGD cars and reworking the car's lettering for these cars, some of the 77-D-3/4 class cars later found their way to the T&NO as these cars were retired.

77-D-2 SP (6 cars rebuilt

These cars were unique on the SP as they were completely rebuilt from the six earlier 72-O-1 class of observation cars, receiving oddly spaced kitchen window section with the small window next to the door, unique among SP's diners.  All of the cars were repainted early into TTG in 1942 for premier service.  The Night Trains of the Coast Line book by Joeseph Shire, specifically shows a photo of 10096 set up and painted to be the protection car for the Lark in 1941-1942 in TTG (along with freshly rebuilt Tavern-style Lounge 2976).  The SF Overland would have also needed a couple diners in TTG around 1942 as well.

My kitbashed SP 10096, a 77-D-2 Diner. (my kitbash model)

SP 10092 to TTG in 1942 for assignment to Golden State, to Hamburger Grill 10501 in 1955.

SP 10093 to TTG in 1942 for assignment to Golden State, to Hamburger Grill 10502 in 1955.

SP 10094 rebuilt to SP 10910 Cafe-Lounge in 1936, returned to 48-seat Diuner SP 10094 in May'43, Leased to T&NO 931 in April'44, to Lounge Car in Aug'50, restored to 48-seat Diner Jan'51 - Vac in 1955, dismantled May'56 at Houston.

SP 10095 to TTG in 1942 for assignment to Golden State, to Hamburger Grill 10500 in 1954.

SP 10096 to TTG in 1942 possibly for assignment to Golden State, to Hamburger Grill 10503 in 1955.

SP 10097 to TTG in 1942 possibly for assignment to Golden State, Yellow in 1954 for Overland, to Hamburger Grill 10504 in 1955.

SP 10094 first upgraded with ice A/C in 1936, then all remaining cars upgraded in 1940 with Waukasha 2 Enginators.

72-D-3 SP (10 cars)

Same info pretty much as the 77-D-1s, as these were basically a copy of that class, built after the conversion of the 77-D-2s in the intervening years.  I'm going to try to provide some of the car-by-car info on these cars, as there will be a number of us wanting to model these cars with the upcoming Golden Gate Depot models, and these details will be helpful in selecting the proper underbody details.

Right side of SP 10103 Diner from heavily converted Soho model - Aisle windows on Soho model not correct. - Modeling by Chris Culp. - 

I will also add here that the Soho models are about as good as we can get currently, there is a major mistake on the Soho models in that the aisle-side windows are incorrect, as they should NOT be a mirror of the kitchen-side windows.  Unfortunately, once you see it... you can't really "un-see" it.  Hopefully this will be a correction that the new GGD cars will get correct in their new tooling!

SP 10098 Wk2 En A/C - toilet blanked 1940, TTG in 1942 for Golden State, to H.Grill SP 10505 in 2/1955.

SP 10099 Wk2 En A/C - toilet blanked 1939, TTG in 1942 for Golden State, Yellow in 3/57 for SF Overland service. Retired 1960, scraped '61

SP 10100 Wk2 En A/C - toilet blanked 1940, TTG in 1942 for Golden State, to H.Grill SP 10506 in 1/1955.

SP 10101 Wk1 En A/C - toilet blanked 1939, to H.Grill SP 10507 in 2/55 painted Daylight for SJD

SP 10102 Wk1 En A/C - car wrecked (telescoped completely) at Bagley, UT 12/31/44, rebuilt over seven months, returning to service in Nov'45. Retired 4/56 to SPMW 3997 March'57 at El Paso.

SP 10103 Wk1 En A/C 8'37 - Stayed Dark Olive Green until retired 8/59 and broken up.

SP 10104 Wk1 En A/C 9'37 - repainted TTG Jan'56, retired 2/58 and sold for scrap 10/29/58.

SP 10105 Wk1 En A/C 9'37 - Stayed Dark Olive Green until rebuilt to H.Grill SP 10511 in 4/55 

SP 10106 Wk1 En A/C 9'37 - Stayed Dark Olive Green until damaged on the Rock Island (CRIP) on 10/10/1949, retired 6/50 to boarding car for wreck outfit SPMW 7018B 3/12/53.

SP 10107 Wk1 En A/C 10'37 - Stayed Dark Olive Green until retired 2/58 and sold for scrap 10/29/58

77-D-4 SP (10 cars) & T&NO (5 cars)

SP 10112, one of four 77-D-series Diners painted in 1957 in Armour Yellow scheme for Overland Limited - Bob Zenk collection

Same info pretty much as the 77-D-3s, as these were basically a copy of that class.  I'm going to try to provide some of the car-by-car info on these cars, as there will be a number of us wanting to model these cars with the upcoming Golden Gate Depot models.  Note that the CP numbering series starts in the old CP 10000-series, then hops up to the 10100-series, continuing the 77-D-3 SP numbering.

T&NO 920 (1924-1929) to SP 10006 (2nd) - Spare 1932, modernized 1935, rebuilt with A/C 1937 for Cascade, car remained painted in standard Dark Olive Green until painted into Yellow in 1957 for SF Overland, then to SSS in 8/59, retired 2/62 and sold for scrap.
T&NO 921 (1924-1929) to SP 10007 (2nd) - Spare 1932, modernized & rebuilt with A/C 1937 for Oregonian, car painted standard Dark Olive Green until vacated in 1955 and dismantled in Houston in May'56.

T&NO 922 (1924-1929) to SP 10008 (2nd) - Spare 1932, modernized & rebuilt with A/C 1937 for Cascade, to Coffee Shop-Lounge SP 10900 (2nd) in March'54.  Car was painted Dark Olive Green until 1954 conversion.

ML&T 923 (1924-1929) to SP 10009 (2nd) - Spare 1932, modernized & rebuilt with A/C 1937 for SF Overland Ltd, painted TTG3 at some point (1946+), then to Yellow in 1957 for continued SF Overland service, then to SSS in 4/59 before being retired in Nov, 1960 and sold for scrap.

ML&T 924 (1924-1929) to SP 10010 (2nd) - Spare 1932, seating changed to 32 in 1933, then to 36A/C 1937 for Oregonian, to T&NO 932 (1st) Nov'45, back to SP 10010 Sept'49. Retired and scrapped 11/60. Painted to TTG at some point, probably circa 1954.

Note the skip in numbers to match up with 77-D-3 number series continuing

SP 10108 - Ice A/C 1936, remained in Dark Olive Green until retired in April'54, to SPMW 2084 3/56.

SP 10109 - A/C 1937 for SF Overland Ltd, TTG 1942?, low-loading door installed Aug'55, retired 11/60 and sold for scrap.

SP 10110 - A/C 1937 for SF Overland Ltd, Leased to SD&AE between 9'44-2'46, TTG March 1947, retired 3/56 to SPMW 3785 March'57.

SP 10111 - Ice A/C 1936, 36 wooden chairs  12/13/49, stored LA Jan'50. Remained Dark Olive.  Retired June'53, to Boarding SPMW 7024C 9/21/55 (SLO iirc)

SP 10112 - A/C 1937 for SF Overland Ltd, TTG3 at some point, Yellow 3/57 for SF Overland, retired 9/60 and sold for scrap.

SP 10113 - A/C 1937 for SF Overland Ltd, Remained Dark Olive. retired 3/56, to SPMW 2451 9/28/56.

SP 10114 - A/C 1937 for Cascade, TTG 3/56, retired 3/59, sold for scrap 5/60.

SP 10115 - Pearl Gray 5/30, back to Dark Olive Green 1/32, A/C 1937 for Senator, to Daylight circa 1947 for San Joaquin Daylight, converted to H.Grill SP 10512 in May'55.

SP 10116 - Pearl Gray 4/30, back to Dark Olive Green 10/31, A/C 1937 for El Dorado, TTG 2/47 and 2/56.  Retired 1/57, sold for scrap 10/58.

SP 10117 - Pearl Gray 5/30, back to Dark Olive Green 2/32, A/C 1937 as 'Extra', Daylight 6/50 - (San Joaquin Daylight protection service for 1939 Triple-Units), converted to H.Grill SP 10513 6/55 remaining on SJD assignment.

The Coffee Shop-Lounge Experiment of 1954

The SP 10008 (77-D-4) in Jan'54 was 'converted' to Coffee Shop-Lounge car SP 10900 reducing the Coffee Shop to 32-seats at 8 tables and 14 seats around the four tables in the Lounge section.  Out-shopping was complete by painting in Dark Olive Green with the car type spelled out under the car's reporting marks, suggesting the car wasn't going to be used on premier trains.  The SP 10900 then preceded into experiments starting in March, 1954 with moderate success.  While at the surface level appearing to be similar to the SP's very successful Cafe-Lounge cars, the union agreements became entangled with "Coffee Shop" service being mixed with "Lounge" service.  The car was retained at West Oakland in protection and extra service until retired in March, 1959, and scrapped in June, 1960.  Known assignments included protecting the regular H.G. car on the Klamath in March'56 and Snack-Lounge car on the Senator in May'57.

Hamburger-Grill Rebuilds

All 77-D-series "Arch Roof" Cars (11 cars converted, plus 3 ex-EPSW cars)

This section covers the 77-D-series HW Diners converted to Hamburger-Grill service and lettered as such.

SP 10507, first Hamburger Grill car in Daylight paint for test runs on the San Joaquin Daylight and SF Overland in late 1954. - Bob Zenk collection.

The interior changes consisted of adding a serving counter (think of coffee shop display cases or deli serving counters) between the Pantry (towards the middle of the car from the Kitchen) and replacing four tables, reducing the seating capacity of the standard Diners to only 32 seats on eight tables.

The early days of the H.G. service resulted in a mix of Diners in what had been "Coffee Shop" service switching to "Hamburger-Grill" menus with verbal orders to a server to rapidly expand the service after union agreement rules on the matter.

The Hamburger-Grill car conversions were not limited to these 'arch roof' cars alone, the three EPSW clerestory dining cars, SP 10123-10125, were also converted and assigned as SP 10508-10510.

SP 10500 77-D-2 Yellow scheme retained from previous Diner service to H.Grill in Oct'54, tested and then assigned Owl (57/58) in Jan, 1955, retired and broken up 1962.

SP 10501 77-D-2 TTG converted in Jan'55 and assigned to Klamath, retired and sold in 1958.

SP 10502 77-D-2 TTG converted in Feb'55 and assigned to Klamath, retired and sold in 1961.

SP 10503 77-D-2 TTG converted in Jan'55 and assigned to Owl (57/58), retired in 1962, broken up 1963.

SP 10504 77-D-2 TTG converted in Feb'55 and assigned to Klamath, retired 1960 and sold in 1961.

SP 10505 77-D-3 TTG converted in Feb'55, retired 11/61, sold 1/62

SP 10506 77-D-3 TTG converted in Jan'55, retired 2/60 and sold

SP 10507 77-D-3 TTG Feb'55, repainted to Daylight 2/21/56 for San Joaquin Daylight.

SP 10508 ex-EPSW 10123 (clerestory) TTG Feb'55, retired 11/60 and sold

SP 10509 ex-EPSW 10124 (clerestory) Daylight Feb'55 for San Joaquin Daylight, retired 11/60 and sold

SP 10510 ex-EPSW 10125 (clerestory) TTG Feb'55, retired 11/60 and sold 

SP 10511 77-D-3 Yellow scheme retained from previous Diner service to H.Grill in April'55, retired 12/57, broken up 10/58.

SP 10512 77-D-4 Yellow May'55, retired 5/58, broken up 10/58.

SP 10513 77-D-4 Daylight June'55 - San Joaquin Daylight, repainted to Yellow, retired 11/61. sold 4/63.

The new 2025 GGD model announcements suggest they will be offering the 77-D-3/4 painted in Daylight and lettered for Hamburger-Grill service.  I don't know yet which car number will be selected, but that will suggest SP 10513 for 1955 modelers or 10507 for 1956, which seems like a slightly strange choice.

Other HW Diners on the SP

Until I get the second part of this post put together to cover the following classes in more detail, here's a brief listing of the classes, number of cars, car numbers, and Cliff-Notes version of any cars in the class that had interesting occurrences in their service or later lives.

Ex-EPSW Diners SP 10119-10122 (4 steel cars remained non-A/C'd, 2 retired in 1940 and 2 in 1947/48)  I'm not going to count these cars in the final statistics, as they're never upgraded and were on their way out in the late 1930s.

Ex-EPSW Diners SP 10123-10125 (3 Steel HW cars, layed aside 1933-1940, then upgraded in 1940 with A/C, etc.  All three out-shopped in 1942 for assignment to the HW Cascade.  Two into TTG in the 1940s, one painted into Daylight for SJD protection, circa 1946.  All three to H.Grill cars in 1955.)

All following SP classes received A/C upgrades in the mid-1930s to continue in premier HW train assignments.
77-D-6 - 11 Cars (CP 10003 (2nd), CP 10016-19 (2nds), CP 10026, O&C 10027, O&C 10036, O&C 10038, O&C 10040, O&C 10041) - First assigned to HW Sunset Limited service. Some wore TTG, two wore Daylight colors in 1948+. Retired in the mid-late 1950s.

77-D-7 - 6 Cars (CP 10126-10131) - All remained in Dark Olive Green paint, retired in the mid-1950s.

77-D-8 - 6 Cars (SP 10132-10137) - All remained in Dark Olive Green paint, retired in the mid-1950s.

77-D-9 - 25 Cars (SP 10138-10157, T&NO 925-929) 24 remained in Dark Olive Green paint, retired in the mid-1950s, two were rebuilt into unique 77-BP-60 Postal-Baggage cars SP 5044 and 5045 for the Owl in 1954.  One car, 10148 was painted in Daylight in 1946 for use on the San Joaquin Daylight.

80-D-1 - 5 Cars (SP 10158-10162) - All remained in Dark Olive Green paint, retired in 1954-56. - Cars featured fish-belly underframes, unique to the SP and had taller letterboards than was typical on SP "Common Standard" legacy designed diners.

Statistics of SP's HW Steel Dining Cars

The 72ft cars totaled 10 SP and 4 T&NO cars, of which 4 SP cars were rebuilt into Cafe-Lounges, some returning to serve as diners in WWII.  The 6 remaining 72-D-series SP cars continued to serve with one was leased out regularly staring in 1936, gutted by 1938, and retired in 1941, the rest retiring by the end of 1949.  The T&NO cars were retired somewhat earlier than the later 77ft cars, as would be expected in the late 1940s-early 1950s.

The "Arch Roof" 77ft cars totaled 20 new-built cars and 6 converted cars for the SP and 10 new-built cars for the T&NO with some crossover as cars swapped railroads.  Of these 20 new-built SP cars, 11 were converted to Hamburger-Grill service in 1955.

The "Clerestory Roof" ex-EPSW (modernized), Common Standard 77ft and 80ft cars totaled 56 cars, or almost 3/4 of the SP's dining car fleet after 1930.

It is safe to say that the "Arch-Roof" 77-D-1/2/3/4s made up the majority of the SP's early fleet from the late "Harriman Era" into the mid-1920s, and stayed relevant throughout the time SP used HW dining cars into the late 1950s.  The 77-D-1/3/4 makes up one of the larger groups of cars numbering 20 cars, although our 'imagined' "Classical SP Arch Roof" Passenger train consist really did die in the late 1920s with the ordering of the new clerestory dining cars.  This trend was repeated across the SP's larger passenger car and head-end car fleet into the 1930s with coaches and chair cars, along with new lounge cars all being built with clerestory construction.

In Closing

I'm cutting this off here for now, as there are many more posts to cover this topic further in the future.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

(In progress)

SP Passenger Car Statistics - (Part 2) HW Lounge Cars (75-CS, and other types)

SP Passenger Car Statistics - (Part 3) 72ft "Arch Roof" Chair Cars