Dream Clouds

General Motors Corp. rolled out a sleek, newfangled diesel train this week that will make rail traveling almost as comfortable as staying at home--and far more glamorous. The most eye-catching changes in the cars are second-story "astra domes" in which travelers can dine and get a hedgehopping bird's-eye view of the scenery.

The train's four cars ("Dream Cloud," "Moon Glow," "Stardust," "Skyview") also have inter-car and "train-to-anywhere" phone systems, loudspeaker systems, and "Sleepy Hollow" chairs, adjustable to nine positions. The chairs have individual fluorescent lights, radio receivers and built-in ashtrays. In the compact sleeping cars, equipment folds away to allow 50% more floor space than usual. For safety, each car is equipped with a warning system which sets off an alarm when journal boxes become overheated.

G.M., which is interested in selling its diesel engines, air-conditioners, etc., rather than in building complete trains (Pullman-Standard Co. built the cars in this one), will exhibit the train for six months, then sell it. But rail travelers will not have to wait to enjoy some of its advantages. Since war's end, equipment manufacturers have produced 721 new cars with many of the features of G.M.'s train (49 dome cars are now being built). Although such first-rate equipment is still short (2,486 more cars are on order), the railroads have put on 22 completely new trains giving better service all over the U.S. Some of the newest trains:

P: Great Northern Railway's Empire Builder, which cuts the regular 58-hour schedule from Chicago to Seattle by almost 15 hours. Its lavish decor, different in each of its twelve cars, matches the scenery en route, which is described over amplifiers by a trained guide.

P: Illinois Central Railroad's City of New Orleans, first to offer one-day service between Chicago and New Orleans (921 miles in 15 hours, 55 min.). Besides many of the attractions of G.M.'s train, it has rubber floors to eliminate noise, fogproof windows with Venetian blinds.

P: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's Cincinnatian, an all-coach Cincinnati-to-Baltimore train. Features: stewardess-nurse service, women & children's infirmary.

But for coach riders, in general, the way is still bumpy, dirty and uncomfortable. The railroads have ordered 3,142 coaches to replace what Railroader Robert R. Young calls "Toonerville equipment." But only 90 a month are being produced. Not for at least two years will the railroads get the bulk of the $300 million in new coach equipment now on order.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.