The Moultrie, WATX 400, is your elegant restaurant on wheels, adding the final touch when entertaining for business or pleasure. Restored to its original 36-seat dining car configuration, the Moultrie reflects the golden years of passenger train travel. The dining area has been refurbished in an elegant manner while keeping dependability, quality, and comfort as key objectives. Convenience of modern day food preparation and service was also kept in mind during the restoration project. The climate control heating and air conditioning system maintains a comfortable environment inside the car.
Dining in the Moultrie is a unique experience enhanced by the matched china, crystal, silverware, and table linen supplied with the diner. The kitchen is fully equipped with all the necessary cooking utensils, pots, and pans for complete dinner preparation for groups several times larger than the seating capacity of the diner.
The full-size kitchen features an all-electric 10-burner (Vulcan) range with 2 large ovens along with a griddle, a 60-inch steam table, 7 refrigeration units and three freezers, 3 large sinks, and a Hobart dishwasher. The built-in cabinets and counters in the kitchen are long and wide for the convenience of food preparation.
The Moultrie is AMTRAK approved with head-end power, 27-point connection, main reservoir airline, MU (Push/Pull) connectors, and superliner compatibility. The car is fully self-contained with a generator, as well as, station standby and pressurized water system.
HISTORY: In March and April of 1950, Pullman-Standard produced ten 36-seat dining cars with the following names: Atlanta, Birmingham, Cordele, Fitzgerald, Greenville, La Grange, Moultrie, Plant City, Talladega, and Tarboro. In May of that year, the RF&P received the 36-seat diner Henrico completed by the same car builder. Also in 1950, the Florida East Coast Railroad took delivery of two P-S built diners of the same series, the Fort Ribault and the Fort Drum. The body shell for one additional car of this type was built by Pullman-Standard in 1957. This work was completed at Atlantic Coast Line shops in December 1959 and the car was named Naples.
The Moultrie, originally owned by the ACL, operated on New York to Miami trains until 1971. With the formation of AMTRAK, the diner continued Florida service until 1981 when AMTRAK sold the car to a short-line dinner train operation in Virginia. The Watauga Valley Chapter NRHS purchased the car in 1989, completely upgrading the mechanical systems to AMTRAK standards and fully renovating the interior. It was assigned AAR reporting mark WATX 400.
The builder’s photo of the Moultrie may be seen in the Official Pullman-Standard Library, volume 7, Southeast Railroads. The Moultrie was selected out of the ten diners noted above to carry the builder’s photo for Pullman-Standard.
Seating for 36
Tables (12)