Bar car

A bar car is a train car that has as its primary purpose the provision and consumption of alcoholic and other beverages.

In the United States

Bar cars were common during the heyday of U.S. rail travel prior to World War II. However, today, the only bar cars that remain in service (not including Amtrak's full-service dining cars and snack cars) can be found plying the rails on Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line between Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan and New Haven, Connecticut. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5D71338F93AA15754C0A9649C8B63 Fuchs, Marek. "Aboard Bar Car, Some Riders Fear Last Call is Near; A Fight Stirs Aboard Metro-North," New York Times, July 29, 2002] ] As of October 2007, the railroad included a bar car on 16 weekday eastbound trains and seven weekday New York-bound trains. [http://mta.info/mnr/html/planning/schedules/pdf/NH_M_F_907.pdf Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line Schedule (Oct. 7, 2007, to April 5, 2008)] ] The atmosphere on the bar car is often characterized by animated conversation, gregariousness and a degree of camaraderie, a stark contrast to typical rush hour coach cars in which most passengers sit in separate seats reading, dozing off or thinking quietly.

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