In response to the addition of the Empire Builder to the Great Northern’s timetable in 1939, the Northern Pacific completely re-equipped the North Coast Limited in 1930. As the Northwest’s only all-Pullman train, the North Coast Limited had a cachet that the Great Northern train’s lacked. The addition of first-class parlor cars to the NCL’s consist during daylight hours didn’t reduce that cachet; Pullman passengers knew they wouldn’t have to rub shoulders were mere coach or tourist-sleeper passengers in the diner. Of course, with the onset of the Depression, the train’s all-Pullman status wouldn’t last long.
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This brochure touts the fact that the sleeping cars are “ten-one-and-ones,” meaning ten sections, one compartment, and one drawing room (25 beds total). This supposedly means the “cars never seem crowded” and there is a “comfortable spaciousness every traveler will enjoy.” Empire Builder sleepers came in several configurations ranging from 23 to 28 beds. None of the beds on the NP train were larger, but the demand for the communal restrooms would be less on cars with fewer beds. However, the rest rooms were generally sized to account for the number of beds, so this shouldn’t have been a major issue.