The “WESTLOCK” is a 12 section – 1 drawing room car. The drawing room has an upper berth (bed), a sofa which makes into a bed, and two lower berth, seats that have temporarily been removed. By day it is a totally enclosed private room complete with washroom, and by night it is converted into private accommodations for three people.
The rest of the car is open sections by day, and at night the upper
berths are folded down and made into beds, as are the day seats. For privacy, a vertical divider is slipped into place between the upper and lower berths to separate them from the next section. Coat hangers and curtains that are stored in the upper berths are folded down. Each upper berth has lights, mirror, and call button to call the porter for assistance.
At the end of the berth section is a linen closet. Each car had its own linen assigned to it, for which the porter was solely responsible. When a passenger used a pillow to nap during the day, the pillow case was changed before the pillow was used that night. Sheets were changed each morning and the bed was pre-made for the following night. If any piece of linen was found to be dirty, it was immediately changed.
At one end of the car is the men’s smoking and wash room. Men were not permitted to smoke in the berth section of the car, so a smoking room was provided. It was used for smoking, conversations, card playing, and when the porter was making up berths. There are sinks for shaving and a separate dental sink for brushing teeth. A toilet is located just through a door within the room.
At the other end of the car is the ladies’ wash room which has three sinks, a toilet, linen and hairbrush shelves. There were originally three seats to go with the nickel plated sinks. A large mirror has also seen removed. Ladies did not have a smoking room; ladies, it was assumed, did not smoke.
Sleeping car service ended on the NAR in the spring of 1961. “WESTLOCK” was used as a passenger car until 1976 when it was put into work car service as an auxiliary sleeper. This accounts for the lantern brackets seen in various places. Berth hardware and carpets were removed at that time.
