Midwest Cars
Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin have ordered 97 Venture cars for the Amtrak Midwest routes including Blue Water, Hiawatha Service, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pere Marquette, and Wolverine.[18] Of the 97 cars, 68 are married pairs (two cars semi-permanently coupled with open gangways) while the remainder (29) are single (unmarried) cars with traditional gangways. Half of the married pairs (17) have a cafe car and an economy coach, while the remaining 17 have a combination business class/economy class coach and an economy-only coach. The business class and cafe cars have two vestibules each, while the economy coaches have one.[24] This arrangement—unique among Venture operators—allows trains to be sized to meet the travel demands of individual routes and allows business class seating and cafe cars to be added or removed. Among the 29 single cars are three cab cars with economy seating for exclusive use on Hiawatha Service trains.
In March of 2022, the Amtrak Midwest Venture coaches, which had been introduced with much media fanfare to corridor trains out of Chicago, were withdrawn from service. The reported reason was that powerful magnets designed to hold sliding tray tables in place, were damaging cellphones, laptop computers and other electronics, and were potentially powerful enough to disrupt pacemakers implanted in passengers with certain heart problems. The magnets, which are exclusive to the Amtrak design, were being removed.[25]
As of April 2022, the Amtrak Midwest Venture coaches are back in service but with the magnets removed and brackets in place to prevent the tables from being extended.
Number |
Location & information |
Date |
Photo Credit |
|
| Individual Coach Car 4001-4020 | ||||
 |
4015 | Chicago IL | Sept 21, 2022 | Jim Hebner |
 |
4015 | Chicago IL | Sept 21, 2022 | Jim Hebner |
| Coach Car for Business or Cafe Married Pair 4101-4134 | ||||
 |
4116 | Chicago IL | Sept 21, 2022 | Jim Hebner |
 |
4117 | Chicago IL | Sept 21, 2022 | Jim Hebner |
| Business/Economy Car Married Pair 16 Coach/36 Business 4201-4217 | ||||
| Lounge/Cafe Car Married Pair 34 Coach 4301-4317 | ||||
In 2006, exterior names were being removed from sleepers cars as they came out of Beech Grove overhauls, however,
a few did their name replaced. By the end of 2008, the viewliners were reported as having no exterior name.
