From the 19th to the mid-20th century, the most common type of sleeping car accommodation on North American trains was the "open-section". Open-section accommodations consist of pairs of seats, one seat facing forward and the other backward, situated on either side of a center aisle. The seat pairs can be converted into the combination of an upper and a lower "berth", each berth consisting of a bed screened from the aisle by a curtain.¹

Categories: Glossary