Built in 1995, the Talgo bistro car was once part of an Amtrak fleet of five complete trainsets based in Seattle, operating daily between Salem, Oregon, and Vancouver, British Columbia from 1998 through 2020. While there were originally more than 70 cars in the Talgo Series VI fleet, nearly all of them have been scrapped and demolished. Bistro car 7304 is the only surviving remnant.

The interior design of the bistro car was created by award-winning industrial designer Cesar Vergara, a Mexican-born American designer who has been described as the Raymond Loewy of today. The bistro car design—with its custom Pacific Northwest interior featuring an illuminated map of the Cascades Corridor—represents the apex of Mr. Vergara’s career. Understanding the significance of the trainset, the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie began an effort to save a full set of cars. They reached out to Latinos in Heritage Conservation, which immediately threw its wholehearted support towards this preservation endeavor. Although most of the cars have now been demolished, by saving a representative bistro car, Mr. Vergara’s contribution to Latino heritage can be recognized and used to inspire a new generation of Latino students in industrial design.

In 2023, the Northwest Railway Museum, with support from Latinos in Heritage Conservation and the Museum of History and Industry, successfully negotiated a deal to save the last remaining Amtrak Talgo Series VI bistro car from demolition, transporting it from a scrapyard in Indiana to Snoqualmie. By listing the Talgo bistro car on Washington’s Most Endangered Places list, the Northwest Railway Museum worked with the Washington Trust to promote the preservation of this important piece of history. The bistro car is slated to become part of a new exhibit at the museum in the coming years.