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Amtrak Great Dome Schedule Sightings Status

Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

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 #355761  by pennsy
 
Hi Gilbert,

Looks like my conductor lady friend was almost 50 % off.

And more importantly, # 10031 still meets FRA requirements for the rails. That is even more impressive. You would have liked the upholstered chairs and the view out of the dome.

 #355811  by Gilbert B Norman
 
pennsy wrote:Hi Gilbert...... You would have liked the upholstered chairs and the view out of the dome.
That's a "been there done that" around here; first during June 1963 and on a reasonable number of subsequent occasions.

Domes and observation cars

 #355817  by NellieBly
 
Interesting point about the "30 year old" dome car. I've noticed that railfans, in particular, tend to be fixed in time in their thinking. For example, I grew up and became a railfan during the 1960s, when the postwar stainless steel car fleet was still fairly new -- and I still think of them that way. When I rode the California Zephyr in 1968, the equipment was only 20 years old. I have trouble remembering that it's been almost 40 years since that trip, and any surviving CZ cars are now past the half-century mark. But those were the trains I grew up with.

Amtrak equipment, by contrast, I think of as "new" -- even though the Amfleet Is are now 30 or more years old, the AEM7s are approaching their 30th birthday, and even the Superliner Is are past 25.

Time sure flies when you're having fun.

 #355825  by John_Perkowski
 
Domes I have ridden....

Union Pacific, 9000 series dome lounges, City of Saint Louis and combined City of Los Angeles/City of St Louis, 1963 and 1967.

Union Pacific, 8000 series dome diners, combined City of Los Angeles/City of Saint Louis, 1967.

Amtrak:

Ex-SP 3600 series 3/4 domes, Coast Starlight, 1974-77

Ex-ATSF 500 series Pleasure Domes, Super Chief, 1973

Ex NP dome sleepers, Southwest Limited, 1977.

I probably have 10,000 miles travelling in trains with domes. I suspect Ms Bly, Mr Norman, and Mr Grossman all have me well beat in milage.

Edited to add: Mr Jack Deasy has me beat too :)
Last edited by John_Perkowski on Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #356267  by jhdeasy
 
John_Perkowski wrote: I probably have 10,000 miles travelling in trains with domes. I suspect Ms Bly, Mr Norman, and Mr Grossman all have me well beat in milage.
After thinking about it, Colonel, I realized I also have you beat in dome mileage, although my first dome ride was not until August 1974.

Via Canadian on both CP and CN routes (Montreal - Vancouver), x-CP Skyline and Park car

Via Super Continental on CN route (Vancouver - Toronto), x-MILW Super Dome and x-CP dome

Southern Railway Southern Crescent (Atlanta - New Orleans) x-Wabash Pullman Standard dome parlor car

Amtrak Adirondack (Albany-Rennselaer --- Montreal Windsor Station) D&H leased CP Skyline dome and Amtrak x-Wabash Budd dome

Amtrak Floridian (Nashville - Chicago) standard Budd dome

Amtrak Capitol Limited (Chicago - Washington) standard Budd dome and PV C&O Chessie dome sleeper

Amtrak Cardinal (Clifton Forge - Cincinnati) PV Budd dome

Amtrak San Francisco Zephyr (Chicago - Oakland) SP "three-quarter" dome and Budd standard dome

Amtrak San Diegan (Los Angeles - San Diego) x-GN full dome lounge

Amtrak Sunset Limited (Houston - New Orleans) PV Budd dome

Amtrak Coast Starlight (Sacramento - Emeryville) PV x-ATSF Super CHief Pleasure Dome lounge car

and, if you think the upstairs lounge area of a United Aircraft turbotrain counts as a dome ...

Amtrak UA TurboTrain (New York Pennsylvania Station - New London CT)

Via UA Turbotrain (Montreal to Toronto)

I can say that I have been inside two X-NP dome sleepers, both parked on sidings, both in need of substantial restoration work.

 #356271  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Allow me to state my first Dome ride was aboard the Capitol Limited during April 1961 (college interviews). The flood lights were a B&O innovation that no one else emulated.

My last was during Feb 1996 aboard an Auto Train that was Superliner Sleeper but single level Coach. It was 15 hours late (ice storms; a favorite CSX excuse) and that afforded me a sanctioned pass through the mid train T-Dorm to a movie being shown in Coach.

 #356280  by jhdeasy
 
Gilbert B Norman wrote:Allow me to state my first Dome ride was aboard the Capitol Limited during April 1961 (college interviews). The flood lights were a B&O innovation that no one else emulated.
Do you recall which of the three B&O dome sleepers you rode on that trip on the Capitol Limited (assuming it was not dome coach HIGH DOME or SKY DOME) ... MOONLIGHT DOME, SUNLIGHT DOME or STARLIGHT DOME?

Domes and observation cars

 #356308  by NellieBly
 
Mr. Deasy, I'll answer your question. I rode "Sunlight Dome" on the rear end of the Silver Star in 1970, Richmond to Delray Beach (bumped off the Florida Special by a charter move), and returned in "Starlight Dome" on the Florida Special.

Dome trains I have ridden (chronological order):

California Zephyr, Oakland to Chicago 1968
Capitol Ltd, CHI to WAS, 1969 (B&O dome coach)
CP "Canadian", Winnipeg to Vancouver, 1970
CN "Super Continental", Vancouver to Montreal 1970 (ex MILW long dome to Edmonton)
SCL Silver Star, Richmond to Delray Beach, 1970 (ex-B&O dome sleeper)
SCL Florida Special, DLB to Richmond (as above)
"Nancy Hanks", Savannah to Atlanta, 1971 (ex-WAB dome coach)
Santa Fe Super Chief, LA to CHI, 1971 (Pleasure Dome)
Hiawatha, CHI to MKE, 1972 (Budd dome)
Auto Train, 1973 (UP dome diner)
James Whitcomb Riley, CHI to WAS, 1974 (Budd dome)
Riley, 1975, CHI to WAS (Budd dome)
Auto Train, 1976 (UP dome diner)
Riley, 1976, CHI to WAS (Budd dome)
Coast Starlight (SP "Stairway to the Stars"), Oakland to Santa Barbara, 1977
Alexandria to Lynchburg, 1978 (Southern dome coach behind 2839)
Auto Train (Budd dome coach), 1983
Auto Train (Budd dome coach), 1984
Lake Shore, 1987, CHI to ALB (Budd dome coach)
"North Woods Explorer" 1989 (lots of PV domes)
STL to Pine Bluff, ex B&O sleeper dome behind steam, 1989
CHI -- Buffalo -- Lyons -- Corning -- Hoboken, 1992 (AAPRCO special), ex-NP dome sleeper
Omaha -- Kansas City -- St. Louis -- Chicago, 1993 (UP P-S dome), behind steam
Acadian Railway, Auburn, ME to Montreal, 2002 (Budd coach dome)
STL -- KC via GWWR, KC -- Branson via KCS (AAPRCO special, 2004), former dome coach (PV)

I suspect there are a few more I can't at this moment recall.

Re: Domes and observation cars

 #356342  by jhdeasy
 
NellieBly wrote:Mr. Deasy, I'll answer your question. I rode "Sunlight Dome" on the rear end of the Silver Star in 1970, Richmond to Delray Beach (bumped off the Florida Special by a charter move), and returned in "Starlight Dome" on the Florida Special.

I surely would have enjoyed riding a dome on both the Nancy Hanks and the original Autotrain! The Autotrain achieved a great windfall when they successfully acquired approximately 40 UP, ATSF and WP domes in the 1970-1971 era.

The reason I asked about the B&O dome is that I have traveled in MOONLIGHT DOME which is owned by one of my business partners. If you remember your trips in SUNLIGHT DOME and STARLIGHT DOME, what did you think of the visibility from the dome, which has a unique shape and lower profile? It seemed slightly limited to me. One thing I recall is that the dome glass seemed much closer to my head, when seated upstairs; I am 6'2" tall. I didn't get the same feeling of "restriction" in standard Budd, ACF or Pullman Standard domes.

Domes

 #356394  by NellieBly
 
Yes, the domes were lower and forward visibility was not as good as on a "regular" dome -- but they were still domes!

As I recall, one of the three (I think it was Starlight Dome) had padded panels replacing the glass on the overhead windows, which really gave it a closed-in feel.

I think SCL sent the three domes to Auto-Liner for refurbishment after leasing or purchasing them from B&O, because they were in good shape, fresh paint and carpeting, and for some reason, I remember that the blankets on the beds were yellow.

I never did get to ride in either the roomettes or the bedrooms. As I'm sure you know, the bedrooms had two lower berths, but AFAIK, SCL sold them as bedrooms, not compartments or drawing rooms.

As a side note, years before I rode the California Zephyr (my first dome train) I used to see the "City of Miami" in Florida with the ex-NP dome. Never got to ride in it, always wanted to, and was jealous of it until SCL got the B&O sleeper domes.

 #356433  by Gilbert B Norman
 
jhdeasy wrote:Do you recall which of the three B&O dome sleepers you rode on that trip on the Capitol Limited . MOONLIGHT DOME, SUNLIGHT DOME or STARLIGHT DOME?
Regretably Mr. Deasy, that is a negative. I've searched for that consist and if I could find it, would "post it in a heartbeat' over at my Consists topic at Mr. Benton's Rail Travel Forum.

 #368942  by CarterB
 
What was the car diagram of the Moonlight Dome (configuration)? What is the status of it today and where?

 #369303  by CarterB
 
No car diagram on Weblurker. Nor do I think the info on current status is up to date.
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