Passenger Trains > lack of domes on cresent and city of new orleans passen

Why doesn't amtrak add dome lounge cars on these passenger trains? I think they would be a hit with pssengers.

waymongrimes Wrote:
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> Why doesn't Amtrak add dome lounge cars on these
> passenger trains? I think they would be a hit
> with pssengers.

The City of New Orleans did have one in the early 1990s. The Crescent, when it was run by Southern
Railway (NOT Amtrak) also had a dome car.

It would be worth thinking about for Amtrak, if they hadn't gotten rid of all the dome cars they had, save one.

waymongrimes Wrote:
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> Why doesn't amtrak add dome lounge cars on these
> passenger trains? I think they would be a hit
> with pssengers.


For the CONL, a dome car in addition to the sightseer loung?

Ptolemy Wrote:
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> waymongrimes Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why doesn't amtrak add dome lounge cars on
> these
> > passenger trains? I think they would be a hit
> > with pssengers.
>
>
> For the CONL, a dome car in addition to the
> sightseer loung?

Yes, in many minds, the sightseer lounge serves the purpose of sighseeing. A separate dome would be an unnecessary luxury.
The single level trains, specifically the Cardinal, could well use a dome - or at least the return of a Superliner lounge.

> The Crescent, when it was run by Southern
> Railway (NOT Amtrak) also had a dome car.

Southern's Southern Crescent did sometimes (not always) operate with a dome south of Atlanta, but I believe Atlanta-Washington-NY was always dome-less due to clearance issues (e.g. the First Street Tunnel in DC in those days).

I agree about the sightseer lounge cars. They provide excellent visibility for seeing the sights on board for everyone in the car, not just those lucky enough to have a seat in a dome. Dome cars were fine since there were no sightseers, but I think sightseers trump dome cars.

If you want to ride a dome of the City of New Orleans (rather than the assigned Sightseer Lounge), consider the new Pullman Rail Ventures service which uses a former Santa Fe dome on its trips - http://www.travelpullman.com/

As for the Crescent, Amtrak has only one dome of it's own, meaning it could at best be used on only one of every three Crescent trips, and only then south of DC due to clearance issues. (NS no longer allows switching of cars in Atlanta). Amtrak gets more value assigning the dome elsewhere.

Dave

ctillnc Wrote:
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> > The Crescent, when it was run by Southern
> > Railway (NOT Amtrak) also had a dome car.
>
> Southern's Southern Crescent did sometimes (not
> always) operate with a dome south of Atlanta, but
> I believe Atlanta-Washington-NY was always
> dome-less due to clearance issues (e.g. the First
> Street Tunnel in DC in those days).


You're correct about Atlanta-New Orleans only. Besides, SR only had the two ex-WAB domes (both of which survive).

That's still twice as many as Amtrak has, now...

And the opinion of THIS traveler who HAS ridden in dome cars AND Superliner lounges across the country is that the
viewing from a Superliner Sightseer Lounge, though good, is no match for that from a true dome car.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/12 15:48 by GenePoon.

GenePoon Wrote:
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> You're correct about Atlanta-New Orleans only.
> Besides, SR only had the two ex-WAB domes (both of
> which survive).
>
True, but only one was needed for the Crescent as it ran to N.O. tri-weekly. The other (one was a parlor, one a coach) was first assigned to the CofG Nancy Hanks II, and later during the Amtrak era to the Salisbury - Ashville turn.

Dave

GenePoon Wrote:
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> And the opinion of THIS traveler who HAS ridden in
> dome cars AND Superliner lounges across the
> country is that the
> viewing from a Superliner Sightseer Lounge, though
> good, is no match for that from a true dome car.

Amen to that! There is no way a Sightseer Lounge comes even close to comparing to a good ol' dome car in terms of visibility...
mainly because you can't see forward.

Picture worth 1000 words dept: dome on the Southern Crescent, 1977.

B&OB

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As someone who rode the City of New Orleans north from New Orleans to Chicago, I feel there is very little in the way of scenery justifying a dome car. I can think of other routes which are more "dome-car worthy" such as the Portland section of the Empire Builder, the Cardinal or the Adirondack. The sightseer lounge is sufficient for this route.

Dome was GREAT on the Capital Limited before the stupid Super Liner cars. Been there, Done that.

Amtrak has one dome car. They foolishly got rid of all the others, which really downgraded the "sightseeing" experience on not only overnight single level long distane trains, but also those trains that operate as long distance day trains (e.g. Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Adirondack, Maple Leaf, Vermonter etc.).

The only hope for the single level long distance overnight trains - in terms of them getting some sort of better sightseeing car - is the Viewliner Diner order. With their double row of windows and "airy/open" atmosphere, they will help to fill the sightseeing car void on single level trains. That's the best we can look forward too.

Course it would be nice if the Amfleet II Lounges (i.e. Diner Lite cars) are retired and a Viewliner Sightseer is introduced that offers not only a double row of windows, but also wrap around windows, in addition to food service in one end of the car.

I wouldn't knock the current Capitol Limited with Superliners, as right now, it provides better servie from the East Coast to Midwest than the tri-weekly Cardinal or Lake Shore Limited. The later two are single level trains and don't offer the more superior amenities that one can find aboard a Superliner train.

> There is no way a Sightseer Lounge
> comes even close to comparing to a good ol' dome
> car in terms of visibility...
> mainly because you can't see forward.

I remember riding the RGZ from Denver to SLC in 1982. It was a winter weekday, passenger loads were light, and my girl friend and I were delighted to get the coveted front row seats in a dome and keep them for the entire trip. If there had been more riders, that would have been selfish - but most of the time, the other side of the front row was empty.

> True, but only one was needed for the Crescent as
> it ran to N.O. tri-weekly.

True, but the car was occasionally bad-ordered -- usually because the A/C went out -- and at those times the New Orleans train was domeless as well. If I recall correctly, the other dome that was used on the Salisbury-Asheville train was in worse mechanical condition by 1976. After the Salisbury train was discontinued, the second dome was used mainly on steam excursion trains although it might have made an occasional run on the Southern Crescent.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/12 04:14 by ctillnc.

I still kept hoping that four or five cars,including a dome, would be added to the rear of regularly scheduled Amtrak runs and sold as a nostalgic,but likely expensive, trip into the past. The NOL-CHI Pullman service is one such idea and I hope it stays financially afloat. We all know of 16 car luxury trains ala the European Express that have come and gone and maybe a smaller version would work running three to five times a year and heavily marketed. I fear that the audience or potential traveler for such a train is slowly dwindling as he years pass. There are essentially NO people in the 20 to 30 some year old age group that have ever "domed" by moonlight at 90 MPH watching block signals go from green to red. Also the care and feeding of these wonderful old cars can be expensive and in this modern day lexicon of lean and mean just may be almost never be seen again with any regularity. The 2 shots I posted were taken in Sept 2010 and I hope are large enough to make out. The Southwest Chief heads toward Gallup N.Mex. 22 or so minutes late as I am moving east to Buffalo with my wife and this is the last view of this train heading west I ever shot. There are 5 EX Santa Fe cars on the rear in the last shot . What a coincidence to see these cars the last time I saw this train as a westerner. Here we were on old Rte 66 with 5 Santa Fe cars rolling by. I apologize for being that far from the rails, but the train was off schedule and an accurate meet place was not to be found. Enjoy this once in a lifetime coincidence and lucky too.

Phil Blommendahl
Getzville, NY

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a737flyer Wrote:
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> I agree about the sightseer lounge cars. They
> provide excellent visibility for seeing the sights
> on board for everyone in the car, not just those
> lucky enough to have a seat in a dome. Dome cars
> were fine since there were no sightseers, but I
> think sightseers trump dome cars.

Dome seating was non-revenue and dome seats were not sold. They were available first come first serve just like the Sightseer. Most trains carrying domes had about as much dome capacity for their passenger load as Sightseer capacity now.

The current practice on excursion trains of selling dome seats was never done when they were in regular service.

For seeing the sights, the Sightseers simply cannot compare to a Budd short dome.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/12 14:26 by zephyr18.

zephyr18 Wrote:
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> For seeing the sights, the Sightseers simply
> cannot compare to a Budd short dome.

Which is why I make a trip to Canada at least once a year...

well better go to albany quick