Passenger Trains > Restored GN Full Dome "Prairie View" - Iowa Pacific

Hi there,
A friend of mine, Mike Griesmann sent me this shot of Iowa Pacific's newly rebuilt full dome, the ex-GN "Prairie View." The car looks GREAT, and I can't wait to see this thing hit the road. The car was rebuilt in IP's Alamosa, CO shops, and some other shots of it can be seen here:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,2920645,2921583#msg-2921583

Info on this car's history can be found here:

http://trainweb.org/web_lurker/GNf/#1394

Thanks to Mr. Ellis and anyone else involved in the restoration, and thanks to Mike for the photo.

- Jeff Carlson

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Wow! Absolutely gorgeous... bring it west for the Fun/Snow train and let's have 5 domes total to round out the consist!

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Wow! Absolutely gorgeous... bring it west for the
> Fun/Snow train and let's have 5 domes total to
> round out the consist!

I know its headed to Oakland from here. Not sure if that's what you're talking about though.

- Jeff

That's a real head turner! Wonder what an Amtrak Empire Builder Superliner consist would look like with that paint job?

Wow. That's stunning. So... IC brown and orange are not to be the only "house colors" for the Iowa Pacific stable?

~ BZ

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> Wow! Absolutely gorgeous... bring it west for the
> Fun/Snow train and let's have 5 domes total to
> round out the consist!
A beautiful car for sure; thanks for sharing the photo with all of us.

How has Iowa Pacific been able to acquire such gorgeous equipment? I don't really know anything about them, but they seem like a neat company.

Amazing....is all I have to say!

Jon Snyder
www.gnarchive.com

Good looking car. I wonder if there is any significance to the 'Empire Builder' lettering on the car. Perhaps it's just a nod to its heritage, but could it be that IP is considering using this on the Builder like their City of New Orleans plans? Ed Ellis must be having a great time building his fleet.

Got the popcorn ready and waiting for PirateRail to chime in. ;-)

Cousin Ed did a fine job with this car! Here is a photo of the same car taken nearly 48 years ago from the Roosevelt Road overpass in Chicago.

Ted in AZ

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Well, first, they owned several cars already. Then, due to the economy, they have been able to pick up some cars fairly inexpensively. Economies of scale have worked too, as it is cheaper (per window) to buy dome "glass" for multiple cars then it is to purchase for one car (at a time). Then you have a dedicated shop, good work force, and a willingness to go forward and a vision.

In the next few months, the IRM's Pullman Library will have Budd drawings and other information (over 500,000 to join the over 1,000,000 P-S there now) and these restorations will be easier than ever (though not necessarily cheaper).

It's like if you were involved in renting property. The last 4 years was the perfect time and economy to purchase property at the low end, fix it up inexpensively and start renting with rents covering 150% of the mortgage. Or, you could buy large SUVs cheaply because people only look at one coast (gas) rather than all costs (gas, purchase price, insurance, et al).

coaststarlight99 Wrote:
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> How has Iowa Pacific been able to acquire such
> gorgeous equipment? I don't really know anything
> about them, but they seem like a neat company.

palmland Wrote:
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> Good looking car. I wonder if there is any
> significance to the 'Empire Builder' lettering on
> the car. Perhaps it's just a nod to its heritage,
> but could it be that IP is considering using this
> on the Builder like their City of New Orleans
> plans? Ed Ellis must be having a great time
> building his fleet.

The Prairie View is the only GN Great Dome that Westours had, so it seems that IPH has acknowledged it's heritage.

Looks great to me!

While we're wishing...wouldn't it be nice if all the LD trains used equipment painted for the original train of the name it bears (or is closest to)? I know that would cost a lot of money for more equipment if you were to keep the consists pure. But, think of the hype that would cause.

The Iowa Pacific SLRG "Empire Builder" dome is to join the Reno Fun Train, as the AMTK 10031 dome car that was
involved in the Coast Starlight derailment at LAUPT is unable to do so due to truck damage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/13 09:20 by GenePoon.

GenePoon Wrote:
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> The Iowa Pacific SLRG "Empire Builder" dome is to
> join the Reno Fun Train, as the AMTK 10031 dome
> car that was
> involved in the Coast Starlight derailment at
> LAUPT is unable to do so due to truck damage.


This is such great news, Gene (and yes, I won't miss that Am-dome with the rubber mat interior, either!!! LOL!).

Did this car ever wear big sky blue in it's GN days? Now that would be something to see!

MSchwiebert Wrote:
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> Did this car ever wear big sky blue in it's GN
> days? Now that would be something to see!

Yup. This link is from one of the links provided in the original post.

http://trainweb.org/DOMEmain/picGN1394a.jpg

- Jeff

IC_2024 Wrote:
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> GenePoon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The Iowa Pacific SLRG "Empire Builder" dome is
> to
> > join the Reno Fun Train, as the AMTK 10031 dome
> > car that was
> > involved in the Coast Starlight derailment at
> > LAUPT is unable to do so due to truck damage.
>
>
> This is such great news, Gene (and yes, I won't
> miss that Am-dome with the rubber mat interior,
> either!!! LOL!).

===================================================

What worries me is: what spare trucks or spare parts for the 10031's three-axle trucks
does Amtrak own? A sister dome was sold off by Amtrak to a railroad which used the
trucks on a business car.

-GP

GenePoon Wrote:
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> IC_2024 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > GenePoon Wrote:
> A sister dome was sold off by
> Amtrak to a railroad which used the
> trucks on a business car.
>
> -GP

The sister dome was the Prairie View, and the railroad was the SP.

Which is why the Prairie View we see in the picture in the OP is riding on trucks the were originally under a Santa Fe business car.