Astra Dome
| Astra Dome | |
|---|---|
 Dome lounge-observation car on the City of Los Angeles circa 1955 | |
| File:Union Pacific Railroad City of Portland dome dining car.JPG Upper level in a dome dining car | |
| Manufacturer | American Car and Foundry |
| Constructed | 1954–1955 |
| Entered service | 1955–1971 |
| Number built | 35 |
| Fleet numbers | Union Pacific:
|
| Operators | Union Pacific Railroad (1955-1971) Auto-Train Corporation (1971-1981) |
| Specifications | |
| Car length | 85 feet (26 m) |
| Width | 10 feet (3.0 m) |
| Notes/references | |
| [1] | |
American Car and Foundry Company ("ACF") built a fleet of streamlined dome cars for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1954–1955: 35 cars including coaches, dining cars, and observation cars. After the Union Pacific left the passenger business in 1971 the Auto-Train Corporation purchased most of the fleet and used them for ten years.
Design
ACF built three types of domes: coaches, dining cars, and observation cars. The ten dining cars were the only dome dining cars (aside from GM's Train of Tomorrow) ever built for a United States railroad.[2]: 146 They seated 18 in the upper level in booths and 18 in the lower level at tables. The kitchen, pantry, and private dining room with seating for 10 were on the lower level; a dumbwaiter connected the two levels.[3]: 166
The coaches had 24 seats beneath the dome and 36 on the lower level. The center section was given over to men's and women's lounges.[4] The lounge-observation cars were square-ended. Like the coaches, the upper-level dome area could seat 24. In the lower level, starting at the vestibule end, was a card room (seating for five), cocktail lounge (seats for nine) and bar, stairs up to the dome level, and finally the observation area itself with seating for 19.[5] In 1956 all the observations lost their end-of-train windows and neon signs and ran midtrain thereafter.
In 1958 Pullman-Standard built six dome coaches to the ACF design. These (five for the Union Pacific, one for the Wabash) were assigned to the City of St. Louis.
Service
The Union Pacific was a latecomer when it ordered domes from ACF in 1954; most western railroads already operated domes, some since the late 1940s.[6] ACF delivered the 35 cars to the Union Pacific in 1955 at the cost of US$10,000,000. The Union Pacific assigned the cars to:[3]: 166
- Five coaches and five lounge-observations to the new Challenger; these lounge-observations went to the City of St. Louis later in 1955.
- Five coaches, five dining cars and five lounge-observation cars to the City of Portland
- Five dining cars and five lounge-observation cars to City of Los Angeles
The Union Pacific found it necessary to assign a second steward to the upper-level dining area.[7]: 66
After the Union Pacific left the passenger business in 1971 it sold two of the dome coaches (#7004 and #7008) to the Alaska Railroad for use on its AuRoRa streamliner.[3]: 211 UP retained dome coach #7006 and dome lounge-observation #9004 for company use and donated dome diner #8003 to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where it remains today. The remainder of the fleet was purchased by the new Auto-Train Corporation for the Auto-Train. After Auto-Train's bankruptcy in 1981 the fleet was sold and dispersed. Many remain in private hands.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Union Pacific". Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ Wegman, Mark (2008). American Passenger Trains and Locomotives Illustrated. Voyageur Press. ISBN 0760334757. OCLC 192109816.
- ^ a b c Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.
- ^ Union Pacific Railroad. "Chair". Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ Union Pacific Railroad. "Observation-lounge". Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ "Kit/Product Reviews". Prototype Modeler. 1978.
{{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Porterfield, James D. (1993). Dining by Rail: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-18711-4. OCLC 26809358.
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