Adirondack Dome Car 2019

[Pierre Tong]

I'm thinking about taking a trip on the Adirondack train in October. I had read online that on select trains there sometimes is a dome car added on. Does anyone have any information about what trains that might be on for the 2019 fall foliage season?

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

Maybe an email to Amtrak's customer service could answer it. Rumors here are Amtrak’s CEO mothballed the car for future sale to private party.

 

[Seaboard92]

The car has been mothballed. If you want to ride a dome car in that region may I recommend Conway Scenic in Conway New Hampshire

 

[andytiedye]

Amtrak’s CEO

...is why we can't have nice things.

 

[dogbert617]

The car has been mothballed. If you want to ride a dome car in that region may I recommend Conway Scenic in Conway New Hampshire

Go figure Anderson, would be stupid enough to mothball that dome car. On the heels of mothballing all Pacific Parlour Cars on Starlight.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Go figure Anderson, would be stupid enough to mothball that dome car. On the heels of mothballing all Pacific Parlour Cars on Starlight.

Honestly it's become a situation where the Maintence Costs on these Old Cars can't be justified any longer.

One time I was riding on the Starlight and some Gang Bangers in SLO shot out a window on the PPC.

The Conductor told us it would cost over $2,000 for a Custom Piece of Glass and the AC Units were breaking down frequently.

The Dome Car,last of the breed on Amtraks Roster, was also becoming a "Shop Queen" and costing Big Bucks to keep in Service without bringing in Revenue.

I agree with this decision, and it's great that they will be purchased and used by other Rail Operations in the US.

 

[Skyline]

It's like night and day how VIA can maintain a whole roster of domes, and Amtrak has just given up.

 

[Pierre Tong]

Ah darn - well it seems like a pretty awesome trip still and I want to go up to Montreal sometime so I'll still try and make travel plans. Thanks everyone!

 

[Seaboard92]

It's like night and day how VIA can maintain a whole roster of domes, and Amtrak has just given up.

The more you have in a fleet you can buy in bulk. VIA rosters 30 dimes so they are able to buy the expensive dome glass in bulk. And get a far better price. And because it’s not a one off they keep a supply in TNTO, WNPG, VCVR, and MTRL. So they aren’t having to wait for it to arrive. Amtrak has the one car which made it a part anomaly. It makes sense from a business standpoint.

The most expensive glass in a dome is the front/rear pane. Followed by the actual curved glass you sit under. And don’t forget AC&F, Budd, and P-S all had their own design differences in the glass too. Which further complicates things. VIA has an all Budd fleet which simplifies it greatly.

 

[railiner]

Even though it's also Budd built, Amtrak''s Great Dome has entirely different windows than VIA's Vista Dome's,so Amtrak could not even "piggyback" onto VIA's supplier to get economy of scale savings, unfortunately....

 

[jiml]

It's like night and day how VIA can maintain a whole roster of domes, and Amtrak has just given up.

 

[Skyline]

The more you have in a fleet you can buy in bulk. VIA rosters 30 dimes so they are able to buy the expensive dome glass in bulk. And get a far better price. And because it’s not a one off they keep a supply in TNTO, WNPG, VCVR, and MTRL. So they aren’t having to wait for it to arrive. Amtrak has the one car which made it a part anomaly. It makes sense from a business standpoint.

The most expensive glass in a dome is the front/rear pane. Followed by the actual curved glass you sit under. And don’t forget AC&F, Budd, and P-S all had their own design differences in the glass too. Which further complicates things. VIA has an all Budd fleet which simplifies it greatly.

My comment went way beyond the supply of glass.

There was a time that Amtrak had a whole fleet of domes as well. VIA decided theirs was an asset, even a national treasure. Amtrak decided they were trash. So over time, Amtrak allowed its domes to deteriorate to the point that they were indeed taken out of service.

So now Amtrak, and its conservative opposition, point to the current condition of Amtrak domes as justification for scrapping or selling them. If these were buildings that had been given official historical status, they would face an uphill battle to be demolished. In my opinion, domes are of historical value and could still be in regular service.

Canada got it right. While Amtrak still owns a few domes, the USA could get it right too.

 

[dogbert617]

That's interesting to learn after Hurricane Sandy, that Via loaned Amtrak a bunch of their railcars to use for the Adirondack, if just between Albany and Montreal. Would've loved to have ridden that train, while that equipment substitution was going on for #68/69(Adirondack) in 2012!

My comment went way beyond the supply of glass.

There was a time that Amtrak had a whole fleet of domes as well. VIA decided theirs was an asset, even a national treasure. Amtrak decided they were trash. So over time, Amtrak allowed its domes to deteriorate to the point that they were indeed taken out of service.

So now Amtrak, and its conservative opposition, point to the current condition of Amtrak domes as justification for scrapping or selling them. If these were buildings that had been given official historical status, they would face an uphill battle to be demolished. In my opinion, domes are of historical value and could still be in regular service.

Canada got it right. While Amtrak still owns a few domes, the USA could get it right too.

I agree, that it is depressing how Amtrak didn't keep up their dome cars. The closest think Amtrak has assuming that one domed car that was used on Cardinal and Adirondack usually in the fall is indeed now retired(as I fear), are the sightseer lounge/observation cars on all the Superliner trains. I wish Amtrak had kept up a fleet of domes, a la Via. I wonder if the domes Amtrak used to have were cars made by Budd(as the Via domes), or were they made by a different company? Including the last domed car that survived and was usually brought back for fall service, as late as something like 2017 or 2018? Can't remember the last year, for that Amtrak dome car that was regularly brought back into brief service during fall months.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

There are very few Amtrak trains that could use a dome car. Even the Adirondack can’t use it for the full journey.

 

[Seaboard92]

The ocean view was a Budd car. Most of Amtrak’s dome cars in the heritage era also were Budds.

 

[troo troo tcrane]

No dome car on any Amtrak trains at all?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

No dome car on any Amtrak trains at all?

The Sightseer Lounge Car is the superliner equivalent of a dome car. Nothing will compare to a true dome car, but the Sightseer Lounge cars are quite nice for viewing the scenery.

 

[zephyr17]

No dome car on any Amtrak trains at all?

Nope, gone a long, long time, since the early 1980s. Except for the single Budd full length dome that is the subject of this discussion, which was most used in special service.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Nope, gone a long, long time, since the early 1980s. Except for the single Budd full length dome that is the subject of this discussion, which was most used in special service.

Well.. later than that. Short domes were on the Capitol Limited and City of New Orleans, Full Length domes on the Auto train until the Superliner II order was filled in 94 / 95.

 

[andytiedye]

If they wanted to run a dome car on a Superliner, couldn't they put it ahead of the transition sleeper?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

If they wanted to run a dome car on a Superliner, couldn't they put it ahead of the transition sleeper?

Technically yes. Dome Cars have also been placed behind the superliners when used in private car service.

Again.. Sightseer Lounge Cars are the superliner version of a dome car. For all practical purposes they provide the same type of experience, arguably better since there is more available seating vs. the short domes which typically fill up. The purists like me know there is nothing as good as a traditional dome car, but the Sightseer Lounge cars are really well designed cars that offer great views and actually more comfortable seating in my opinion.

 

[Thirdrail7]

The Dome Car,last of the breed on Amtraks Roster, was also becoming a "Shop Queen" and costing Big Bucks to keep in Service without bringing in Revenue.

I'm not sure this is an accurate statement. The states that leased this car indicated it brought in additional riders. That could potentially spillover riders to other Amtrak trains.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'm not sure this is an accurate statement. The states that leased this car indicated it brought in additional riders. That could potentially spillover riders to other Amtrak trains.

Thanks for the Inside Info.

But sadly, it seems that the Beancounters and Suits running Amtrak now dont want any Cars ( or Trains) that dont bring in Revenue above the Cost of running said Train/equipment.( see the Vanishing Bag Cars etc.)

 

[railiner]

.

There was a time that Amtrak had a whole fleet of domes as well. VIA decided theirs was an asset, even a national treasure. Amtrak decided they were trash. So over time, Amtrak allowed its domes to deteriorate to the point that they were indeed taken out of service.

So now Amtrak, and its conservative opposition, point to the current condition of Amtrak domes as justification for scrapping or selling them. If these were buildings that had been given official historical status, they would face an uphill battle to be demolished. In my opinion, domes are of historical value and could still be in regular service.

Canada got it right. While Amtrak still owns a few domes, the USA could get it right too.

At one time, Amtrak did think very highly of their remaining dome fleet....
When the original Auto Train Corporation went defunct, Amtrak seized the opportunity to run their own version of it, at first utilizing most of its remaining dome coaches, lounges etc. which were quickly refurbed for the service. Amtrak knew that that was what the former A T customer's were used to riding.
As mentioned, the new Superliner's replaced those when they became available.

To be fair, I think that if VIA Rail had the funding, they would have preferred to purchase Superliner's or other new equipment to replace their aging heritage fleet, as well....

 

[jiml]

To be fair, I think that if VIA Rail had the funding, they would have preferred to purchase Superliner's or other new equipment to replace their aging heritage fleet, as well....

No question. They just made "lemonade" out of what they had.