Great Dome 2018 Schedule

[neroden]

Well, I've never ridden in Amtrak's Great Dome; I was debating whether it was worth it.

I've ridden in other full domes and other short domes (privately owned attached to the Hiawatha, domes on the Grand Canyon Railway), so I figure I probably wasn't missing much, right?

 

[railiner]

Well, I've never ridden in Amtrak's Great Dome; I was debating whether it was worth it.

I've ridden in other full domes and other short domes (privately owned attached to the Hiawatha, domes on the Grand Canyon Railway), so I figure I probably wasn't missing much, right?

If you have already ridden on other short and full domes, you would not be missing much at all...just perhaps the experience of riding on the sole remaining Amtrak dome, if that means anything to you, or if you ride it on a route that you haven't ridden in a dome previously.

That said, I am very sorry to hear of this news, and hope they replace that glass ASAP....if they have the window in stock in Beech Grove, they could send it to Boston or Albany to be replaced...it is not that hard to replace a window...

 

[Palmetto]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

 

[pennyk]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

 

[the_traveler]

I was going to ride it last year, but it was bad ordered and did not run. I hope that does not happen 2 years in a row!

 

[Palmetto]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

Unfortunately, I do not. Sorry. Amtrak certainly hasn't rushed to make an announcement on it [so: what else is new?], which might be signaling an early --but hopefully not permanent--demise of the car's operation.

 

[pennyk]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

Unfortunately, I do not. Sorry. Amtrak certainly hasn't rushed to make an announcement on it [so: what else is new?], which might be signaling an early --but hopefully not permanent--demise of the car's operation.

I have a reservation on Friday and just phoned and spoke to an AGR agent as asked about the car after telling him what I read on Facebook. The agent put me on hold and checked something then came back and informed me that he could not find anything about the damage and removal from the consist on train 68 on Friday. The agent told me that not everything on Facebook is accurate (lol), but the photo looked pretty authentic to me. I likely will cancel my trip since I do not want to ride the Adirondack on Friday without the dome.

 

[cpotisch]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

Unfortunately, I do not. Sorry. Amtrak certainly hasn't rushed to make an announcement on it [so: what else is new?], which might be signaling an early --but hopefully not permanent--demise of the car's operation.

I have a reservation on Friday and just phoned and spoke to an AGR agent as asked about the car after telling him what I read on Facebook. The agent put me on hold and checked something then came back and informed me that he could not find anything about the damage and removal from the consist on train 68 on Friday. The agent told me that not everything on Facebook is accurate (lol), but the photo looked pretty authentic to me. I likely will cancel my trip since I do not want to ride the Adirondack on Friday without the dome.

Yeah, I've been looking all over the web and haven't found anything about this. Could be that it's real and hasn't gotten much attention, but you'd figure that there'd at least by some other forums talking about it.

 

[PRR 60]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

Unfortunately, I do not. Sorry. Amtrak certainly hasn't rushed to make an announcement on it [so: what else is new?], which might be signaling an early --but hopefully not permanent--demise of the car's operation.

I have a reservation on Friday and just phoned and spoke to an AGR agent as asked about the car after telling him what I read on Facebook. The agent put me on hold and checked something then came back and informed me that he could not find anything about the damage and removal from the consist on train 68 on Friday. The agent told me that not everything on Facebook is accurate (lol), but the photo looked pretty authentic to me. I likely will cancel my trip since I do not want to ride the Adirondack on Friday without the dome.

Yeah, I've been looking all over the web and haven't found anything about this. Could be that it's real and hasn't gotten much attention, but you'd figure that there'd at least by some other forums talking about it.

It has been mentioned at Trainorders, although quoting the same Facebook post.

 

[cpotisch]

Some are speculating that the Renssalaer maintenance facility might be able to fix it. We might know shortly.

Have you heard how long it may take if, in fact, that facility may be able to fix it?

Unfortunately, I do not. Sorry. Amtrak certainly hasn't rushed to make an announcement on it [so: what else is new?], which might be signaling an early --but hopefully not permanent--demise of the car's operation.

I have a reservation on Friday and just phoned and spoke to an AGR agent as asked about the car after telling him what I read on Facebook. The agent put me on hold and checked something then came back and informed me that he could not find anything about the damage and removal from the consist on train 68 on Friday. The agent told me that not everything on Facebook is accurate (lol), but the photo looked pretty authentic to me. I likely will cancel my trip since I do not want to ride the Adirondack on Friday without the dome.

Yeah, I've been looking all over the web and haven't found anything about this. Could be that it's real and hasn't gotten much attention, but you'd figure that there'd at least by some other forums talking about it.

It has been mentioned at Trainorders, although quoting the same Facebook post.

What day was this posted on Facebook?

 

[pennyk]

What day was this posted on Facebook?

Yesterday in Amtrak Fans FB group

 

[cpotisch]

What day was this posted on Facebook?

Yesterday in Amtrak Fans FB group

Thanks. There are videos of the Dome running as recently as 9/21, so wanted to figure out how long ago this was posted on FB and if it were probably incorrect.

 

[pennyk]

I went ahead and canceled my Friday reservation. Thanks for your input everyone.

 

[cpotisch]

If I may ask, why didn't you wait until a day out or whatever is the limit and cancel it then?

 

[pennyk]

If I may ask, why didn't you wait until a day out or whatever is the limit and cancel it then?

Long story.... but I am leaving town on Wednesday and I have a busy day tomorrow, so I wanted to get it done and off my "to do" list.

 

[daybeers]

*in an anxious and hopeful tone* Any news on this?

 

[cpotisch]

*in an anxious and hopeful tone* Any news on this?

I still can't find anything anywhere about this that doesn't link to Facebook. I feel like the one and only Great Dome hitting a tree and breaking the front window would be mentioned by more than one person on FB. I guess we'll see on Thursday, when the Dome is supposed to be put on the Addie, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this didn't happen. Fingers crossed.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Even if it did, how long does it take to fix a window? Shouldn't be that hard.

 

[rtabern]

Even if it did, how long does it take to fix a window? Shouldn't be that hard.

The answer... A LONG TIME when it's the Great Dome. Amtrak doesn't just have dome car windows sitting around anywhere --- because "Ocean View" is the last remaining dome car. The window cracked in I believe 2010... and it took two years for it to be fixed. It was cracked and actually filling up with water between the two panes of glass during the November 2010 trip I did on the Cardinal. The joke was we should get some fish to put in there and it could be a fish tank.

Amtrak, in the interim, put a metal plate over the window.... it took around 2 years for it to be fixed.

Hopefully New York State will light a fire under Amtrak's rear and get this fixed soon for their fall colors trips -- as Ocean View was highly promoted. So, I could see that happening.

However --- maybe not, too. Several sources "in the know" have said that Amtrak was not planning to run Ocean View through its required mechanical work needed in Spring 2019 and will shelve the car somewhere instead.

I was just hoping it would be in working condition -- and that it might go on the Hiawatha on Thanksgiving Week -- so my wife and I could have a few last rides.

Only time will tell if it's going to be fixed or not.

I work as a group tour manager --- and had to call Amtrak a few minutes ago because I have 4 tour groups riding the Downeaster from Boston to Maine in the coming weeks (scaled back to Dover, NH due to track work). Anyway, the head of group sales for the Downeaster and the Adirondack had no clue about what happened with the Dome. Doesn't surprise me really with Amtrak having poor communication on everything --- however you think SOMETHING would have been conveyed to the group desk by now so they could actually call groups who might be riding because of the dome and see if they still want to go or not!!??

*sighs*

I really hope that sources who are in the know about the dome car will post something here... would maybe once they hear something? That would be super awesome! I'd like to say! 7

 

[Bob Dylan]

Paging ThirdRail!

 

[Ryan]

They have not been around here in quite some time. Hopefully (s)he is well.

 

[cpotisch]

They have not been around here in quite some time. Hopefully (s)he is well.

Hmm, just realized this. I just checked and he/she was last active August 22nd.

 

[railiner]

Even if it did, how long does it take to fix a window? Shouldn't be that hard.

The answer... A LONG TIME when it's the Great Dome. Amtrak doesn't just have dome car windows sitting around anywhere --- because "Ocean View" is the last remaining dome car. The window cracked in I believe 2010... and it took two years for it to be fixed. It was cracked and actually filling up with water between the two panes of glass during the November 2010 trip I did on the Cardinal. The joke was we should get some fish to put in there and it could be a fish tank.

Amtrak, in the interim, put a metal plate over the window.... it took around 2 years for it to be fixed.

The center inner and outer windows of the dome actually are part of the ceiling forced air duct. A damaged outer pane could result in loss of some air conditioning.

As for metal plates...I recall the domes that the IC used near the end of their passenger operation had all of the front and rear glass replaced with metal cover's, which effectively destroyed the best feature of the dome car.

I certainly hope that does not happen to the Ocean View, that they quickly replace the glass, instead...

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

Okay--thanks, everyone....now I understand the difficulty of replacing it, which I hadn't realized.

 

[KnightRail]

Ocean View moved from Maine to Albany-Rensselaer solo behind P42 120 on Monday. It appears an attempt will be made to address the broken window while it is shopped for scheduled preventative maintenance.