The Big Domes were a fleet of

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

dome car A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or ...

s built by the Budd Company for the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

("Santa Fe") in 1954. Budd built a total of 14 cars in two batches. The Santa Fe operated all 14 on various streamlined trains until it conveyed its passenger trains to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

in 1971. The Santa Fe retained one as a business car and sold the remaining 13 to the

Auto-Train Corporation Auto-Train Corporation , stylized ''auto-train'', was a privately owned passenger railroad that operated from 1971 to 1981. Its trains included autorack cars, enabling passengers to bring their own vehicles on their journey. The company used its o ...

, which operated them for another ten years. All but two have been preserved in varying condition.

Design

The Santa Fe had previously ordered six " Pleasure Domes" from

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...

for use on the ''

Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The streamliner claimed to be "The Train of the Stars" because of the various celebrities it carried between Chicago, Il ...

''. These were first-class lounges, with parlor car-style swivel chairs in the dome area and a private dining room on the lower level. These were "short domes": the dome was centered and did not extend the full length of the car. For the new Big Domes the Santa Fe and Budd went in a different direction. Like the Super Domes which Pullman had built two years previously for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road"), these were "full-length" domes: the dome extended the entire length of the car. The top level featured coach-style seating for 57, plus a lounge area which could seat an additional 18 on sofas and in booths. The lower level came in two variations. The first eight (numbered 506–513) featured a cocktail lounge and nurses' room. The second six (numbered 550–555) had a smaller bar-lounge and crew dormitory. Much of the lower area in both configurations was given over to mechanical use, including

air-conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

. The cocktail lounge was decorated in a "unique Indian decor", a common motif on the Santa Fe. When the Auto-Train Corporation purchased 13 of the Big Domes in 1971 it renovated the interiors. Reclining seats replaced the fixed seating, reducing capacity to 51. Two cars had their upper-lounge areas rebuilt as "night clubs."

Service history

The Santa Fe took delivery of all 14 domes between January and May 1954. Contemporary advertisements touted the Big Domes as "the world's most beautiful railroad car." The cocktail-lounge Big Domes were assigned to the ''

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its tallest ...

'', ''

Chicagoan Chicago's demographics show that it is a large and ethnically diverse metropolis. It is the third largest city and metropolitan area in the United States by population, and the city was home to over 2.7 million people in 2020, accounting for ov ...

'', and '' Kansas Cityan'', while the lounge-dormitory domes went to the brand-new '' San Francisco Chief''. The assignment to the ''El Capitan'' proved short-lived: already in 1954 the Santa Fe operated two prototype Hi-Level coaches on the ''El Capitan'', and completely re-equipped it with those cars in 1956. The Big Domes moved to the '' Chief'', where they remained until that train's cancellation in 1968. Their final home on the Santa Fe was the '' Texas Chief''.

retained the ''Texas Chief'' but did not purchase any of the Big Domes. They continued on the ''Texas Chief'' until September 1971, when the Santa Fe sold all but one to the new

. After Auto-Train's bankruptcy in 1981 the fleet was broken up. Two (#550 and #555) have since been scrapped. The remaining 12 are privately owned: BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern each operate one in their respective business car fleets; two operate on the Royal Gorge Route Railroad excursion train in Colorado; and eight were owned by

Iowa Pacific Holdings Iowa Pacific Holdings was a holding company that owned railroad properties across North America and the United Kingdom, as well as providing services such as railcar repairs, leasing, management and consulting services to other operators. The comp ...

before being sold to multiple museums, tourist railroads, and major railroads after Iowa Pacific's bankruptcy.

References

External links

''San Francisco Chief'' timetable from 1954
{{Budd Company Train-related introductions in 1954 Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Budd Company Rail passenger cars of the United States