Fun Little Amtrak Consist

[The Jet Clipper]

Hi guys,

I was thinking about amassing some passenger cars, upgrading and detailing them, and putting them in an Amtrak "Rainbow" style consist. My ideas for some cars to add to the fleet include:

- The New 10-6's and Rebuilt Diner from the Walthers "George Washington"

-Santa Fe 'Regals' and 'Pines', and possibly a Rebuilt Vista Obs.

-B&O Strata-dome sleeper

-CZ sleepers and maybe a dome or two (I could slip a Phase I car or two in there)

-Those fancy-pants "Skyline" Domes and Osgood coaches and parlors from Rapido (Phase I Amtrak)

-Any various Amtrak cars from Walthers I come across

On top of cars I already have, like:

-An Athearn Genesis SP Chair car (in the Cascades scheme)

-CZ 10-6 "Silver Glacier"

-A Pleasure Dome

-A DRGW 4-4-2

And maybe I'll get an SDP40F and E8 set to pull it. What do you guys think?

 

 

[gmpullman]

Fun is right...

I "grew up" in the Amtrak rainbow era. It was certainly interesting, to say the least.

Are you attempting to replicate a specific train or, as your heading says, just having fun? You know you could always run a private car special which Amtrak has run many times for the annual AAPRCO or RPCA convention.

http://www.aaprco.com/conventions/convention-history/

I like to browse the many Amtrak photos on the various sites such as Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/567359@N21/pool/

This is just one photo pool of many. Then there are several photographers that don't participate in some of the photo groups. For those just use the search option.

Rio Grande was one of the holdouts that didn't join Amtrak in 1971 so you might not see D&RGW cars on Amtrak trains too often 

Have fun, Ed

[The Jet Clipper]

gmpullman

Fun is right...

I "grew up" in the Amtrak rainbow era. It was certainly interesting, to say the least.

Are you attempting to replicate a specific train or, as your heading says, just having fun? You know you could always run a private car special which Amtrak has run many times for the annual AAPRCO or RPCA convention.

http://www.aaprco.com/conventions/convention-history/

I like to browse the many Amtrak photos on the various sites such as Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/567359@N21/pool/

This is just one photo pool of many. Then there are several photographers that don't participate in some of the photo groups. For those just use the search option.

Rio Grande was one of the holdouts that didn't join Amtrak in 1971 so you might not see D&RGW cars on Amtrak trains too often 

Have fun, Ed

 

Hi Ed,

I don't have a particular train in mind (Amtrak was weird with the consists in those days, but hey it was the 70's), but seeing as most passenger railroads just dumped their cars into the young railroad, I don't have to worry about matching schemes, hence why Rainbow Era Amtrak is so appealing to me. I didn't know Rio Grande held out on Amtrak. That's interesting. I wonder why?

As far as private cars, I'm fully aware of private cars (the first Surfliner I saw back in 2006ish had the Silver Lariat and an Overland Trail car), it's just not in my area of expertise. I'll take it into consideration, maybe when the Surfliner is finally in RTR Plastic, but I have no plans for modern Amtrak at the moment. Seeing as I plan to drag this out, because the cars are expensive (the Rapido Skyline is $110!), I may throw some new cars into the mix that I didn't list. I will for sure get the SF Sleepers and rebuild observation, because I'm putting together a '56 Super Chief, Rapido Skyline, and C&O sleepers (with the skirts!). 

[SeeYou190]

The Jet Clipper

Pleasure Dome

.

What is a "Pleasure Dome"? That does not sound very innocent. What marketing genius came up with that name?

.

-Kevin

.

[gmpullman]

SeeYou190

What marketing genius came up with that name?

The Pleasure Domes were a distinctive feature of the Sante Fe's Super Chief.

http://streamlinermemories.info/?p=1286

Below the dome was an exclusive dining room called the "Turquoise Room". I was fortunate to be able to enjoy a fine meal there back in 1971, just before Amtrak assumed operations on May 1, although Amtrak did continue the tradition for at least a few more years.

It WAS indeed a pleasurable experience. Perhaps this is where Santa Fe came up with the name? The train AND the Pleasure Dome were both very popular. Perhaps Santa Fe's marketing wasn't so bad after all?

Regards, Ed

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

One of the Santa Fe pleasure domes is now at the Arizona Railway Museum. I took this photo. 

 

[SeeYou190]

Interesting. I never heard of a railroad car called a Pleasure Dome before.

.

Back in the 80's I did own a copy of the album Welcome to the Pleasure Dome by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. That is the only other place I ever heard this term.

.

-Kevin

.

[ATSFGuy]

Boy, you sure like to fantasize! 

[dknelson]

Pleasure Dome?

Come now, fellows, were you ALL napping while your high school English teacher had you read the great poets?  Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his "Kubla Kahn" poem, which begins:

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

   Down to a sunless sea.

 

 

That last line might be a veiled reference to an after-market interior lighting kit.

 

The poem then takes a more sinister and disturbing turn and includes these lines:

 

 

   The shadow of the dome of pleasure

   Floated midway on the waves;

   Where was heard the mingled measure

   From the fountain and the caves.

It was a miracle of rare device,

A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! "

 

Again a veiled poetic reference to the Waukesha air conditioning unit.

 

Dave Nelson

[BRVRR]

In 2006 I photographed a group of private cars set in Pennsylvania Park in Petoskey, Michigan. They were there for a long weekend as part of a Tuscola & Saginaw Bay RR excursion. Below is a link to the photo essay on the Railroading Page of my website. Some interesting cars and color schemes.

http://www.brvrr.com/Petoskey.html

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Here is an early Amtrak train. It is the Empire Builder with Burlington Northern equipment which was mostly pre-BN-merger colors. 

[MidlandPacific]

You might want to get your hands on two authoritative books: Fred Frailey's "Zephyr, Chiefs and Other Orphans," and Dave Warner's "Amtrak By the Numbers."  Frailey's book has consist data at a general level for every Amtrak route for the first decade, and a lot of incidental informatoon about where cars came from and where they wound up working! and what changed when, and why.  Warner's book is an all-time equipment roster for Amtrak that chases every single car and loco from purchase to scrapping, including stuff like HEP conversion, renumbering, etc.  They are the best secondary sources you will find (and Warner's book is arguably a primary source, since he was working in Amtrak's Mechanical Department when he wrote it).

[NYBW-John]

dknelson

Pleasure Dome?

Come now, fellows, were you ALL napping while your high school English teacher had you read the great poets?  Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his "Kubla Kahn" poem, which begins:

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Not napping but probably daydreaming. I did that a lot through high school. 

I really relate to George Carlin's line about why he became a class clown.

"Either the work was really easy......and I was bored,

or the work was really hard.....and I was bored."