More on last week's fall special...the cars!
The first two cars are fluted-side stainless steel dome cars, built by Budd in the mid-50's for the APRR's Alton Limited. This train ran from Chicago to St. Louis, and was inherited in 1947 when the APRR bought the Alton RR from the B&O RR. The train was upgraded big-time during the 50's when two new train sets were purchased from Budd, consisting entirely of stainless steel cars -including several domes per train. While most went to Amtrak in 1971, several were retained for company use, including business trains.
The other two cars are also nearing 50 years of existence. Built for the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha service between Chicago and the Twin Cities, this Pullman-Standard 'Super Dome' was one of six built; today it is one five that survive. With the exception of the upper maroon band, this is close to how the car originally appeared.
Also built for the Hiawatha, this car was also unique to the Milwaukee Road; it was constructed in their shops! Called a Skytop Lounge, the windowed rear-end both gave it its name and provided great views of the scenery. The comments about the Super Dome's paint scheme apply here as well.
A fall excursion of a different kind! Norman talks with Bill Johnson about yet another museum piece -an old Dodge Power Wagon rail truck! About the same age as the above passenger cars, it's a railroad version of a truck that Dodge built for nearly 20 years! It was used by track gangs to inspect the rails, and sometimes make minor repairs such as tightening loose bolts on rail plates or correcting slightly mis-aligned rails. Now, it's used for "show and tell" for school kids and historical groups. It is also available for renting out, should you have a rail spur or branchline available for use!
The first two cars are fluted-side stainless steel dome cars, built by Budd in the mid-50's for the APRR's Alton Limited. This train ran from Chicago to St. Louis, and was inherited in 1947 when the APRR bought the Alton RR from the B&O RR. The train was upgraded big-time during the 50's when two new train sets were purchased from Budd, consisting entirely of stainless steel cars -including several domes per train. While most went to Amtrak in 1971, several were retained for company use, including business trains.
The other two cars are also nearing 50 years of existence. Built for the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha service between Chicago and the Twin Cities, this Pullman-Standard 'Super Dome' was one of six built; today it is one five that survive. With the exception of the upper maroon band, this is close to how the car originally appeared.
Also built for the Hiawatha, this car was also unique to the Milwaukee Road; it was constructed in their shops! Called a Skytop Lounge, the windowed rear-end both gave it its name and provided great views of the scenery. The comments about the Super Dome's paint scheme apply here as well.
A fall excursion of a different kind! Norman talks with Bill Johnson about yet another museum piece -an old Dodge Power Wagon rail truck! About the same age as the above passenger cars, it's a railroad version of a truck that Dodge built for nearly 20 years! It was used by track gangs to inspect the rails, and sometimes make minor repairs such as tightening loose bolts on rail plates or correcting slightly mis-aligned rails. Now, it's used for "show and tell" for school kids and historical groups. It is also available for renting out, should you have a rail spur or branchline available for use!
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