Dome car

A portion of the car, usually in the center of the car but offset towards one end, is split between two levels. The offset results in floorplans having a "long end" and a "short end" on the main level. Stairs then go up to the dome and down to the lower level, with the lower level below the dome usually offering restrooms or a small lounge area, while the upper portion is usually coach or lounge seating within a "bubble" of glass on the car's roof. Passengers in the upper portion of the dome are able to see in all directions from a vantage point above the train's roofline. In the United States, the Union Pacific Railroad operated dome dining cars. These cars had a kitchen in the short end, with a pantry in half the space under the dome. The other half of the space under the dome was a private dining room for small groups. Between the pantry and kitchen there was a dumbwaiter to transfer items between the kitchen and the dining area in the dome portion of the car. The "long end" was the main dining area. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad operated mid-train dome-dormitory-buffet-lounge cars on its California Zephyr, Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr, and dome-dormitory-coffee shop cars on its Denver Zephyr. The dormitory space was used by on-board train crew such as the dining car staff. Several railroads operated dome sleeping cars. Those of the Northern Pacific Railway had four bedrooms in the "long end", four roomettes in the "short end" and four duplex single rooms under the dome. The Wabash Railroad and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad operated dome parlor cars for first class day service. Wabash's Blue Bird included a Budd dome-parlor-observation as part of its original consist, and later added a Pullman-Standard dome-parlor car. The CB&Q operated dome-parlor-observation cars on the Twin Zephyrs, the Kansas City Zephyr and the Denver Zephyr. Several railroads operated dome observation cars, usually at the rear of the train. These cars have a dome on top of the car with a rounded-end or flat-end rear "observation" section (on the main floor) where passengers can sit and look out at the receding scenery. These cars often have additional sleeping compartments under the dome and/or in the "short end" as well as a bar and/or additional lounge spaces. The original California Zephyr, operated in part by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), referred to its car of this type as a Vista-Dome sleeper-lounge-observation, which had one drawing room and three double bedrooms as well as a dome and observation area. The Canadian Pacific Railway outfitted the 1955 Canadian with "Park"-series dome-sleeper-observations, most of which remain in service with Via Rail Canada. Variations While the partial dome cars were the most common, a number of variations on the dome car (typically called "observation" cars) were developed. In particular the full length dome car, the dome lounge car, as well as the "transition" car stand out. In the case of the former, the observation dome extended the full length of the car, with a lower level which contained a lounge or bar beneath it. This type of car was used extensively by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) railroads. In 1956, the Santa Fe introduced Hi-Level cars on its El Capitan chair car train. These were built like dome cars, with high floors along their length and a low section between their bogie trucks. The lower level contained low entrance doors and restrooms on chair cars, kitchens on diners, and a wet bar on the "Top of the Cap" lounge cars (which were the only cars of the group that could be called dome cars). Most vestibules were on the upper level. Transition cars were similar to full length chair cars, save in one regard. These cars were intended to serve as a transition between regular rolling stock, and double deck stock. To facilitate this, one vestibule of the car was lower, while the other was at the height of the upper vestibule of the double deck stock. Amtrak used these cars for a time, primarily when cars inherited from other railroads made up the bulk of Amtrak's rolling stock. All these El Capitan cars were used heavily in the early days of Amtrak, and served as a pattern when Amtrak began to purchase, or produce, its own double deck cars. The majority of transition cars were scrapped, though a few were kept in service and rebuilt into more "traditional" high-vestibule double-deck cars. ==Dome lounge==