Previously produced only as rare handcrafted models in brass, Rapido Trains has now delivered highly detailed state of the art plastic replicas of Southern Pacific’s three-quarter dome lounge passenger cars. Assembled from the frames of retired SP Coast Daylight Cars with an all-new dome structure provided by Budd, SP built one prototype, and six production dome lounge cars between 1954 and 1955. The interiors of these cars featured a bar/lounge at one end of the lower level, and either of two different seating configurations on the upper level.
The domes first operated on the SP’s San Joaquin and Shasta Daylights and The Overland, but later saw wider service across the SP and beyond. Originally built with fluted side panels, the cars were later modified with slab sides in the 1960s. Five of these cars were later acquired by Amtrak, and examples are still in operation today on the Canadian Pacific as part of its executive car fleet, and elsewhere.
Rapido’s ¾ Dome Lounge cars feature two different fully detailed multicolor interior configurations, two underbody arrangements, flicker-free track powered interior lighting, metal knuckle couplers and more. Liveries include Southern Pacific Daylight (fluted sides), SP Overland (Armour Yellow/Harbormist Gray/fluted sides), SP General Service (silver/tomato stripe with fluted sides), SP General Service (slab sides), Amtrak Phase I (slab sides) and Canadian Pacific (maroon with slab sides). Multiple road numbers offered per scheme where appropriate. See your favorite dealer for both the HO and N scale renditions of these famous cars while supplies last.
Rapido Trains, 500 Alden Road, Unit 21 Markham, Ontario L3R 5H5, Canada;1-855-572-6917; www.rapidotrains.com
Beginning in 1960, the Southern Pacific adopted a standardized, simplified paint scheme to be implemented across its fleet of passenger equipment. Not long after, the fluted sides were soon replaced by “slab” sides. It is this livery that the cars wore until the coming of Amtrak in 1971.
Amtrak inherited four of the seven former ¾ dome lounges from Southern Pacific. The cars were numbered from 9370-9373 and earned their keep on Amtrak’s San Francisco Zephyr and Coast Starlight until the arrival of Budd-built bilevel Superliner equipment in 1981. Rapido provides three different road numbers for these Amtrak dome-lounge cars – 9371, 9372 and 9373 for both HO and N scales. Note the Amtrak route map framed on one of the interior walls for the HO version!
N scale renditions of these popular SP/Amtrak/CP dome cars by Rapido Trains are also now available from your favorite dealer or direct.
