The first Vista Dome - The Silver Dome - rebuilt from a coach by the CB&Q RR's shops in its current resting place - The Mad River and NKP museum in Bellevue, Ohio.
A current interior shot of the Silver Dome. This car still has an interior installed by Amtrak in the early 1970s.
The dome area of the car. Amtrak was in its "purple" phase when it re-did this car. Note the purple on the ceiling.
Under the dome in the Silver Dome. Note that the two domes created by the CB&Q shops do not have a recessed area under the dome.
An ex-Northern Pacific dome # 550 at Wishram, WA on a SP 4449 excursion in 1998. At the time it was used on the Montana Daylight train. Shortly after the Montana Daylight was bought by the American Orient Express and re-named American Spirit. The car has since been re-painted for American Spirit.
The view from the ex-NP # 550 behind the SP 4449 in the Columbia River Gorge between Vancouver, WA and Wishram, WA.
This ex-CB&Q # 558 dome was also purchased from Amtrak and has been extensively modified by its current owner, an individual in Ohio. This is how it appeared in 1998.
The ex-CB&Q 558, this time as it appeared when leased by the Grand Canyon RR in 1999.
The interior of the ex-CB&Q 558 in 1998. The Grand Canyon RR later re-installed the coach seats.
The ex-CB&Q dome-sleeper-observation Silver Horizon, 4/12/2000 on the "Garden Track" at Los Angeles Union Station. It was en route to Maricopa, AZ to become the Amtrak station.
This ex-UP dome coach 7003 is currently owned and operated by the C. P. Huntington Chapter, NRHS.
The interior of the C. P. Huntington Chapter, NRHS's ex-UP dome 7003. The interior was re-done by Auto Train when they owned the dome in the 1970s. Note the modern seat backs installed by Auto Train.
The interior of ex-UP dome diner # 8003 owned by the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, WI. It is one of the very, very few remaining passenger cars from the pre-Amtrak era that was never modified by Amtrak or subsequent owners.
The downstairs dining area of the ex-UP dome diner # 8003.
The under-dome dining area of the ex-UP dome diner # 8003. Note how the area under the dome is recessed.
Union Pacific today has several domes in its excursion fleet that have been extensively renovated. The interior of a UP excursion fleet dome coach (either the # 7001 Columbine or # 7015 Challenger).
The seating area of a UP excursion fleet dome coach.
The dome coach ex-UP # 7002 the Mississippi River. It is today owned by Rail Cruise America in St. Louis. Pictured on the George W. Bush campaign train, 8/12/2000.
The dome diner ex-UP # 8009 the Columbia River. It is today owned by Rail Cruise America in St. Louis. Pictured on the George W. Bush campaign train, 8/12/2000.
UP has two dome diners and a dome-lounge-observation that were heavily modified from their vintage interior appearance by a previous owner - a dinner train operator in Wisconsin. This is the current interior of one of the dome diners, either the # 7012 Missouri River Eagle or # 8004 Colorado Eagle.
The current interior of the UP dome-lounge-observation # 9009 "City of San Francisco". Its interior was installed at the same time as the Missouri River Eagle and Colorado Eagle.
This is an ex-Santa Fe big dome # 506, currently owned by the BNSF RR and is part of their business train fleet. This is how it appeared in 1998. It has recently had the name "Bay View" added to it.
This is an ex-Great Northern big dome "Mountain View." It is one of the three big domes currently owned by Amtrak, and is one of the very few Heritage Fleet cars currently operated by Amtrak. It is used for charter trains and occasionally shows up on Amtrak's California trains.
The current interior of the "Mountain View." The snack counter is at the far end, and has several self-serve coolers next to it.
An ex-Milwaukee Road big dome # 52 currently operated by the Napa Valley Dinner Train. Note how the air conditioning equipment has been moved to the roof.
The interior of the Napa Valley Dinner Train dome. The area under the dome is now a kitchen.