Subject:
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Re: brick/plate height ruler...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Fri, 27 Apr 2001 16:10:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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1397 times
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In lugnet.trains, Christopher Masi writes:
>
> Lar,
>
> What is the difference between a dome car and an observation car? Is a dome
> car just an observation car that fits in the middle of a train? By my
> interpretation even though both the "Club Car" and my observation car[1] have
> observation domes the "Club Car" would be a dome car, but my observation car >is
> an observation car because it designed to go at the end of a train. Is this >right?
Sort of.
Oh boy. Books can be written on this topic. Many books HAVE been. Go read
them for more detail
Pardon my terseness, I am in Houston between flights, enroute to San DiLego
for the (non)Wedding Fest.
Railroads tend to order custom. So no two classes of cars are ever exactly
the same and things vary even more by road.
Pardon my zen-ness.
A car has the "dome-nature" if it has a raised seating area characterised by
windows that arch across the entire roof. Typically this seating area is
"non-revenue" that is, the seats are extra and coach or sleeper passengers
go sit in them instead of their seats, on a first come first served basis
(or maybe only sleeper and other extra fare passengers get to use it, or
maybe non whites are banned, etc. etc. depending on the era). Domes can be a
small (20 passengers or less) seating area or full length. Full length are
usually more modern. Below the dome can be a lounge, crew quarters, a snack
bar, office space etc, anything that doesn't require a lot of headroom...
A car has the "observation-nature" if it is intended to be the last car on
the train and is configured so that passengers can view things out the rear.
Heavyweight observations have open areas where you cna stand. Politicians
used these for stump speeches during "whistlestop tours". Streamliner
observations like the Hiawatha J2 references have windowed areas. The
Hiawatha observation is considered particularly graceful and pretty due to
its' rounded end but the more conventional observation has a somewhat
elliptical horizontal end but is vertically straight. Observations have a
directional facing which must be preserved, making them a PITA to deal with
(most cars are bidirectional).
A car has the "lounge-nature" if it has non revuenue seats that are intended
for people to sit around and hang out. It may have a bar, or a snack bar, or
just big comfy chairs.
Most cars that have the observation nature also have the lounge nature. It
is rare that the seats in an obs are revenue. But not unheard of, there are
always exceptions.
It is possible, but rare, for an observation to also have the dome nature,
that is, that it has (further forward) a raised dome area.
The TLC club car has the dome nature and the lounge nature since the space
below the dome is a snack bar.
no time to look at yours now but I will later.
++Lar
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: brick/plate height ruler...
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| (...) Would you characterize "bi-level" as "dome-nature"? My impression has been that bi-level cars are fully bi-level (and pretty darn tall), but then I haven't ever really studied passenger trains much (actually, I tend not to be too much into in (...) (24 years ago, 27-Apr-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: brick/plate height ruler...
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| (...) I guess that its fair to say that you've left Houston already? I'd enjoy meeting you (wouldn't rule out a trip to the airport) if you're still here! james Simpson (24 years ago, 27-Apr-01, to lugnet.trains)
| | | Re: brick/plate height ruler...
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| (...) Snip all the information (thanks by the way) Whoa! Lots of information there. I just wondered what you meant by dome as compared to observation. It seems that both dome car and observation cars serve the same varied purposes and that they have (...) (24 years ago, 27-Apr-01, to lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: brick/plate height ruler...
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| (...) snip lots of useful information (...) Lar, What is the difference between a dome car and an observation car? Is a dome car just an observation car that fits in the middle of a train? By my interpretation even though both the "Club Car" and my (...) (24 years ago, 27-Apr-01, to lugnet.trains)
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