If I were in the area, this is something I would sign on for in a heartbeat. Be a great chance to get a nice daytrip and rack up some more AGR points using my credit card!
"Been there done that" during 1962 in the "Pleasure Dome" on an EB "Super"; quite an experience.
Unfortunately, the "long" domes, be they Great, Big, or Super, do not provide much in the way of forward viewing (since I know you have been on a Super, you should readily concur). If the view is the sole reason to consider this trip, then essentially the same experience can be had from an Amtrak #330XX Sightseer. If otherwise, such as the fellowship of other railfans, then "go for it".
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Yes - I concede that the Budd half-dome cars offered far superior forward vision but in this case I imagine that the forward vision is going to be obscured regardless by being tacked on to the end of #3.
And yes..... I've ridden these long domes regardless of nomenclature a few times.... A couple of times each at the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and Royal Gorge Scenic Railroad, another Iowa Pacific owned car on a Salisbury, NC - Roanoke, VA excursion last fall as well as the Milwaukee Dome in service on the NCDOT Piedmont and on that 4449 hauled Minneapolis - Chicago excursion a couple or three years ago.
My interest here would be the opportunity to ride with other railfans and the onboard meal service. These Iowa Pacific held domes are all late of Alaska Cruise Train service and have intimate, club-like dining areas under the dome. THAT would be something unique in this case.
Posted by palmland (Member # 4344) on :
Somewhere I have some Super 8 movie film of my trip to my 1969 wedding in Arizona via the Super Chief - all Pullman 1st section. This inspires me to get it transferred to a DVD (my projector died long ago). I don't believe I had any film from the dome (although we certainly enjoyed cocktails there). But I know there is footage of the semaphores dropping as the as the classic Santa Fe warbonnet engines passed the signal.