Америкалық куполды вагондар: Панорамалық көліктер мен жолаушылар сервисі

American panoramic rail coach with en external dome

A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or observation. Beginning in 1945, dome cars were primarily used in the United States and Canada, though a small number were constructed in Europe for Trans Europ Express service. In North America, dome cars were manufactured by the Budd Company, Pullman Standard and American Car & Foundry. Southern Pacific Railroad built its own dome cars in its Sacramento, California, shops. In the 1990s Colorado Railcar began producing dome cars. Generally, seats in the dome were considered "non revenue" like lounge car seats.

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.

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 utilized these cars for a time, primarily in situations where 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.

A dome lounge is a type of domed railroad passenger car that includes lounge, cafe, dining or other space on the upper level or both levels of the car. Examples include both short (approximately half the length of the car, with the dome located just forward or just rearward of the car's center) and full (taking almost the entire length of the car). Some examples include sleeping compartments or coach seating. Classic dome lounges (built during the streamliner era in the U. S. and Canada) include:
"Super Dome" full length cars were built by Pullman Standard in 1952 for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific, also known as the Milwaukee Road, and operated in the railroad's Hiawatha passenger train fleet. Ten cars were initially constructed, with one of these destroyed in a derailment while on a test run and later rebuilt using new parts and parts salvaged from the original destroyed car. "Big Dome" full length cars built by the Budd Company in 1954 for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe for the railroad's passenger train fleet. Fourteen of these were built in two groups, one group of which included crew dormitory space on the lower level. "Great Dome" full length cars built by the Budd Company in 1956 for the Great Northern Railway for its Empire Builder train. Six of these were built; one of them was actually owned by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, over which the train operated between Chicago and the Twin Cities. One former Great Northern car number 1391, Ocean View, remains in Amtrak ownership. "Pleasure Dome" short dome cars built by Pullman Standard in 1950 for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe for its Super Chief train. The six cars had both lounge and dining facilities, including the unique "Turquoise Room", a small dining area identified by the turquoise Native American medallion displayed on one of the room's walls. "Vista Dome" short dome cars built by the Budd Company for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy for its Zephyr passenger trains. Examples included two dome parlor observations built in 1947 for the Twin Zephyrs; six dome buffet lounges and six dome sleeper observations built in 1949 for the California Zephyr; two dome coach buffet lounges and two dome parlor observations built in 1953 for the Kansas City Zephyr; and two dome buffet lounges and two dome parlor observations built in 1956 for the Denver Zephyr. The California Zephyr cars included those built for the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Western Pacific, which were partners with the CB&Q on the train's route between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay area. "Vista Dome" short dome cars built for the Wabash Railroad. The Budd Company built a dome parlor observation in 1950 for the railroad's Blue Bird; Pullman Standard built a dome parlor for the same train in 1952. "Astra Dome" short dome cars built by American Car & Foundry in 1955 for the Union Pacific Railroad and operated on the City of Los Angeles, City of Portland and other UP passenger trains. The railroad purchased 15 dome lounge observations. "Skyline" dome coach buffet lounges and "Park" dome sleeper observations built by the Budd Company in 1955 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. The CPR purchased 18 of each car type for its Canadian and Dominion passenger trains. "Stairway to the Stars" cars constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad for its Daylight passenger trains. The railroad built seven cars in its own shops, using components from retired cars and dome components supplied by the Budd Company. These cars were more accurately three quarter length domes, since the dome level was more than half the length of the car but did not extend the full length.

Most of these cars remained in service for their original owners up to the end of privately run passenger trains in North America in the 1970s. In the U. S., most cars moved on to Amtrak or to operators such as Auto Train. A few remained in business car service for their original railroads. In Canada, the entire Canadian Pacific fleet went to Via Rail.

Although the design of a dome car can be likened to a cupola caboose, the dome car's development is not directly related. The earliest documented predecessor of the dome car was first developed in the 1880s; known at the time as the "birdcage car", it was used on an 1882 sightseeing tour on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In 1891, T. J. McBride received a patent for a car design called an "observation sleeper"; illustrations of the design in Scientific American at the time showed a car with three observation domes. Canadian Pacific Railway used "tourist cars" with raised, glass sided viewing cupolas on their trains through the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the 1920s. These dome car designs did not prove successful, and further refinements to the idea didn't come for a few decades. The first successful dome cars were conceived by Cyrus Osborn of General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD). In 1944, while traveling in an EMD built Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotive through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado, he recognized the wonderful views the passengers could enjoy from a panoramic dome. His idea was to provide a full 360 degree view from above the train in newly built "Vista Dome" cars. Despite the costs involved, Pullman completed the first four production dome cars for GM's Train of Tomorrow in 1947. The four cars, dubbed Astra Liners, included a coach, diner, sleeper and lounge observation., were similar to Silver Dome and were displayed to the press on numerous private charters and to the public at the Chicago Railroad Fairs in 1948 and 1949 before they were sold to Union Pacific Railroad for use between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. B&O also went so far as to add floodlights on the roofs of its dome cars to illuminate the scenery during nighttime travel. On September 14, 1950, a monument was established at Glenwood Canyon. Called "Monument to an Idea", this monument celebrated the Vista Dome at the place where it was first inspired. In the late 1980s, the monument was moved to the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado, to make way for expansion of Interstate 70. The first ten full length domes were built by Pullman for the Milwaukee Road's Chicago Seattle Olympian Hiawatha. The Milwaukee Road paid $320,000 each for their "Super Domes" and used them on that route until 1961, after which four cars remained in service between Chicago and the Twin Cities; these last four were sold to Amtrak upon its formation in 1971. Like most Pullman domes the Milwaukee domes were 15 feet (5 m) tall rather than the Budd/ACF standard 15 feet (5 m). The Santa Fe and Great Northern also bought full length domes from Budd in 1954 and 1955. All but one of Santa Fe's cars were sold to Auto Train in 1971. As railroad passenger ridership declined in the late 1950s, some railroads retired dome cars due to the maintenance costs. Other railroads that had not purchased dome cars new bought them second hand. Illinois Central purchased several cars from Missouri Pacific and Canadian National bought several cars from Milwaukee Road, for example. Because of their enormous usage of sealed glass, the cooling of the cars required massive air conditioning capacity. Maintenance and repair of these cars was costly. Breakdown of the air conditioning system on the road, even in winter, could render a car unusable. Since the 1980s, dome cars have become rare since Amtrak introduced Superliner bi level passenger cars that are 16 feet (5 m) tall over the length of the car. Dome cars are very popular on tourist railways and private charter rail services. Some railroad museums have preserved several dome cars. These cars are very popular with visitors who often remember the spectacular rides they had in these cars. While the dome car is a mostly North American feature, a few also operated in the scenic areas of Europe. The German Federal Railways had five low profile dome cars built in the early to mid 1960s for its Rheingold and Rheinpfeil trains. From June 1973 to May 1976, the Trans Europe Express train Erasmus also carried dome cars. After being retired from regular service, these cars have been operated in excursion and charter service throughout Europe.

Most dome lounges survive as of 2023. Some are in excursion train or dinner train service, while others are on display in museums. A few remain in business car service. Most of the original Canadian Pacific cars remain in service on the transcontinental Canadian train operated by Via Rail Canada. The Orford Express dinner/excursion train, which operates out of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, includes a former Northern Pacific dome sleeper.

Indian Railways (IR) is currently using 41 Vistadome coaches in different railway zones of the country. IR planned to introduce 49 more Vistadome coaches by the end of 2021 to meet the growing demand of tourists.

The Panama Canal Railway operates a 1950s vintage dome car originally built by Southern Pacific on its route between Panama City and Colón alongside the Panama Canal.

Dome rail travel was highlighted in the PBS aired program Dome Car Magic. Produced by award winning Richard Luckin, it is narrated by actor Michael Gross and chronicles the history of the railroad sightseeing cars, from Burlington's 1945 "Silver Dome" to the full length models operating today in Alaska and Canada.