As of 2002, Amtrak has sold two of their three remaining full-length dome cars. 9302 River View and 10030 Mountain View are now owned by American Orient Express, and will be refurbished for use on the AOE train. Amtrak still owns 10031 Ocean View, and is currently using it in special train service. It may or may not appear again in revenue service in a single-level trainset on Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner (formerly San Diegan) route.
The following are full-length dome cars currently operating on the Amtrak San Diegans route. These dome cars are used in place of the cafe car and can appear on any Amtrak San Diegan train at any time of the day. They are not used on any specific train number nor at any set time of the day. It appears to be just a matter of luck if one of these dome cars ends up on the train that you ride. You do not need to make a purchase from the cafe to sit in the dome. They are open to all passengers: regular coach passengers as well as business class (custom class, pacific class, first class) passengers. Presently, you can even go direct to the dome when you board the train. You do not have to wait for your ticket to be punched. The conductor will punch your ticket right at your seat in the dome car! It does not cost extra to ride in the dome.
All 3 full-length dome cars were in operation on 3 different Amtrak San Diegan trainsets on Thursday, April 13, 2000. Click here for more information.
There used to be 360x360 virtual immersion photos of the dome cars posted here, but the IPIX company that supported these photos went out of business and the photos can no longer be displayed.
These dome cars were in the Amtrak Phase III or earlier paint scheme. They are all being repained to Phase IV and renumbered. I believe they were all in the 9300 series of numbers while in service for Amtrak and before being renumbered. The Mountain View has been renumbered to 10030, the Ocean View from 9300 to 10031, and the final one from 9302 to 10032. I'm not sure, but I think the origin of the refurbishment and renumbering of these cars was Mountain View's role in the final run of train 36, Amtrak's eastbound Desert Wind. It was originally on the train only because it was deadheading to from Los Angeles to Chicago, but it turned into a lounge for VIPs on board! After its sucessful role as a VIP lounge, perhaps it ocurred to Amtrak that these dome cars should become official Amtrak business cars (beautifully restored rolling stock that is used for important business matters)! The reason I know these are now business cars is the fact that only business cars are assigned a 5-digit number beginning with 100--. Also, it would make sense that Amtrak has been refurbishing these cars -- they want them to look as good as they did 50 years ago! After all, ever heard of Amtrak holding meetings in Horizon cars? I think not! So, any Amtrak passenger who has the priviledge of traveling in one of these full-length dome cars should consider themself very lucky! Not only have these cars been restored to the standards of Amtrak's highest executives, they also afford a better view and a nicer atmosphere then any other cars on short-distance trains! Actually, the only lounge cars in Amtrak's fleet that are better than the dome cars are the Pacific Parlour Cars. But the Parlour Cars are only available to First Class passengers on the Coast Starlight, but even someone paying $10 to go from Irvine to Oceanside in coach can utilize the dome cars! Although each of the dome cars were given names under their original Great Northern ownership, the only one that formally retained its name was Mountain View. So, despite the fact that Ocean View and River View were never really renamed, you will not find any markings on those cars indicative of the original names. The photos below show some of the full-length dome cars before and after being repainted and renumbered. Matt Melzer took the photos of the full-length dome car 9302 that is still in the Amtrak Phase III paint scheme.
Exterior:
10030 Mountain View /
10031 Ocean View /
9302 River View
More 9302 Photos
Interior:
Set #1 /
Set #2
The following is reposted here with permission from Roy Wullich:
