Could Kato make an Amtrak train using Olympian Hi cars?

[u18b]

I know the dome cars went to Amtrak, for example.

[squirrelhunter]

I'll pull out my copy of Zephyrs, Chief and Other Orphans, but I think it mentions the use of Milwaukee coaches on Chicago- Minneapolis runs and maybe on Chicago-St. Louis runs. I don't know if they got Amtrak paint though.

[u18b]

A book  I saw said dome cars were renumbered 9380-9383.   No mention of paint since it was a floor plan book.

[nkalanaga]

The dome cars were used on the North Coast Hiawatha at some point, because I've seen pictures of them there.  I never saw a MILW coach on the Empire Builder in Pasco, but that doesn't mean they weren't used on the NCH.

Mr. Laboda's Passenger Car Photo site has pictures of all four ex-MILW domes in Amtrak paint.

[milw156]

Amtrak bought very few cars from the Milwaukee Road, the Super Domes and about 2 dozen coaches. Many of the coaches were bought at scrap value, and then sold for scrap without ever being used. The ones that were actually run, typically ran on Chicago-Milwaukee service, on the Abe Lincoln along with some  GM&O equipment between Milwaukee and St Louis, and occasionally on the Empire Builder or North Coast Hiawatha as far as the Twin Cities. The domes did show up on the Call Zephyr, but were retired and I believe scrapped in 76 or 77.

[milw156]

Other than the domes, no Milwaukee cars ever received Platinum mist.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

Yah, the relatively few MILW coaches (17 in all) never really caught on with Amtrak, with their tenure being very short.  The domes were another matter.  MILW 55, 57 - 59 saw use up to 1976 in Amtrak service, while a couple of the domes that had went north found their way back on the Amtrak roster, with a make-shift vestibule door and ramp added after they were retired from Alaska service.  Both MILW 52 and 56 were acquired by Amtrak in 1990 and saw use on Auto-Train 1990 - 1995.

[Point353]

I know the dome cars went to Amtrak, for example.

Not all of them, though: http://www.trainweb.org/web_lurker/MILWf/

[squirrelhunter]

Per Frailey's book, the cars used were in the #482 through #502 and #600 through #633, with both groups having many gaps. The first group was tabulated wit leg rest coaches like the ATSF and UP cars used in the west on overnight trains.

He lists them as being used Chicago to Milwaukee only staring in 1974 and being done by around 1976.

[u18b]

Well, it sounds like Kato could make some money in the future by selling these domes as singles in Amtrak paint.

[squirrelhunter]

Kato needs to do a Phase 1 set with some ex UP leg rest coaches, their Budd pre war corrugated diner (similar some ATSF diners used by Amtrak) the OH full dome, the UP Plaid series sleepers from the COLA set and a CZ dome obs.

It would be a nice 4 to 6 car add on set that would let folks model other western trains like the Sunset Limited, North Coast Hiawatha or San Francisco Zephyr.

[wcfn100]

Well, it sounds like Kato could make some money in the future by selling these domes as singles in Amtrak paint.

Good luck with that, but it does remind me it's time for my monthly request for single "Pacific" series sleepers. 

Jason

[sirenwerks]

So how long did the domes last in Armour Yellow while in Amtrak service?

[nkalanaga]

And here I have one of the Centralia Car Shops MILW domes on order.  No idea when it might appear.  If I could be sure it wouldn't I'd order a Kato...

[sundowner]

If Kato wanted they have enough cars to produce the auto train on this video but some of the cars will be foobs but close enough like the tri-level racks they are going to do