O_o Vistadome RPO

[motofavorite]

I  spotted these on eBay today. EBay links lead troublesome lives, so if you want to see more, search for “NEW N SCALE COMBO CARS W/ OBSERVATION ROOFS.” Maybe it’s what you need to fill out that VISTADOME mail train.

[thomasjmdavis]

The body is obviously the Con-cor mail baggage (this is the 30' RPO- 50' baggage version, there was also a 60' RPO-20' baggage version with more windows).  My best guess is the roof comes from the CC model of the GN 1955 Budd domes (the "slab" side version, before they made the CB&Q Budd domes they currently market).

I am tempted to buy a set- the mail baggage body is useful for kitbashing head end cars, and I have a body for the GN dome that lacks a roof- although I don't really need a GN dome car and it would just turn into another project requiring a "round tuit" to complete.

[randgust]

Wow, more than 10 available and 15 sold.....

What an odd mismatch of parts.  I'd get one just to name it "Del Postal Vista' as a tribute to the Seinfeld episode.

[peteski]

In that fuzzy photo those look to me like they were 3D printed in one of those Photon printers.

[ncbqguy]

I’ve been in N Scale since 1964 (okay, it was Treble-O at first).  I had Con- Cor GN cars from the time they were introduced and it (logically) never occurred to me that the Budd Dome roofs would fit other car bodies.  Probably because it would be dumb to do that.   
Reminds me of the guy that was all bent out of shape because his Heavyweight Vista-Dome Rooftop Swimming Pool Observation Car didn’t win an award at our Northwest NTRAK NFEST meet. 
Different strokes for different folks….
Charlie Vlk

[cjm413]

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[thomasjmdavis]

I’ve been in N Scale since 1964 (okay, it was Treble-O at first).  I had Con- Cor GN cars from the time they were introduced and it (logically) never occurred to me that the Budd Dome roofs would fit other car bodies.  Probably because it would be dumb to do that.   
Reminds me of the guy that was all bent out of shape because his Heavyweight Vista-Dome Rooftop Swimming Pool Observation Car didn’t win an award at our Northwest NTRAK NFEST meet. 
Different strokes for different folks….
Charlie Vlk

Now we have the opportunity to have a mail baggage swimming pool dome car. (Pool for use of postal employees only)

[nkalanaga]

The "GN" Dome can also be used for NP, BN, and Amtrak, so will fit anytime from the mid 50s to the late 70s or early 80s, although even Amtrak usually kept them in the west and midwest.

[Maletrain]

Maybe you could put some giraffes on the car floor with their heads in the dome?  I don't know what the postage would be on a giraffe.  But, it certainly should be "First Class" for a car that gives them dome privileges. 

[cjm413]

The "GN" Dome can also be used for NP, BN, and Amtrak, so will fit anytime from the mid 50s to the late 70s or early 80s, although even Amtrak usually kept them in the west and midwest.

Amtrak also used Heritage fleet Budd dome coaches on the City Of New Orleans, but I don't know the extent that they were ex-Empire Builder/NCL vs. ex-Zephyr, etc.

[nickelplate759]

Amtrak also used Heritage fleet Budd dome coaches on the City Of New Orleans, but I don't know the extent that they were ex-Empire Builder/NCL vs. ex-Zephyr, etc.

I rode the City of New Orleans from Chicago to Champaign and sat in the dome one night in the early 1980s.  I do remember it was a Budd dome, but I don't remember what the ancestry of the car was (Zephyr-style, GN/NP style, MoPac, Wabash, etc.).   I also remember that the front half of the dome was full of sleeping Boy Scouts camping out under the stars.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Maybe you could put some giraffes on the car floor with their heads in the dome?  I don't know what the postage would be on a giraffe.  But, it certainly should be "First Class" for a car that gives them dome privileges. 

Hahaha, I love this idea.

[Nato]

        A vista Dome Baggage Coach/Combine would have been possible and plausible, the RPO Baggage body looks like the 2nd generation Con Cor GN body. The first one was the Japanese one, tooling was some how lost or degraded and Con Cor did a second version of this car, you would have to see them side by side to tell the difference. 1st generation was modeled from the 1947 RPO Baggage cars 2nd generation was more like the 1952, think KATO GN (UP) RPO Baggage Car. Nate Goodman. (Nato). Salt Lake , Utah.   

[ncbqguy]

 A vista Dome Baggage Coach/Combine would have been possible and plausible, the RPO Baggage body looks like the 2nd generation Con Cor GN body. The first one was the Japanese one, tooling was some how lost or degraded and Con Cor did a second version of this car, you would have to see them side by side to tell the difference. 1st generation was modeled from the 1947 RPO Baggage cars 2nd generation was more like the 1952, think KATO GN (UP) RPO Baggage Car. Nate Goodman. (Nato). Salt Lake , Utah.

Nate-
The rolling stock tooling was transferred to Chicago some time before Con-Cor severed its relationship with Kato.  None of the tooling was "replaced".
The RPO, Duplex Sleeper, Diner and California Zephyr car inserts were all tooled locally and designed to utilize the original Japanese tooling.  Why the RPO Baggage with a larger mail apartment was selected I have no idea; both of the cars were RPO/Combines.  The Diner and Duplex Sleeper were tooled as mirror images of what they were supposed to be.  The GN Full Baggage was tooled in house after Con-Cor moved to Tucson, Arizona and was superior to the Japanese or Chicago tooling.
The later Budd Corrugated cars made in China were mostly CB&Q prototypes but with smooth full length letterboards and skirt truck cutouts.  The best cars of the lot  were the Navajo ATSF observation, ATSF Pleasure Dome and the ATSF coach.
Charlie Vlk

[btrain]

Is this an Air Mail RPO?