Budd Smooth-side Domes from Lowell Smith

[nickelplate759]

   While Lowell's Car is very nice.  Northern Pacific's last NCL diners were SLAB Sided BUDD Cars. Nate Goodman. (Nato).

True enough.  I ate in one of those cars when it was in Amtrak service between NY and Chicago in the 1980s.  It still had the NP logo etched into glass partitions.

[Sokramiketes]

   While Lowell's Car is very nice.  Northern Pacific's last NCL diners were SLAB Sided BUDD Cars. Nate Goodman. (Nato).

Yes, delivered 1959 via Grand Central Station in Chicago.

But, Lowell's smoothside diner is still correct for earlier NCL's, and later secondary (Mainstreeter)

[nkalanaga]

Unlike the GN, which bought almost identical diners for both the 1947 and Mid-Century Builders, the NP seemed to buy diners in small batches from different builders.  They also rebuilt them at various times, into different types of food service cars  The GN's stayed basically the same as long as they were in service, other than paint.

[learmoia]

True enough.  I ate in one of those cars when it was in Amtrak service between NY and Chicago in the 1980s.  It still had the NP logo etched into glass partitions.

What route was it on? I didn't think a dome car could get into NY(C?) with clearances.

[Sokramiketes]

What route was it on? I didn't think a dome car could get into NY(C?) with clearances.

Somehow Nate got us talking about diners in the dome car thread.  The ex-NP diners were still on the Lake Shore around 2012, I ate in one on a trip to the Springfield show! 

[nickelplate759]

What route was it on? I didn't think a dome car could get into NY(C?) with clearances.

Budd diner, not dome.

[Mark5]

Lowell shared a low res pre-production photo:

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[nkalanaga]

Looks good, but the GN, at least, should have different trucks.  I don't know what type they are, but the ConCor smoothside cars, and most of Kato's Budd cars, look closer.

Of course, this is a pre-production sample, and he might be planning the correct trucks for the finished version.

[JoeD]

Fuel for the SP 3/4 dome fire -
SP Silver/Tomato
SP Yellow
SP Daylight
SP Lark (why not?)
Amtrak
Canadian Pacific
KCS Panama Canal
Aberdeen Carolina & Western

These would use the same 8'6" wheelbase Outside Swing Hanger disc brake truck used under the NP/GN domes...

If the NSE Rio Grande/Ski Train Domes can be used as an indicator, there would be a market.

Justin
MRLX1020

Don't forget Alaska too. 

Joe

[MRLX1020]

Don't forget Alaska too. 

Joe

They didn't have SP 3/4 domes?

[nickelplate759]

Lowell Smith just announced this car in IC (leased from NP) paint.

https://lowellsmith.net/product/railsmith-n-p-i-c-sleeper-pair/

[samusi01]

Arrived today with - as is customary from Lowell - no notice. Two SP&S cars and an NP car.

[CBQ Fan]

All 5 of mine arrived today. Look good through the box cover, but did not have time to open them up yet.

[nickelplate759]

Mine arrived on Saturday.  I did open the boxes (no photos) - they're gorgeous.  One small nit - Lowell reused existing underframe tooling, so it's not correct for a dome car (no dropped floor, for example).  Everything else is so nice that I'm not bothered by the floor.

I kicked in an extra $10/car for tariff $ as well.

[nkalanaga]

I received mine Monday as well.  And now I have a question.

I have a very nice broadside photo of GN 1320 from the Internet.  I printed it to N scale, and the Railsmith car lines up almost perfectly.  However, the dome is shorter than on the Kato CB&Q cars.

Are the Kato domes too long, or did Budd build the cars with different length domes?

As for the underframe, yes, it would have been nicer to have a prototype frame, but the only other smooth-side  Budd domes available in plastic are the old Con-Cor models, and they also reused the coach (etc) floor.  After 55 years, I'll be satisfied with these!