WAS IT JUST CLEARANCE PROBLEMS OR WAS IT THE DIFFERENCE IN APPLIED VOLTAGE TO THE CATERNARY THAT RESTRICTED DOME CARE USE FROM THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR BUT ALLOWED THEIR USE UNDER GN AND MILW ELECTRIFICATIONS.? I REMEMBER NOT BEING ALLOWED INTO A DOME ON AMTRAK’S CAPITOL LIMITED WHILE THE TRAIN WAS IN WASHTON UNION STATION,
Clearances were the issue. Except for B&O and Wabash, and a few other railroads later with second-hand domes, nobody ran domes east of the Mississippi River because of tight clearances, especially at GCT and Penn Station. At any rate, it was a tight fit at Washington Union Station, which may be why the dome was off-limits through the Capitol Hill tunnel.
Even today, those tight clearances are still an issue. Only the Capitol Limited, Auto-Train, Sunset Limited and City of New Orleans are assigned Superliners in the area east of the Mississippi River.
The East wasn’t the only place w/ clearance problems. The equipment list for the City of San Francisco in the 50s shows domes from Chicago to Ogden. I believe the SP ran dome taverns on the COSF from Ogden to Oakland, but they were Sacto Shops built and, I believe, lower than most.
The SP domes were lower than the standard domes.
I’ve never seen vertical clearance numbers for the various types of domes, but I’m sure we all would like to see how they compare. I would think the Budd short domes are the tallest, and the ex-C&O(Pullman? ACF?) domes the lowest, with everything else in between.
I rode a train in 1968 and the dome car was empty and I was told not to go up due to concern about the caternary being to close. It was the B&O/C&O track to the west of Washington DC. Phil
Dome Clearances.
SP 3/4 domes 15’2"
GN,AT&SF. CB&Q Budd Full Domes 15’6"
B&O P/S Domes 15’3"
C&O Budd Short 15’53/4"
Milw Full Domes 15’7"
Amtrak Superliners 16’2"
CB&Q pattern Dome 16’2"
Budd short domes 15’10"
Ultradomes 17’4" - 18’1"
Hope that helps.
TTFN Al
Since the catenary PRR installed in Washington Union was (And I assume still is) above the top of the butterfly sheds. The Washington Terminal Railroad’s last supplement to the Penn Central’s Cheasapeake region time table showed the catenary to be 19’6" above the rail head. The height of the catenary on the approaches was 18’, which should not have been a problem for riders in the B&O’s domes. It is not a problem for Superliners, so what gives, here?
Wires can sag on very hot days.
For comparison, the clearance on a bi-level gallery coach is 15’ 10".