[?] I have a small fleet of Athern (Blue Box kits) of Santa Fe Dome Cars, along with the newer 85’ version of the same offered by Walthers in the Super Chief scheme. I only have one question-WHERE’S THE DOORS? In the age of “must be accurate before I consider it in my fleet” how could this detail be overlooked for so long? None of the cars have a door on either side allowing boarding by passengers at terminals. I have seen videos of dome cars and there does appear to be a side door. Does anyone know if this was just an oversight by the kit designer, or, on an all-dome train, were the passengers required to enter by one end of the train or the other? Seems this would have been a safety violation in real-time?
A lot of passenger cars have no passenger ‘doors’ on the sides - loungs, diners come to mind. The Athearn mode is a shortened version of the ATSF Super Chief dome lounge car. This car has no side doors as well. Passengers enter/exit the tran through the vestibule doors on the coaches or sleepers.
Even the Amtrak SuperLiner cars(diner and lounge) have no passenger entry/exit doors on the side. They do have a ‘service’ door on the lower level to stock the panty…
Jim