These SP-built dome lounges hold a very special place in my heart. When returning from service in Viet Nam in November, 1971, we were flown into Travis AFB, North of San Francisco and given travel money to find our own way home for leave. Needing a bit of R&R, I went down to San Francisco and booked a roomette from SFO to New York. ( Still have the ticket carbons ) Amtrak's "California Service " train, ( the name Zephyr was not yet being used) had one of these dome lounges in which I fondly recall riding MOST of the way to Ogden, UT, where, I believe, it was taken off the train to work back west to Oakland. The lower-level lounge section had a bar and couches and was finished mostly in stained redwood, with a TALL "Cathedral Ceiling", as the upper dome seating level didn't begin until about the 6th dome window from the left in this photo. What a sensation of spaciousness. The dome seating section was "screened off" from the lounge with plexiglas panels containing autumn-colored leave from a variety of deciduous trees. All told, the interior was magnificent. The other car that remains in my mind from that trip was a Northern Pacific Dining car which Amtrak had not yet touched. What I can recall of the rest of that train was MOSTLY former Burlington equipment, including a couple of dome-coaches. The ONLY remaining operating car of this small group is/was running in Panama, last I had read. The only cars I can think of that could come close to the SP domes were Seaboards "Beach series" "Sun Lounge" sleepers. IF only we could go back to those early Amtrak trains of 1971 - 71.
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