Update 1.
It’s been a long time since I posted any updates on this dome observation lounge car. I have been enjoy running this car on my layout and upgrading interiors of my other 18” K-Line Union Pacific aluminum passenger cars. Part of the fun in upgrading interiors is researching the original photos and drawings to get the little details as near as possible.
In the back of my mind one tiny detail has always nagged me on this unique dome observation lounge. It was that K-Line used the incorrect dome structure on this car. In short, the style of dome K-Line used was from Budd Manufacturing and not American Car Foundry (ACF). I’m pretty sure it was easier for K-Line to manufacture a single “one size fits all” plastic dome for their cars. That makes good business sense… but that Budd style dome structure on a Union Pacific car just didn’t look right to me when compared to historical photos.
Here is a line drawing of a 9000 series dome observation lounge car showing the correct style ACF dome structure next to a photo of my 18” semi-scale K-Line car. There’s a lot your eye can forgive when running semi-scale passenger cars. The trick is to keep everything proportional. In this case, K-Line’s Budd style dome is nowhere near matching the line drawing.
A correctly shape/sized ACF dome structure should stretch about 1/3rd length of the car, shouldn't have any horizontal crossbars through the windows and should have a large center roof section and tall side windows for better viewing. To see the small center roof and horizontal crossbars better here’s a ¾ view of the Budd dome structure that came with my K-Line observation lounge car.
@Hancock52 sent me photos of what a correct ACF dome structure should look like. These close up photos were from his 21” Lionel Union Pacific observation lounge car. Notice the tall side windows and much larger flat center roof section. Also, you won’t find any horizontal cross bars blocking the view through these ACF windows.
With a fresh cup of coffee in my hand I decided it was time to do something about this incorrect Budd dome on my K-Line car and write down my experience to share with other forum members. Out of caution for this ACF dome project I’m not planning on altering the aluminum shell on my 18” aluminum K-Line observation lounge car. The reason is I’ve had my share of past O-scale project go sideways. So… just in case I can’t pull off making an acceptable looking ACF dome structure I want to still have the option of going back to my original factory K-Line dome.
Stay tuned for the next step…
