@Jtrain posted:It is pretty close to the real thing:
I just read some information on the Big Domes from someone who worked on the Santa Fe back in the day. Apparently, those metal bars in front and in back of the dome windows are merely handrails, and not icicle breaker bars as many have stated.
The Big Domes were delivered without those handrails, which builder's photos and other early photos show, and the handrails were added later, probably around 1960, when ladders/handrails were added to the noses of F unit diesels. As with the F units, the Big Dome handrails were to aid in window washing and maintenance. It seems that it was due to a safety requirement that kicked in about that time.
If you look closely, you can see that they could not be icicle breaker bars because they do not cover the full width of the front windows.
So, the Lionel Santa Fe Big Dome is actually a very accurate model of a 1950's version of the Big Dome (without the added handrails). The car would be accurate for the San Francisco Chief and also for the Chief (although this version of the Big Dome with the small lower window is the lounge/dorm version of the car that typically ran on the San Francisco Chief, they likely ran on the Chief too). Lionel modeled their matching train as the Chief.
