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Many feel the signature cars to Union Pacific's updated 1955 passenger fleet was their fifteen new 9000 series observation dome lounges numbered 9000 ~ 9014.  One of the main reasons for this special attention was Union Pacific hired the famous Dorothy Draper design firm out of New York to create striking new interiors.  The Dorothy Draper firm was renown for using bold and bright colors on furniture and interiors.  Before I begin on how to create this interior, here's a link on how to make the outside of your 18” K-Line K4690-38003 car look like an UP observation dome lounge car: https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ion-pacific-dome-car . Once I had the ouside of my car completed, I was ready to made this interior look like a classic Union Pacific observation dome lounge.

red marker lights

In this build I needed to redo the upper dome seating and create three different style rooms on the main floor.  According to the plans the main floor of this car is suppose to have:

1. A separate room for playing card in the front of the car

2. A middle bar section below the dome

3. An observation lounge at the rear of the car   

Here's a look inside of the finished card room with painted passengers, gold drapes, card table and framed Union Pacific photos on the wall.

card room2

In the middle section below the dome there is now a bartender standing in front of a classic UP mural, rounded low-back barrel chairs, people, metal handrail and wormwood trimmed walls.

bar area

Here's a closer look at the bar section before people, wood walls, curtains and details were added.  The new LED lights fit perfectly under the dome level and illuminates both the Union Pacific City of Los Angeles mural behind the bar.  On the opposite wall from the bar I hung more UP artwork.

bar3

bar7

In the rear observation lounge section it now features brightly colored chairs, sofas, loveseats, working table lamp and writing desk with mirror.

lounge area



As with my other interior upgrades the Union Pacific plans for this the 85 ft car did not line up my 18" semi-scale K-Line shell.  I started by printing the ACF plans (1959 rev. d) on an 11 x 17 piece of paper so the floor would be about the same size as my K-Line metal base.  I never found the original 1955 plans that showed the rear observation windows and rear facing couches but I found online photos with the differences.  I will attached these ACF plans if anyone wants to upgrade your passenger cars at the end of the post.

Start by removing your existing K-line interior section from the shell.  Then separate the old plastic dining car interior base from the metal frame. I kept these dining tables and bench seats so they could be use later in the build.

K line a

Install two wooden strips to elevate your new floor above the existing power wires that come up from the trucks.  Line up your wooden strips with the factory screw hole locations.  Tack down the two wood strips with glue.  Make your new floor out of a thin sheet of 1/32” x 3” x 24” basswood.  Cut the basswood to the same width as metal K-Line metal base.   The new floor can be temporarily glued in place but will eventually permanently mounted using the same exact screws that held your old plastic interior.  The new floor should be cut slightly shorter at the ends due to the clearance for end caps.

On this build I decided to lower the middle bar area so it would look more realistic from the outside.  To lower this section move your power wires to the right side of the car and glue a thin sheet of wood to the steel floor under the wires.  On the front left of this photo below you can see where I brought the power wires up through the floor for JW & A, 21000 Passenger Car LED Lighting Kit.  This LED lighting kit provides better lighting for the new interior details with a lower profile than the old K-Line incandescent bulbs that came with this car.  Also, these LED don't use as much power as incandescent bulbs and the lighting level is adjustable.

K line aa

You can now start putting up the interior walls per the plans.  The most important part of this semi-scale build is to position the new walls to fit inside the blank spaces between the windows on your K-Line shell.  Start with marking your exact window locations with a pencil on your new basswood floor (using the shell as reference).  Then arrange your interior walls to match inside your window spacing.

k line bb

In these close up views it shows some my marked window locations and center line of the car.

K line cK line d



At this point you can add point you can paint and add details like sofas, tables and chairs based on the Union Pacific plans.  Make sure to arrange your furniture so your passengers can see out of the windows.  To research the exact furniture and details of a City of Los Angeles observation dome lounge car I turned to the 592 page book "The Union Pacific Streamliners" by Ranks and Kratville.    It gives written details, ACF plan views and includes black and white manufacturing images of when the cars were delivered in new condition to the Union Pacific.  To find 1955 colors photos of 9000 passenger car interiors I turned to the book "Union Pacific's Streamliners" by Joe Walsh.  Not only did this book show an original 1955 color photo of the lounge but Joe Walsh rode the real 9003 observation car during the City of Los Angeles's last trip in 1971 and he includes a color photo of the 9003's bar area.  I made sure my bar section match these colors exactly.



Union Pacific made five of the 9000 series observation dome lounge cars (numbers 9000 ~ 9004) to run daily on their City of Los Angeles trains.  The mural on the wall behind the bar was unique to these City of Los Angeles dome cars.  From left to right the original mural showed an E8 hauling passenger cars, Union Pacific Turbine pulling freight and then the original M-10000 streamliner.  In the center of the mural it shows a scene from the Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Point and some wild buffalo next to the M-10000.  I wanted to include this mural behind my bar area but could not find a complete image anywhere in books or online.  I ended up creating the wall mural below by piecing together multiple images of the real mural.

bar



The 9000 domes cars used solid maroon colored seats and Union Pacific turned the dome seats outward 10 degrees so the passengers had better views of the American West. In the photos below you can see the before, during and after of the dome area with the repurposed bench seats from the original lower section interior that came with this car.  You will have to remove the old floor from the dome area by cutting it off from the outside.  Once the old floor is removed you can attach a new floor using some of the 1/16” x 3” x 24” basswood and then glue the bench seats in place.  Note the bench seats were trimmed by the wall to get the 10 degree angle needed.   The UP plans called out for 6 bench seats on each side but since this is semi-scale I could only fit 5 seats on each side.  I used the K-Line, Arttista and Preiser figures from their 24 pack (part# 65602) in this build.  And painted the figures to match the people in Union Pacific promotional photos.  Since the floors in the dome area and the downstairs coach are higher than normal, you will need to trim the feet off these 1/45th scale figures.  Also, in the dome you should trim the bottoms on your figures to make them fit under the glass top better.

Seating before and after



I found 1/50th scale round back chairs on eBay for the bar area.  The chairs for the card room from ScaleCityDesigns.  The wine glasses, coffee pot, coffee cups and whisky glasses were from a place called StewartdollhouseCreations. All the round tables seen were made from the square tables that came with this car.  Here is an overview of the card room and bar area next to the plans.  During the build I kept the K-Line shell close by to verify the window spacing.

card room and lounge



Next is an overhead look at the rear observation lounge area next to the plans.  In this area I modified existing K-Line bench seats into couches, loveseats and chairs.   Then painted them to match the bold Dorothy Draper colors.  It’s interesting to look at how this observation cars interior design differs from a 1930’s Union Pacific observation car.   In the 1930’s the designers arranged all the furniture looking inward so you could have conversations with your fellow travelers.  But in this 1955 design almost all the furniture faces outward.  It’s so people could sight-see and enjoy the views outside. Union Pacific was now selling family vacations across America by train instead of just marketing to business travelers.

lounge finish

thumbnail_IMG_5680

Left side

I hope this write-up with plans helps others who want to upgrade their Union Pacific passenger car interiors.

Thanks,





To look at the other interior builds in this series click on the links below. They are listed in the order I run them on my layout:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...-an-e-8-cab-interior

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...interior-upgrade-rpo

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...6327-k4690#lastReply

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...car-interior-upgrade

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...enger-car-8003-k4690

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...lounge-car#lastReply

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...enger-car-1305-k4690

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...upgrade-k-line-k4690

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...upgrade-k-line-k4690

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...senger-car#lastReply

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...upgrade-placid-haven

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...oenix-aluminum-shell

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...pullman-sleeping-car

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...c-passenger-car-1575

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...-passenger-car-k4690

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  • Seating before and after
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Last edited by T.Albers
Original Post

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Hancock52 posted:

Well, that is outstanding (again). The figures are always a problem in K-Line, Lionel and MTH passenger car interiors. I recognize some of yours as K-Line. I'll have to look up that Preiser set.

Thanks for posting this.

Thanks Hancock.  This passenger car upgrade took the most amount of time because I had to do work on both the inside and outside.   I like using the Preiser seated figures because the passengers look appropriate for the 1950's era.   But they do require painting. 

IMG_1947

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Last edited by T.Albers

Just thinking about what you've said about the decorations in these cars and in particular how you devised the behind-the-bar artwork:

Murals seem to have been a big feature of streamliner interiors. The Railroad advertising of the time included a lot of color images although for some lines that I have modeled (MKT/Frisco in particular), the only photos of car interiors I have found are in black and white. The artwork  included many city skylines and etched glass partitions were another big feature. These are examples from the Texas Special:

14Murals5Partitions

I have not tried to replicate these in the cars that I have detailed, which mostly have pure fantasy schemes. My Texas Special observation car has posters and other artwork relating to the MKT itself or the historical figure, Stephen F. Austin, for which the car was named. I placed them on my representations of glass partitions. The MKT poster on the top below is my favorite, a contemporary stylized image of the station in San Antonio (the perspective is greatly exaggerated):

12_Prisses313_Partition_Rear copy

The same car has a totally non-prototypical bar and my version of a card playing area. The "wood" front of the bar is an inkjet print on self-adhesive label paper:

1_TXSp_Bar_Car

Reverting to UP observation cars, the one I am working on is Lionel's ABS plastic 21" City of San Francisco dome lounge. The bar in the belly of the car has a patriotic theme - far more elaborate than the prototype I am sure (I have not yet seen/been in the real car). Consistent with that theme, and because there's no end of wartime railroad posters, I have strategically placed one opposite a car window and another is placed elsewhere:

IMG_4509

10_Victory_Posters

P.S. Almost all of the glassware and other small details used in these cars is "quarter scale" 3D printed stuff; the playing cards are also quarter scale. I use the same supplier mentioned in the original post. 

 

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Images (7)
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  • 10_Victory_Posters
Last edited by Hancock52
Hancock52 posted:

Just thinking about what you've said about the decorations in these cars and in particular how you devised the behind-the-bar artwork:

Murals seem to have been a big feature of streamliner interiors. The Railroad advertising of the time included a lot of color images although for some lines that I have modeled (MKT/Frisco in particular), the only photos of car interiors I have found are in black and white. The artwork  included many city skylines and etched glass partitions were another big feature. These are examples from the Texas Special:

14Murals5Partitions

I have not tried to replicate these in the cars that I have detailed, which mostly have pure fantasy schemes. My Texas Special observation car has posters and other artwork relating to the MKT itself or the historical figure, Stephen F. Austin, for which the car was named. I placed them on my representations of glass partitions. The MKT poster on the top below is my favorite, a contemporary stylized image of the station in San Antonio (the perspective is greatly exaggerated):

12_Prisses313_Partition_Rear copy

The same car has a totally non-prototypical bar and my version of a card playing area. The "wood" front of the bar is an inkjet print on self-adhesive label paper:

1_TXSp_Bar_Car

Reverting to UP observation cars, the one I am working on is Lionel's ABS plastic 21" City of San Francisco dome lounge. The bar in the belly of the car has a patriotic theme - far more elaborate than the prototype I am sure (I have not yet seen/been in the real car). Consistent with that theme, and because there's no end of wartime railroad posters, I have strategically placed one opposite a car window and another is placed elsewhere:

IMG_4509

10_Victory_Posters

P.S. Almost all of the glassware and other small details used in these cars is "quarter scale" 3D printed stuff; the playing cards are also quarter scale. I use the same supplier mentioned in the original post. 

 

Hi Hancock,

That San Antonio station artwork is great.  I like how it has your actual Texas Special train in the background. Your printer must have a higher resolution setting than my printer, because my images did not come out as crisp. Also, great job on your glass dividing walls.  I used plastic on my 8003 dining car for the divider and your build using glass looks like a better idea.

On May 24th 1994 I rode on the Union Pacific Golden Spike Steam Special on its 125th Anniversary tour through Cajon Pass.  The 3985 Challenger was leading at the time.  During that ride I walked through the consist back to City of San Francisco Observation dome lounge car at the end train.  Those freshly restored passenger cars had lots of railroad artwork hanging on the walls just like you have in your Texas Special.  They had framed photos of the City of Los Angeles train, classic UP Streamliner posters and promotional images from the 1940's and 1950's.  I found myself taking photos of the nostalgic artwork when I should have been taking photos out the windows.

Also, working with those miniature glasses and playing cards is tough!  I broke two of the six 1/48th scale wine glasses and one coffee mug just getting them off the spruce.

Last edited by T.Albers
Pingman posted:

Wonderful project with excellent photos,text, and documentation.  Invaluable resource.

Thanks Pingman, I feel the LED lights really made the interior colors and artwork on the walls look much better.  This was my first build using the 21000 Passenger Car LED lighting kit so I don't have before & after photo of this Observation Lounge car to show.  But since that lighting kit came with two complete sets I retro'd the overhead lights in a Pullman sleeper yesterday just to see the difference in lighting color.

Here's the before (with factory incandescent bulbs) and after with the new LED lights using the same track voltage.  The passengers, room details and colors show up much better using LED lights. 

Ocean Sunset lights before and after

Since the LED's helped the interiors of both my Observation Dome and this Pullman Sleeper look better, I'm probably going to retro fit all my K-Line passenger cars.

 

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Images (1)
  • Ocean Sunset lights before and after
Last edited by T.Albers

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
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