The Santa Fe had previously ordered six "Pleasure Domes" from Pullman-Standard for use on the Super Chief. These were first-class lounges, with parlor car-style swivel chairs in the dome area and a private dining room on the lower level. These were "short domes": the dome was centered and did not extend the full length of the car. For the new Big Domes the Santa Fe and Budd went in a different direction. Like the Super Domes which Pullman had built two years previously for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, these were "full-length" domes: the dome extended the entire length of the car. The top level featured coach-style seating for 57, plus a lounge area which could seat an additional 18 on sofas and in booths. The lower level came in two variations. The first eight featured a cocktail lounge and nurses' room. The second six had a smaller bar-lounge and crew dormitory. Much of the lower area in both configurations was given over to mechanical use, including air-conditioning. The cocktail lounge was decorated in a "unique Indian decor", a common motif on the Santa Fe. When the Auto-Train Corporation purchased 13 of the Big Domes in 1971 it renovated the interiors. Reclining seats replaced the fixed seating, reducing capacity to 51. Two cars had their upper-lounge areas rebuilt as "night clubs."
Service history
The Santa Fe took delivery of all 14 domes between January and May 1954. Contemporary advertisements touted the Big Domes as "the world's most beautifulrailroad car." The cocktail-lounge Big Domes were assigned to the El Capitan, Chicagoan, and Kansas Cityan, while the lounge-dormitory domes went to the brand-new San Francisco Chief. The assignment to the El Capitan proved short-lived: already in 1954 the Santa Fe operated two prototypeHi-Level coaches on the El Capitan, and completely re-equipped it with those cars in 1956. The Big Domes moved to the Chief, where they remained until that train's cancellation in 1968. Their final home on the Santa Fe was the Texas Chief. Amtrak retained the Texas Chief but did not purchase any of the Big Domes. They continued on the Texas Chief until September 1971, when the Santa Fe sold all but one to the new Auto-Train Corporation. After Auto-Train's bankruptcy in 1981 the fleet was broken up. Two have since been scrapped. The remaining 12 are privately owned: BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern each operate one in their respective business car fleets; two operate on the Royal Gorge Route Railroadexcursion train in Colorado; and eight are owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings.
