Amtrak Dome Car to Operate on Illinois Zephyr

Amtrak’s great dome car will operate on the Illinois Zephyr  from Nov. 5-22.

No. 10031 is the only dome car left in Amtrak’s fleet. It will operate eastbound from Quincy on No. 380, which departs at 6:12 a.m., and westbound on No. 383, which departs Chicago at 5:55 p.m.
There will be no additional charge to ride in the car and seating is unreserved.

The great dome was built by the Budd Co. in 1955 as Great Northern No. 1391, one of six full-length domes used on the Chicago-Seattle/Portland Empire Builder operated by GN in partnership with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway.

This November the car will traverse the original route of the Empire Builder from Chicago to Aurora.

“The car features an upper level with windows on all sides to provide passengers with panoramic views of the changing colors of the trees, farmers in their fields and the picturesque communities along the route, including LaGrange, Naperville, Plano, Mendota, Princeton, Kewanee, Galesburg and Macomb,” Amtrak said in a news release.

Acquired by Amtrak in 1971, the car once carried the name Ocean View.

Amtrak said the Illinois Zephyr and its counterpart, the Carl Sandburg (Nos. 381 & 382) carried more than 261,000 passengers in fiscal year 2013, which ended on Sept. 30.

Tags: Amtrak Illinois service, Amtrak's Illinois Zephyr, dome cars, great dome cars, Illinois Zephyr