I have a personal connection with a Budd-built Vista-Dome. In November 2018, my old friend and President and co-owner of New Hampshire’s Conway Scenic Railroad, Dave Swirk, called me, “Would you like to join me on a big adventure?” Before I realized what I was getting into, I said “Yes.” The railroad had just bought a former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Budd Vista-Dome, and Dave and his wife, Rhonda — co-owner of railroad — were flying to Los Angeles to collect the car and travel east across the country.
They hired me to accompany them and document the move. We arrived in L.A. on Nov. 15, and on the 17th, we met with the car’s former owners who had arranged the logistics for the car to travel east on Amtrak. They owned the car for 21 years and would be joining us as far as Chicago on what was a bittersweet journey.
The car was built in 1956 for Burlington’s plush Denver Zephyr. Originally named Silver Buckle, it had gone through a series of owners and had spent a number of years out of service. The previous owners had restored the car, renaming it Silver Splendor. During restoration, they brought the car up to Amtrak’s operating standards, including compatibility with 480-volt three-phase A.C. head end power and top speed of up to 110 mph. For more than a decade they operated the car on high-end Los Angeles-based excursions, largely on regularly scheduled Amtrak trains.
When Amtrak changed its policies and limited its accommodation of private cars in 2018, the business model was no longer practical. This change contributed to the decision to sell the car, which coincided with the Swirks’ desire to expand Conway Scenic excursion business by adding more domes to its fleet. In the late 1990s, under previous owners Russ and Dot Seybold, Conway Scenic had bought and restored a former Great Northern Budd Dome, operated as the railroad’s Dorthea Mae, and this had demonstrated the great value of a dome car in excursion service. Dome seats, despite commanding a premium fare, consistently sell out. The Swirks were attracted to Silver Splendor’s streamlined grace, which fit perfectly with the railroad’s desire to recreate the spirit of a 1950s streamliner experience condensed into a 4-5 hour round trip through the White Mountains. It could be placed into service quickly and begin earning revenue right away without the need for a drawn-out restoration.
At Los Angeles Union Station, Silver Splendor was coupled to the head-end of Amtrak’s eastbound Southwest Chief, which follows the BNSF route to Chicago. The car had developed a loyal following during its years in California and our train was met with groups of fans at stations along the route. I enjoyed the rare opportunity to experience the former Santa Fe Railway from the luxury of a Budd Dome. Not only did the car provide me with an exclusive rolling panorama, but I enjoyed the car’s excellent riding qualities. During station stops, I had ample opportunity to capture photos of the car on its transcontinental journey and talk to people along the way. Highlights of the trip over the Santa Fe were passing some of the last active semaphores in automatic block service in New Mexico on Glorieta Pass and east of Las Vegas, N.Mex.
At Galesburg, Ill., Amtrak’s Southwest Chief crosses from the former Santa Fe route to the former Burlington, so from this point to Chicago Union Station, Silver Splendor was again riding on home rails that were historically the route of the Denver Zephyr. At Aurora, we joined the famous Burlington “Racetrack” for the last leg of the journey to Union Station. At Chicago, the car laid over for a night and a day and then continued its eastward journey at the back of Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited. We took the interval in Chicago to visit Silver Splendor’s ancestor, Burlington’s Pioneer Zephyr, which is beautifully restored at the Griffin Museum of Science & Industry. The trip over the former New York Central “Water Level Route” was uneventful, although I noted that we hit a top speed of 108 mph on Amtrak’s high-speed track between Schenectady and Albany-Rensselaer stations in New York. At Albany we left the car, since this was as far as Amtrak could take it.
Later, the car continued its journey to North Conway on freight trains, which required circuitous routing via Worcester, Mass., Portland, Maine and Groveton, N.H., that required several months to complete, owing in part to the winter closure of the railroad over Crawford Notch.
For me, the trip with Silver Splendor opened a new chapter in my career. The following spring, I traveled to North Conway to write a story on the railroad for Trains Magazine and I quickly became part of the story. The Swirks hired me for the summer to help with promotion. As a result, I was on the property when the new dome made its debut in excursion service. The car was renamed Rhonda Lee in honor of Rhonda Swirk, which followed a long-standing Conway Scenic car-naming tradition. This included re-lettering the car, replacing Burlington with Conway Scenic. To maintain stylistic consistency of the historic vehicle, the same type face employed by the Burlington was used for the new lettering. In June 2019, it entered service as a dining car on the railroad’s Notch Train — as the Crawford Notch excursion was then known and also worked as part of the railroad’s dinner train. My seasonal employment at the railroad led to my appointment as manager of marketing in December 2019, a position I have held since.
My role at the railroad has been more involved than simply directing and coordinating the various marketing campaigns, and also includes product development, creation of the train schedules, and problem solving and refinement of operating documents, including the rulebook. Each time I boarded the car at North Conway, I thought back to my Transcon trip aboard it.
In 2020, we renamed the Crawford excursion the Mountaineer, which harks back to the traditional Boston & Maine/Maine Central seasonal train that worked a portion of this route in the late 1930s and early 1940s (which for a few years employed the famous Flying Yankee Budd articulated set — a twin to the Pioneer Zephyr) while offering a name more likely to resonate with the general public. Since that time the Rhonda Lee has been a regular component of the Mountaineer consist, as well as working other prominent excursions, such as the seasonal Snow Train. In 2022, the railroad acquired a third Budd Vista-Dome. Originally a Northern Pacific dome-sleeper that worked the North Coast Limited, this had been rebuilt for service on the Orford Express dinner train in Quebec. In summer 2024, the railroad became the new home for the Flying Yankee trainset, a move that coincided with the State of New Hampshire conveying ownership of the train to the non-profit Flying Yankee Association. Today, it is stored at Conway, N.H., pending a planned restoration.
Conway Scenic began winter excursions over Crawford Notch in November 2024, as a prelude to the railroad celebrating 150 years of rail service over Crawford Notch in 2025. This year the railroad plans for its most ambitious Crawford schedule since it assumed operation of the former Maine Central Mountain Division in the mid-1990s. In addition to a six-day per week Mountaineer schedule starting the end of June, the railroad plans to schedule up to three Crawford Notch runs daily during the peak autumn season. This will allow for expanded use of its dome cars, including Rhonda Lee, which remains one of its most popular cars.
Brian Solomon is the manager of marketing for Conway Scenic Railroad, he and his wife, Kris, live in Lancaster County, Pa.
