Hello from Spokane! We’re hard at work getting our new dome, the Paxrail Bozeman Pass, ready for its move eastward. This week has seen two very exciting developments.

New Wheels

New wheels arrived from New Jersey this week. The interior wheels on both trucks were badly worn, so they were swapped out for some reworked wheels that should perform much better. This entailed some crane work…

In the second image, the dome car is suspended awaiting its new wheel, about to be expertly placed in its truck. The car spent the better part of a day in the air as this work was completed, it was quite a sight.

New “Windows”

With new wheels and brake shoes in place, it was time to continue the work of getting the car ready for its trip this fall. This meant taking the tarp off the windowless dome for the first time in two decades…

How about those seats- they’re original! Unfortunately (or… fortunately?) Paxrail’s plans for the car do not include reproducing that particular look, but being able to see the dome in full light for the first time was a neat experience. Of course, an open-air dome car is not exactly the most secure thing out on mainline rails, so we sealed it off against the elements for its big trip eastward.