Con-Cor - 0001-00095N - Passenger Car, Lightweight, Corrugated Mid-Train Dome - Merry Christmas - 1995

Series Information: Series of 6 smoothside passenger cars produced by Con-Cor as its Christmas cars from 1992 to 1997.

Model Information: This car is a bit of an odd-ball. It was apparently originally made in the 1970s by Kato for Con-Cor. Early examples are labeled Sekisui/Con-Cor Japan. Later examples have the label milled out and replaced with 'Con-Cor'. This would presume that the tooling was moved from Japan to the United states at some point.
Early versions came in kit form with Rapido couplers. Later versions are Ready-to-Run (RTR) and come with either dummy knuckle "Rigid Face" couplers or Micro-Trains couplers.
It is modeled after the 46-seat dome-coach built by Budd for the CB&Q (Burlington Route) in 1956 to run on the Denver Zephyr (DZ). It is very similar to the 46-seat dome-coach built by Budd for Great Northern’s 1955 Empire Builder, the latter having “slab panel” sides instead of corrugated sides.

Despite the model having corrugated sides, Con-Cor marketed and packaged it either as a 'Corrugated Dome' (stainless steel finish) or a 'Smoothside Dome' (painted finish). The Con-Cor literature refers to it as a 'mid-train dome', which means it is not a dedicated tail car and can be used between other passenger cars.

Yet, in spite of the Con-Cor labeling and manufacturing , the Con-Cor website sometimes refers to this model as a 'Rivarossi Corrugated Dome', with a stock number starting with 0003- or 003- that is the company prefix used by Con-Cor for Rivarossi products. This is actually to complement the Rivarossi lightweight corrugated range that is missing a dome car, in particular in the Con-Cor/Rivarossi 5-car corrugated passenger sets.

So, though the 'corrugated' and 'smoothside' versions are marketed with different denominations by Con-Cor, they are technically of the same model type, hence are all regrouped in this single body style.

Warning: Con-cor designed subsequently another mid-train corrugated dome, inspired by another Budd dome built for the California Zephyr, that is not to be confused with this one.

Prototype History: A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or observation. Beginning in 1945, dome cars were primarily used in the United States and Canada, though a small number were constructed in Europe for Trans Europ Express service, and similar panorama cars are in service on Alpine tourist railways like the Bernina Express.

In North America, dome cars were manufactured by the Budd Company, Pullman Standard and American Car & Foundry. Southern Pacific Railroad built its own dome cars in its Sacramento, California, shops. In the 1990s Colorado Railcar began producing dome cars. Generally, seats in the dome were considered "non-revenue" like lounge car seats. When dome cars operate today in excursion trains, the dome seats often command a premium fare.

Road Name History: Well, it is not really a company, but there are a ton of model railroad cars which sport Christmas as the Railroad.

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is prepared for by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night; in some traditions, Christmastide includes an Octave. The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies; when Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then disseminated the message furthermore. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by the vast majority of Christians, as well as culturally by a number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the holiday season, while some Christian groups reject the celebration. In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family.

Brand/Importer Information: Con-Cor has been in business since 1962. Many things have changed over time as originally they were a complete manufacturing operation in the USA and at one time had upwards of 45 employees. They not only designed the models,but they also built their own molds, did injection molding, painting, printing and packaging on their models.

Currently, most of their manufacturing has been moved overseas and now they import 90% of their products as totally finished goods, or in finished components. They only do some incidental manufacturing today within the USA.

Important Note: The Con-Cor product numbering can be very confusing. Please see here in the article how to properly enter Con-Cor stock numbers in the TroveStar database.