Touring Holland America 1055, part 2: Completed Car

Back in November, I had the chance to tour Colorado Railcar's manufacturing facility in Ft. Lupton, CO. Several cars were under construction during my visit, including Holland America 1054-1057. During that visit, I toured the interior of HALX 1055, and created a special photo feature from those images. In follow-up, I again toured the 1055 in Pasco, WA while it was on its way to Seattle for delivery to Alaska and regular service.

By some fortune, it turned out that HALX 1055 was the 30th car delivered by Colorado Railcar. With this car, Colorado Railcar equalled the combined production of full dome cars by classic manufacturers Budd and Pullman.

While these photos aren't necessarily in chronological order, they are arranged in the same order as the first presentation to more closely allow comparison. By the time I finished taking photos of the cars' interiors, the sun was fully out, affording this view of the side of the 1055. While the car's exterior was already painted when I visited, you can see the tremendous amount of finishing work that was done in the mean time.

Wouldn't it be great to be on this platform watching the Alaskan scenery roll by, rather than looking at a string of tank cars a few tracks over? Still, you can see the finish work that was done to the platform area as well. Note the location of the handbrake on the next car over, HALX 1054. During transport, several of the buffer plates were removed from the cars for handling purposes, including both buffers between the 1055 and 1054.

The lounge section. The display cabinet on the left is used for souvenir sales.

Probably the most difficult part of the car to visualize while it was in process was the dining rooms, which have made a night and day change in the completed product. I've said in other places that I wasn't a huge fan of the upholstery selection, but I have to say that I am wild about these light fixtures. They really add a touch of class to the presentation.

The sound system mentioned in the construction preview has been installed, and the service bar is now in place at the front of the car. One thing I like with these cars is the liberal use of accent glass, like that at the edge of the stair well and the counter edge. Note also the slight difference in layout when compared to car 1054, shown in the first page of the HALX car tour and delivery section.

The dome interior has been fleshed out, and looks much more complete with the seats in place and the finishing touches added. All that is missing now is a load of passengers and some spectacular scenery and everything will be finished. Note the air vents visible along the window on the right, part of the patented HVAC system mentioned in the tour of RMR 9523, also under construction at Ft. Lupton.

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the finished version of Holland America 1055. It was quite a treat for me to get to see this car in its completed state, after having visited it during its construction.

Use the back button on your browser to return to the car roster page that you came from, or follow this link to see a complete tour of all four cars, and some photos from their delivery to Holland America.