MILW Shops Rapids Skytop Lounge

These are N scale 3D printable files for the Milwaukee Road "Rapids" Series Skytop Lounge Car — one of the most visually stunning and historically significant passenger cars ever built in North America, and a testament to the extraordinary craftsmanship of the Milwaukee Road's own shop forces. Available in three livery variants spanning the car's full service life from 1949 to 1971.

The Skytop Lounge was designed by the Milwaukee Road's own engineering and design staff and built entirely in-house at the railroad's Milwaukee Shops — not by an outside car builder, but by the railroad itself. This made the Rapids Series Skytop Lounges a rare and proud example of a major American railroad constructing its own passenger equipment, a tradition that was rapidly disappearing in the postwar era. The cars were built for the Milwaukee Road's premier "Rapids" series of streamlined passenger trains operating between Chicago and the Twin Cities, including the Afternoon Hiawatha and Morning Hiawatha. Note that the Milwaukee Road also operated a related group of Skytop Lounges known as the "Creek" Series, which were built by Pullman-Standard rather than in the Milwaukee Shops — those cars are a separate and distinct product also available from Out of the Box Models.

The defining feature of the Skytop Lounge is its breathtaking full-width curved glass rear observation end — a sweeping wrap-around window that gave passengers in the lounge an unobstructed panoramic view of the receding landscape from the rear of the train. The design was unlike anything else in American passenger railroading, combining the observation car tradition with a modernist aesthetic that made the Skytop Lounges instantly recognizable and universally admired. Trailing at the end of a Hiawatha consist in the Milwaukee Road's striking orange, maroon, and gray livery, a Skytop Lounge was one of the most spectacular sights in American railroading.

The three livery options capture the car's evolution across its service life:

• 1949–1950 — the cars as originally delivered, in the Milwaukee Road's classic early postwar passenger scheme.
• 1950–1957 — the intermediate livery period reflecting updates to the Milwaukee Road's passenger color scheme during the early 1950s.
• 1957–1971 — the later livery carried through the final years of Milwaukee Road passenger service, as the railroad's passenger operations wound down in the face of declining ridership and the rise of highway and air travel.

The Skytop Lounges remained in service until the Milwaukee Road's passenger operations ended, and their retirement marked the close of one of the most distinctive chapters in American passenger railroading. Only a handful survive today as preserved examples of the Milwaukee Shops' remarkable craftsmanship.

After purchase, your digital files will be available for immediate direct download from your order confirmation. These files are for Personal Use Only — if you are interested in a commercial license, please contact us.

Please allow a few weeks for 3D printing and shipping. Decals are shipped separately — please allow some additional time for decal printing and shipping after ordering.