The first class lounge project was an effort to design a lounge space for our first class sleeping passengers. It is located on one half of the lower level of the sleeping car. After the conceptual block model and mock-up phases, it was time to break down the design into manufactured parts.
The first stage of the break down was to develop the seating by taking the conceptual form and dissecting it into frame weldments, cushion assemblies, and fastening systems. The design challenge was to do all this without sacrificing the design’s aesthetic quality.
A design parameter for any existing train car that gets redesigned is that every part of the design must fit through the 32” exterior train car door. Due to this, the frame weldments for this design must be broken down into modular sections. Each section consists of a profile weldment, which includes plates to fasten the frame to the floor, wall, and adjacent frames. Steel pans are welded to the profile weldments to construct the modular sections.