The ''El Capitan'' was a

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

operated by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

("Santa Fe") between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It operated from 1938 to 1971;

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

retained the name until 1973. The ''El Capitan'' was the only all-coach or "chair car" (non- Pullman sleeper) to operate on the Santa Fe main line between Chicago and Los Angeles on the same fast schedule as the railroad's premier all-Pullman ''

Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" b ...

''. It was also the first train to receive the pioneering

Hi-Level The Hi-Level was a type of Bilevel rail car, bilevel intercity railroad passenger railroad car, passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never pr ...

equipment with which it would become synonymous.

History

The ''El Capitan'' debuted on February 22, 1938, on a twice-weekly schedule, using two five-car sets of

equipment built by the

Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...

. Like the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

's '' Trail Blazer'', it offered "low-cost passage with high-speed convenience". The fare from Chicago to Los Angeles was $5.00 above the $39.50 regular coach fare in 1938. Originally conceived as the ''Economy Chief'', the name "El Capitan" was chosen to commemorate the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

; it competed for passenger traffic with

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

's '' Challenger''. Unique in charging an extra fare despite being a coach train, it pioneered such features as "RideMaster" seats optimized for sleeping. On its inaugural run the ''El Capitan'' left the main line at Williams and traveled up the

Grand Canyon Railway The Grand Canyon Railway is a heritage railroad which carries passengers between Williams, Arizona, and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The railroad, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was completed on September ...

to Grand Canyon Depot. In regular operation passengers bound for the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

would connect at Williams. In its first year and a half the ''El Capitan'' ran at 80% capacity, superior to similar services. Reservations had to be made weeks in advance. In 1942 the consist expanded to 12 cars. Heavy traffic during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

forced the Santa Fe to lengthen the train's schedule by two hours in July 1942; it restored the old schedule on June 2, 1946. On September 29, 1946, the ''El Capitan'' began running every other day, departing Los Angeles and Chicago on odd-numbered days (except the 31st). Together with the ''Super Chief'' on even-numbered days, the two trains formed what the Santa Fe billed as "the first and only daily hour service between Chicago and California". On January 25, 1948, one of the locomotives assigned to the ''El Capitan'' crashed through a steel bumper post and concrete wall at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal, ending with the locomotive dangling about 20 feet above Aliso Street. In 1948 the Santa Fe received additional equipment which permitted the ''Super Chief'' and ''El Capitan'' to start operating daily; the new schedules went into effect on February 29. The extra-fare charges were dropped from both ''El Capitan'' and the ''Chief'' on December 14, 1953. ''El Capitan'' was one of the first Santa Fe trains to use the Budd-built " Big Dome"-

Lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge or train lounge (e.g., Amtrak's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

cars. These were soon given to the '' Chief'' (another AT&SF Chicago-to-Los Angeles special), and replaced by new double-decker "

chair car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (American English), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (British English and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (Indian English) is a railroad car that is designed to ca ...

s (coaches) developed by Budd and the railroad in 1954–1956. These experimental cars had a quieter ride, increased seating capacities, and better views. The Santa Fe combined the ''Super Chief'' and ''El Capitan'' on January 12, 1958. The combined train used the ''Super Chiefs numbers, 17 and 18, but the Santa Fe continued to use both names. On its formation

continued the combined ''Super Chief''/''El Capitan'' designation until April 29, 1973, when it dropped the ''El Capitan'' portion. Today the route of the ''El Capitan'' is served by

's ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

''. Many Amtrak trains used a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars with newer Superliner railcars until the early 2000s.

Equipment

The ''El Capitan'' debuted in February 1938 with consists of two all-lightweights manufactured by the

. Each included a baggage-dormitory-coach, two coaches, a lunch counter-dining car, and coach-

observation car An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad Passenger car (rail), passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a plat ...

. The baggage-dormitory-coach had a small baggage area forward, followed by bunks for the train's crew and 32 coach seats. Both coaches seated 52 and featured men's and women's restrooms at opposite ends. In the observation car the restrooms were located forward, followed by 50 coach seats. During periods of high demand additional cars were added from the ''

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

'''s pool. The Santa Fe also employed its experimental pendulum car. Between 1946 and 1948, the Santa Fe increased the length of the ''El Capitan'' and added new cars built during and after

. The new ''El Capitan'' included a storage mail car, baggage-dormitory, eight 44-seat "leg-rest" coaches, two lunch counter-dining cars, a club-lounge, and a coach-observation car. Most of the coaches were built by

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

. The reduced seating in the coaches was given over to improved leg room for passengers. Between 1954 and 1956, the ''El Capitan'''s consist included the " Big Dome"-Lounge that replaced the mid-train club-lounge car. On July 15, 1956, the new, "

" streamliner consist debuted. Santa Fe purchased enough "Hi-Level" equipment for consists of five nine-cars. Six of the railroad's older baggage-dormitory cars had a cosmetic fairing applied to the rear roofline to create the distinctive "transition" cars and maintain a streamlined appearance on the ''El Capitan''. The real transition cars were the 68-seat step down chair cars, which had a regular-height diaphragm at one end and a high-level at the other. The dining cars rode on six-wheel trucks due to their massive weight (all other cars rode on four-wheel trucks). The "Big Domes" were transferred to the ''Chief'' pool. As on many "named" long haul trains of the era, the rear of the observation car bore a lighted "

drumhead A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum. Additionally outside of percus ...

". These signs included "El Capitan" in a distinctive logotype with the railroad's logo. File:El Capitan diner Santa Fe Railroad.JPG, Pre-1956 ''El Capitan'' diner File:Santa Fe big dome observation car 1954.JPG, The Big Dome car, 1954 File:Sante Fe Railroad El Capitan.JPG, Passenger boarding on one Hi-Level car

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* Timetables
1938
an

{{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Named passenger trains of the United States Night trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Railway services introduced in 1938 Railway services discontinued in 1973 Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Missouri Passenger rail transportation in Kansas Passenger rail transportation in Colorado Passenger rail transportation in New Mexico Passenger rail transportation in Arizona Passenger rail transportation in California Former long distance Amtrak routes North American streamliner trains

History

Equipment

See also

Notes

References

External links