Welcome to our Third El Capitan Newsletter! 

The crews in the car shops have been hard at work on our new El Capitan! All cars are currently on schedule, with the first release, the 63' Budd Railway Post Office, due in October.

Built for speed, our new PROTO 2000 37-Class F7s are really moving. In fact through the pre-order program they sold so fast, two are already sold out at Walthers:

920-40687 P2K F7A-B DCC ATSF #39L/39
920-40688 P2K F7A-B DCC ATSF #39C/39

Pacific Western Rail Systems has a few of these sets still available for order, but now that they are gone at Walthers, they will be gone here shortly as well. If you have not reserved your copy, act now.

There is still a little time to pre-order the following engines, but supplies are limited, so don’t wait!

Santa Fe’s Unique Native American Guides

While it only took a few decades to close America’s western frontier, our fascination with this period in our history continues to this day! In large part, it’s been fueled by a variety of influences that included traveling wild west shows, Hollywood movies, TV, and believe it or not, railroad advertising.

Once railroads eliminated most of the dangers from going west, they began clever campaigns to bring in tourists that would run for decades. Firing the imagination of easterners looking for an adventure that might last a few days or a lifetime, these campaigns not only put riders on Santa Fe trains, many relocated their families as well as businesses and industries along the railroad. By 1926, an ingenious partnership between the ATSF and the Fred Harvey Company (its hotels and restaurants along the railroad also displayed and sold Native American art made especially for tourists) created the Indian Detours. Tourists came west on the trains, traveled into the backcountry by automobile for a first-hand experience unlike any other, and re-boarded the trains three days later.

By the early 1950s, America’s fascination with all things western was driven along the trail by the still-new television as well as popular radio programs. In 1954, the Sana Fe took advantage of this trend, introducing the Indian Guides aboard the eastbound Super Chief and westbound El Capitan between Raton, and Gallup, New Mexico, by a Native American. Riding the trains in colorful costumes, they would point out scenic and historic features along the way — a unique experience that would be hard to duplicate by car, and impossible in an airplane.

History:

El Capitan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was the only coach, or chair car (non-Pullman sleeper) train to operate the Santa Fe main line from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California on the same fast schedule as the road's premier Pullman Super Chief.

This all-coach, streamlined train (assigned Nos. 21 & 22) began operations in February 1938. Not unlike the Pennsylvania Railroad's Trail Blazer, it offered "low-cost passage with high-speed convenience." Originally conceived as the Economy Chief, the name El Capitan was ultimately chosen to honor the Spanish conquistadors and their influence on Southwestern culture, though it didn't hurt that the name seemed to outrank the Union Pacific's Challenger train, with which it was designed to compete. Unique in charging an extra-fare despite being a coach train, it pioneered such features as "RideMaster" seating optimized for sleeping. The original consists were two new Budd Company-built trains of five cars each made of lightweight stainless steel. Each of the two luxury trains were capable of accommodating 188 passengers; fare Chicago to Los Angeles was $5.00 above the $39.50 regular coach fare (in 1938). The 80-foot cars had 52 seats on 41-1/2 inch centers; postwar 85-foot coaches had 44 seats on 52-inch centers.

El Capitan was the first of Santa Fe's trains to utilize the "Big Dome"-Lounge cars, though these were soon given to the Chief in favor of new double-decker "Hi-Level" coaches developed by Budd and the railroad in 1955. These experimental units featured a quieter ride, increased seating capacities, and boasted better views of the Southwestern terrain El Cap passed through and made this train unique and revolutionary. Amtrak's Superliner equipment, which was placed in service along many of Amtrak's long distance routes, were based on the Santa Fe Hi-Level design. The Superliners were designed to be operated along with older Hi-Level cars.

In 1958 the train was combined with the Super Chief and operated under train numbers 17 and 18 through the end of Santa Fe passenger operations. Today the route formerly covered by El Capitan is served by Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Many of Amtrak's trains (especially those in California) consist of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs. In recent years, four "mothballed" El Capitan lounge cars were removed from storage, refurbished, and placed into service on Amtrak's Coast Starlight as "Pacific Parlour" first-class lounge cars. These refurbished cars feature a service bar, booths, and chairs on the upper level, and a theater on the lower level.

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JMP