In 1954, Santa Fe added a full-length dome to its all-coach El Capitan. Just two years later, it replaced the Big Domes (as the railroad called them), along with the rest of the train, with Hi-Level cars. This 1954 brochure … Continue reading
Category Archives: El Capitan
We’ve seen timetable cards like this for the Grand Canyon. The ones I have for that train are all from the 1960s, but this is from 1953 or before, as indicated by the “Extra Fare” notation: Santa Fe stopped charging … Continue reading
The first revenue run of the hi-level El Capitan took place on July 8, 1956. A few weeks before, Santa Fe invited a select group of people — probably travel agents, writers, and possibly some elected officials — to take … Continue reading
The cover of this 1940 booklet is identical to another 1940 booklet shown here previously. But inside the two are very different. This booklet, dated May 31, has all black-and-white photos, while the other one, dated August 1, is all … Continue reading
This brochure is almost exactly the same as a 1961 edition shown here previously. But this one is dated June 10, 1956, nearly a month before Santa Fe’s Budd-built hi-level cars went into service on the El Capitan. Click image … Continue reading
The all-coach El Capitan began running in 1938, and judging from the prices this menu can’t have been used much later than that. The table d’hôte side offers a charcoal broiled sirloin steak with appetizer, soup, potatoes (but strangely no … Continue reading
We’ve seen this painting before when it was used on a 1950 menu for the Santa Fe’s Grand Canyon train. In this case, it was used on the El Capitan, and I interpret the date code at the bottom of … Continue reading
We’ve previously seen a 1957 version of this brochure. Containing a timetable for the train, the brochure was apparently reissued with each new timetable, even though the timetable itself didn’t always changed. Click image to download a 2.9-MB PDF of … Continue reading
These blotters each advertise one of Santa Fe’s leading trains. The first is for the Super Chief and notes that passengers from St. Joseph, Missouri can take a Burlington train to Kansas City, arriving at 9:25 pm, and then occupy … Continue reading
The first three postcards today are very similar to the Fred Harvey photochromes shown yesterday, right down to the statement on two of them that they could be “Sent Courtesy of the Super Chief.” The only thing missing is the … Continue reading