Category Archives: Santa Fe El Capitan

Travel the Santa Fe Way

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Gary Garth McCann

This black-and-white brochure issued during the ‘sixties includes a few photos I haven’t seen elsewhere, including the one above of the lounge car on El Capitan.  (Today these cars are Pacific Parlor Cars–diner-lounges, really–on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, an interesting transition … Continue reading →

Posted in Amtrak Coast Starlight, Santa Fe, Santa Fe El Capitan | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Santa Fe “Travel the Chief Way” brochure, 1960

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Gary Garth McCann

Santa Fe didn’t produce lavish brochures for each of its streamliners, as Union Pacific did. Instead, Santa Fe published one color brochure for its Hi Level El Capitan and the brochure, shown below, which covers all of its trains. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Fe, Santa Fe Chief, Santa Fe El Capitan, Santa Fe Super Chief | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Santa Fe Hi-Level El Capitan

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Gary Garth McCann

In the post card below, the train is seen in Cajon Pass. I’m guessing that it’s eastbound and this shot was taken when the all-coach El Cap left LA at 1:45 in the afternoon. Soon it would be put on … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Fe El Capitan | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Chicago to LA streamliners in 1949: Super Chief, Chief, El Capitan, City of LA, Golden State

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

Train service changed continually, so we can talk only about a moment in time. Travel back with me to June 1949. There were far less people in the world than there are today, and less had money to travel, and, … Continue reading →

Posted in Golden State, Rock Island, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Chief, Santa Fe El Capitan, Santa Fe Super Chief, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific, Union Pacific City of Los Angeles | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Santa Fe El Capitan lounge lives on as Coast Starlight Pacific Parlour Car

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Gary Garth McCann

Other than baggage cars, only a few cars now operating on Amtrak operated on the streamliners of the 1950s: Amtrak diners on the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Crescent, and Lake Shore Limited, and the Coast Starlight’s “Pacific Parlour Cars,” pictured … Continue reading →

Posted in Amtrak Coast Starlight, Santa Fe El Capitan | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Santa Fe El Capitan and Super Chief in New Mexico

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Gary Garth McCann

A Fred Harvey postcard of El Capitan in Shoemaker Canyon. Click on the image to enlarge it.  In September 1967 I rode from Chicago to Los Angeles on El Capitan, the forerunner of today’s Superliners: 8 hi-level coaches, hi-level diner, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Santa Fe El Capitan, Santa Fe Super Chief | Tagged | Leave a comment