Above, No. 1344 at Galveston shortly after being
donated to
the Gulf Coast Railroad Museum. A number of repairs had to be
undertaken
before the car could be moved to Houston.
No. 1344 was built for Santa Fe's famous
Super
Chief, known as the "Train of the Stars" because of the many
celebrities
who travelled on the streamliner between Los Angeles and Chicago.
In 1948, the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railway
ordered new lounge, dining and sleeping cars for the premier
all-Pullman
Chicago to Los Angeles train, the Super Chief. Due to the
post-World War II backlog at car builder Pullman Standard, many of the
cars, including lounge-dormitory car No. 1344, were not delivered until
1950.
As originally configured, the 1950
Super Chief
carried the lounge-dormitories behind the new dining car. The
famous
Turquoise Room dome-lounge car ran just ahead of the diner, and these
three
cars, the dome-lounge, diner and lounge-dormitory, proved Santa Fe’s
claim
that the new Super Chief set “a new world standard in travel.”
The
three cars incorporated a total of 123 non-revenue seats to pamper the
Super’s first class passengers.
The
lounge-dormitory cars provided more than just a pleasant place to take
in the scenery, have a drink or write a letter. In addition to 29
lounge seats, the cars included a full-service barber shop, complete
with
shower. (The barber service was discontinued at an unknown date.)
The crew dormitory space included two toilets, two showers and 18 crew
bunks, all within a space about seven feet wide and just under 30 feet long.
In January 1958, with traffic levels
declining,
Santa Fe began running the off-peak season Super Chief and its
extra-fare
all-coach counterpart, El Capitan, on a combined schedule, but with
separate
diners and lounges for coach and Pullman passengers. When the
trains
ran combined, the six lounge-dormitory cars generally were stored and
saw
service only during peak traffic seasons in the summer and at Christmas
when the combined Super Chief/El Capitan ran in two (or sometimes more)
sections. These summer/holiday assignments continued until 1962.
Due to its family fare structure, the
Santa Fe
saw an increase in passenger demand in the summers of 1963 and
1964.
The train ran in three sections on Mondays and Thursdays, with the
lounge-dormitories
running behind the Super Chief’s first class diner. On other
days,
the cars apparently served El Capitan passengers, running ahead of or behind
the lunch counter diner.
The lounge-dormitory cars worked in
subsequent
years only when the train ran in two sections during the summer and at
holidays, running behind the diner as originally intended until about
1969,
when consist records show the cars running at the front of the train
behind
the baggage cars. During the winter of 1970/1971, the cars
were again stored.
In May 1971, the National Railroad Passenger
Corp.,
or Amtrak, took over operation of most of the nation’ intercity
passenger
trains, including the Super Chief/El Capitan. No. 1344 and its
five
sisters had turned their last wheels for the Santa Fe.
Amtrak acquired most of Santa Fe’s
passenger cars
in 1971, including the Super Chief lounge-dormitories.
Apparently,
as the cars were not immediately needed for service, they were among
the
first to be refurbished/rebuilt by the new national carrier.
According
to one published source, the program to rebuild the cars to 31-seat
buffet-lounge-dormitory
cars began almost immediately after Amtrak’s formation. No. 1344 became Amtrak No.
3395.
The buffet’s installation added food service capabilities to the
cars.
In Santa Fe service, the cars had been serviced by attendants working
out
of the dining cars.
The car’s early 1970s Amtrak interior
is substantially
intact, adding another dimension to the Houston Railroad Museum
collection.
Some “backdating" will take place - a vintage barber chair has been
acquired
by the museum for installation in the barber shop, which is
otherwise substantially
intact.
According to a former Amtrak employee,
No. 1344
was regularly assigned to Amtrak trains 15 and 16 operating between
Houston
and Chicago from 1973 to 1976. Additional research is needed to
chart
No. 1344’s Amtrak service history and its subsequent travels until its
1999 donation to the museum.
