In another topic, there was discussion of the history of the Santa Fe Hi-Level cars that eventually became the model for the Amtrak Superliners. Designed for the all-coach El Capitan train, they had coaches, a diner and a lounge car with overhead windows. The cars were extremely popular. Budd proposed a Hi-Level sleeping car, but it was never made.
I did some internet research, but other than a brief mention in Wikipedia, there was no record of the car's proposed design.
"Santa Fe considered equipping the Super Chief with Hi-Level sleeping cars, and Budd drafted a design for such a car in 1957. In this design there was an aisle on the lower level only, and set against one side instead of centerline. The lower level also contained six single bedrooms and a toilet. The upper level would have eight two-person "Vista Bedrooms" which spanned the width of the car. Access to these rooms would be from four sets of stairs from the lower level aside. Each Vista Bedroom would contain an individual toilet and two beds: one stacked above the bed in the single bedroom beneath, and one lengthwise over the aisle. Nothing came of this proposal."
I was intrigued about the "Vista Bedrooms" so did some more digging. There were no diagrams on the internet but I found one obscure reference.
"Elevations and plan of these cars can be found on page 489 of Dubin's "More Classic Trains" (Kalmbach, 1974)"
So off to Ebay, and $10 later found myself the proud owner of this extremely heavy book. And sure enough:
The car had a very odd design. The lower level (the lower diagram) had an aisle and six small single bedrooms, each with a tiny window. The bathroom was down the hall.
The upper level had eight double bedrooms, each with a toilet. Because there was no aisle, access to the eight upstairs rooms was by four staircases from the lower aisle. Each bedroom had a bench seat/bed, similar to the lower bedrooms, but also had a second bed across a window. The description says that you had to step up to the cross-window bed, but the diagram doesn't show that. I'm also curious why the lower level had so much empty space between the single bedrooms. It seems as if the upper bedrooms extended down into that space, but that shouldn't have been necessary.
I would love to see a detailed room layout of the proposed "Vista" rooms. I was very disappointed to find out that the "Vista" rooms didn't have the overhead window. That would have been spectacular.
Also interesting is that the car only had end doors on the lower level, so would not be compatible with the existing Hi-Levels on the El Capitan.
Still...
I did some internet research, but other than a brief mention in Wikipedia, there was no record of the car's proposed design.
"Santa Fe considered equipping the Super Chief with Hi-Level sleeping cars, and Budd drafted a design for such a car in 1957. In this design there was an aisle on the lower level only, and set against one side instead of centerline. The lower level also contained six single bedrooms and a toilet. The upper level would have eight two-person "Vista Bedrooms" which spanned the width of the car. Access to these rooms would be from four sets of stairs from the lower level aside. Each Vista Bedroom would contain an individual toilet and two beds: one stacked above the bed in the single bedroom beneath, and one lengthwise over the aisle. Nothing came of this proposal."
I was intrigued about the "Vista Bedrooms" so did some more digging. There were no diagrams on the internet but I found one obscure reference.
"Elevations and plan of these cars can be found on page 489 of Dubin's "More Classic Trains" (Kalmbach, 1974)"
So off to Ebay, and $10 later found myself the proud owner of this extremely heavy book. And sure enough:
The car had a very odd design. The lower level (the lower diagram) had an aisle and six small single bedrooms, each with a tiny window. The bathroom was down the hall.
The upper level had eight double bedrooms, each with a toilet. Because there was no aisle, access to the eight upstairs rooms was by four staircases from the lower aisle. Each bedroom had a bench seat/bed, similar to the lower bedrooms, but also had a second bed across a window. The description says that you had to step up to the cross-window bed, but the diagram doesn't show that. I'm also curious why the lower level had so much empty space between the single bedrooms. It seems as if the upper bedrooms extended down into that space, but that shouldn't have been necessary.
I would love to see a detailed room layout of the proposed "Vista" rooms. I was very disappointed to find out that the "Vista" rooms didn't have the overhead window. That would have been spectacular.
Also interesting is that the car only had end doors on the lower level, so would not be compatible with the existing Hi-Levels on the El Capitan.
Still...
Last edited:
Those were the days…
