Just how declasse was Amtrak's Super Chief?

[AlanB]

Guys, the Santa Fe was a class act. Give 'em a break. They took pride in what they did and ran a darn good RR and an excellent passenger service. There wasn't a "peasant" class. When the El Cap and Super Chief were combined, there were still separate diners, both were good, and there was ample capacity. The Santa Fe really didn't want to join Amtrak and had they been able to eliminate their money losing secondary runs, they probably wouldn't have joined.

I rode the El Cap in 1967 and it was an impressive train (it was in the summer, and the Super Chief ran as a SEPARATE TRAIN a few minutes later).

I rode the SW Limited from Chicagoland to LA in the summer of 1978 (in a sleeper). The air conditioning was on the blink and despite some repair attempts never worked right the entire trip. I understood why the Santa Fe didn't want to be blamed for the problems...everyone associated the Super Chief with the Santa Fe.

I am a GM&O RR fan, an ICRR fan, and an Amtrak fan, and appreciate all railroads.

The AT&SF was a REAL railroad. Long may it run in our fond memories!

Hmmm...seems to be a discrepancy here!! From Wikipedia:

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 consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s. In the late 1990s, five "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.

and:

A typical El Capitan consist from the late 1960s (combined with the Super Chief):

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #104

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #101

The combined Super Chief / El Capitan, led by locomotive #44C (an EMD F7 sporting Santa Fe's classic Warbonnet paint scheme) pulls into Track 10 at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) on September 24, 1966.

* Baggage #3671

* Baggage #3553

* Baggage-Dormitory "Transition Car" #3478

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #549

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #731

* Hi-Level Diner (80 seats) #654

* Hi-Level Lounge (88 seats) #575

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #725

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #542

* Sleeper Pine Cove (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Indian Mesa (11 double bedrooms)

* "Turquoise Room"-"Pleasure Dome"-Lounge #504

* Fred Harvey Company Diner #600 (48 seats)

* Sleeper Indian Flute (11 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Palm Leaf (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

Wiki is hardly the most reliable source. While I can't speak to everything, I see at least 2 items in that quote that are wrong.

1) Many of Amtrak's trains consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s

By the "early 2000's" the only Amtrak train using Hi-Levels was the Coast Starlight, hardly "many". They brought back a few Hi-levels for the Heartland Flyer when it started running.

2) In the late 1990s, five "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.

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

 

[trainman74]

As Pan Am took over the market, passengers received a what they perceived as faster and better service with the "Coffee, Tea or Me" style attitude.

I think, in this case, that should be United or American or whoever else flew between Chicago and L.A. back then -- Pan Am didn't have domestic routes until they took over National Airlines after the airlines were deregulated in the late '70s.

 

[guest]

Guys, the Santa Fe was a class act. Give 'em a break. They took pride in what they did and ran a darn good RR and an excellent passenger service. There wasn't a "peasant" class. When the El Cap and Super Chief were combined, there were still separate diners, both were good, and there was ample capacity. The Santa Fe really didn't want to join Amtrak and had they been able to eliminate their money losing secondary runs, they probably wouldn't have joined.

I rode the El Cap in 1967 and it was an impressive train (it was in the summer, and the Super Chief ran as a SEPARATE TRAIN a few minutes later).

I rode the SW Limited from Chicagoland to LA in the summer of 1978 (in a sleeper). The air conditioning was on the blink and despite some repair attempts never worked right the entire trip. I understood why the Santa Fe didn't want to be blamed for the problems...everyone associated the Super Chief with the Santa Fe.

I am a GM&O RR fan, an ICRR fan, and an Amtrak fan, and appreciate all railroads.

The AT&SF was a REAL railroad. Long may it run in our fond memories!

Hmmm...seems to be a discrepancy here!! From Wikipedia:

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 consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s. In the late 1990s, five "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.

and:

A typical El Capitan consist from the late 1960s (combined with the Super Chief):

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #104

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #101

The combined Super Chief / El Capitan, led by locomotive #44C (an EMD F7 sporting Santa Fe's classic Warbonnet paint scheme) pulls into Track 10 at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) on September 24, 1966.

* Baggage #3671

* Baggage #3553

* Baggage-Dormitory "Transition Car" #3478

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #549

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #731

* Hi-Level Diner (80 seats) #654

* Hi-Level Lounge (88 seats) #575

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #725

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #542

* Sleeper Pine Cove (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Indian Mesa (11 double bedrooms)

* "Turquoise Room"-"Pleasure Dome"-Lounge #504

* Fred Harvey Company Diner #600 (48 seats)

* Sleeper Indian Flute (11 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Palm Leaf (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

Wiki is hardly the most reliable source. While I can't speak to everything, I see at least 2 items in that quote that are wrong.

1) Many of Amtrak's trains consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s

By the "early 2000's" the only Amtrak train using Hi-Levels was the Coast Starlight, hardly "many". They brought back a few Hi-levels for the Heartland Flyer when it started running.

2) In the late 1990s, five "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.

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

And...you've missed the point entirely...which was that the El Cap/Super Chief would have been running combined for many years well before the cited post. They were NOT separate trains in the 1960's. Sometimes the foam gets so deep it obscures one's ability to read a post...and as far as the reliability of Wikipedia, if you feel it's wrong, FIX IT! That's how it works. I've fixed a few errors myself.

 

[the_traveler]

and as far as the reliability of Wikipedia, if you feel it's wrong, FIX IT! That's how it works. I've fixed a few errors myself.

True, anyone can "fix it", but if someone doesn't know the subject matter, but they look at Wikipedia before it is fixed, they are going to believe the "incorrect" information!

(I hardly think they're going to pull up Widipedia an hour or a day or a week later just to verify the same info is there!

)

Besides who's to say that the "corrected" entries are "correct"?

As I said, I would look at Wikkipedia and believe what I read was correct, even if it's not!

That is why I do not use Wikipedia at all!

 

[lthanlon]

That is why I do not use Wikipedia at all!

While I agree that Wikipedia shouldn't be used as a primary source, each entry contains a discussion page where you can see various viewpoints and interpretations being discussed. Often, I find these discussions almost as useful as the main article itself. Occasionally, I even find the discussion entertaining.

 

[Ryan]

Not to mention, most articles are pretty well cited. It's a great resource to point you in the direction of more authoritative sources.

 

[Michael061282]

they were combined in one consist but for all intents and purposes they were different trains. the Super Chief passengers didnt have access to the El Cap and more importantly the El Cap passengers didn't have access to the amenities and extras of the Super Chief section

 

[Ryan]

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

This post over at TO seems to indicate that 39971 never got the PPC treatment, making the Wiki article correct.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1668396

(I came across this intending to correct wikipedia and provide a source, but I can't find anything that corroborates that).

 

[zephyr17]

Guys, the Santa Fe was a class act. Give 'em a break. They took pride in what they did and ran a darn good RR and an excellent passenger service. There wasn't a "peasant" class. When the El Cap and Super Chief were combined, there were still separate diners, both were good, and there was ample capacity. The Santa Fe really didn't want to join Amtrak and had they been able to eliminate their money losing secondary runs, they probably wouldn't have joined.

I rode the El Cap in 1967 and it was an impressive train (it was in the summer, and the Super Chief ran as a SEPARATE TRAIN a few minutes later).

I rode the SW Limited from Chicagoland to LA in the summer of 1978 (in a sleeper). The air conditioning was on the blink and despite some repair attempts never worked right the entire trip. I understood why the Santa Fe didn't want to be blamed for the problems...everyone associated the Super Chief with the Santa Fe.

I am a GM&O RR fan, an ICRR fan, and an Amtrak fan, and appreciate all railroads.

The AT&SF was a REAL railroad. Long may it run in our fond memories!

Hmmm...seems to be a discrepancy here!! From Wikipedia:

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 consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s. In the late 1990s, five "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.

and:

A typical El Capitan consist from the late 1960s (combined with the Super Chief):

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #104

* EMD FP45 Locomotive #101

The combined Super Chief / El Capitan, led by locomotive #44C (an EMD F7 sporting Santa Fe's classic Warbonnet paint scheme) pulls into Track 10 at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) on September 24, 1966.

* Baggage #3671

* Baggage #3553

* Baggage-Dormitory "Transition Car" #3478

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #549

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #731

* Hi-Level Diner (80 seats) #654

* Hi-Level Lounge (88 seats) #575

* Hi-Level Chair car (72 seats) #725

* Hi-Level Step-down Chair car (68 seats) #542

* Sleeper Pine Cove (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Indian Mesa (11 double bedrooms)

* "Turquoise Room"-"Pleasure Dome"-Lounge #504

* Fred Harvey Company Diner #600 (48 seats)

* Sleeper Indian Flute (11 double bedrooms)

* Sleeper Palm Leaf (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)

Wiki is hardly the most reliable source. While I can't speak to everything, I see at least 2 items in that quote that are wrong.

1) Many of Amtrak's trains consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s

By the "early 2000's" the only Amtrak train using Hi-Levels was the Coast Starlight, hardly "many". They brought back a few Hi-levels for the Heartland Flyer when it started running.

2) In the late 1990s, five "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.

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

And...you've missed the point entirely...which was that the El Cap/Super Chief would have been running combined for many years well before the cited post. They were NOT separate trains in the 1960's. Sometimes the foam gets so deep it obscures one's ability to read a post...and as far as the reliability of Wikipedia, if you feel it's wrong, FIX IT! That's how it works. I've fixed a few errors myself.

During periods of high patronage, specifically summers and the Christmas holidays, Santa Fe ran the Super Chief/El Capitan in 2 sections, one the Hi-Levels, the other low level equipment. They ran as First 17(or 18) and Second 17(or 18). The Hi-Level section did not assume the El Cap's numbers 21/22 and it ran on the Super Chief/El Capitan's schedule. 21/22s separate schedule was terminated in 1958, never to return.

I say a Hi-Level section and a low level section instead of El Capitan and Super Chief, because the low-level frequently ran with low-level coaches with a lunch counter diner and lounge for coach passengers. It was not always exclusively Pullman.

Amtrak George was there, and his memory of two separate consists is accurate. Most people who are familiar with Santa Fe passenger operations know that the Super Chief/El Cap ran in separate sections during peak periods.

 

[AlanB]

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

This post over at TO seems to indicate that 39971 never got the PPC treatment, making the Wiki article correct.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1668396

(I came across this intending to correct wikipedia and provide a source, but I can't find anything that corroborates that).

No, the car never got the current PPC treatment, nor the last "treatment", but it did indeed see service as a PPC before being sold off. Therefore it is NOT correct to say that Amtrak took 5 HI-level cars to use as PPC's. They took 6 out of mothballs. That's why them numbered the sequentially, and now there is a hole in that number sequence.

 

[Ryan]

Yep, I just found these pictures:

http://www.trainweb.com/cgi-bin/photos/showmvc1.cgi?mvc/r990302a/

Looks like they slapped a PPC name on the side of it, but did no other refurbishments.

 

[zephyr17]

Yep, I just found these pictures:

http://www.trainweb.com/cgi-bin/photos/showmvc1.cgi?mvc/r990302a/

Looks like they slapped a PPC name on the side of it, but did no other refurbishments.

When they first introduced the Hi-Level lounge cars as Pacific Parlour Cars, they weren't refurbished into what we have now. The only "redecoration" was that they strung white mini-Christmas lights around the ceiling, I guess to give it a more festive atmosphere. It took a couple of years to get the refurbishment done. I rode with the "Christmas-light" version of the PPCs a at least two or three times.

 

[Ryan]

I get that - that's why simply saying that 6 cars were "removed from storage, refurbished, and placed into service on Amtrak's Coast Starlight as "Pacific Parlour" first-class lounge cars" isn't the correct answer either.

I've taken the liberty of modifying the wikipedia article to say:

In the late 1990s, six "mothballed" El Capitan lounge cars were removed from storage and placed into service on Amtrak's Coast Starlight as "Pacific Parlour" first-class lounge cars. One of the 6 (39971) was eventually sold off, and the remaining cars were refurbished and feature a service bar, booths, and chairs on the upper level, and a theater on the lower level.

 

[railiner]

As Pan Am took over the market, passengers received a what they perceived as faster and better service with the "Coffee, Tea or Me" style attitude.

I think, in this case, that should be United or American or whoever else flew between Chicago and L.A. back then -- Pan Am didn't have domestic routes until they took over National Airlines after the airlines were deregulated in the late '70s.

You are quite correct about Pan Am's domestic traffic restriction.

Even though National Airlines touted itself as 'The Airline of the Stars..", it was TWA that I believe carried the lion's share of them between NY and LA, especially in the years Howard Hughes controlled it.

 

[George B]

1) Many of Amtrak's trains consisted of a combination of refurbished former Santa Fe Hi-Level cars along with newer Superliner railcar designs until the early 2000s

By the "early 2000's" the only Amtrak train using Hi-Levels was the Coast Starlight, hardly "many". They brought back a few Hi-levels for the Heartland Flyer when it started running.

2) In the late 1990s, five "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.

Actually Amtrak brought back six, not five lounge cars from storage to become the PPC's. For reasons unclear, they sold one leaving us with the 5 that operate today.

Incorrect. The Sunset ran a Hi-Level lounge very occasionally into early 2001. I also have video somewhere of the SWC running it in 2000 in revenue service. Obviously these were temporary substitutions in the consist.

Six lounges were pulled from storage for PPCs. Only five were placed in to service. So, the article, while not clear, is correct in that five were put in to revenue service.

 

[PaulM]

Another thought comes to mind. I don't know when the trademark got yanked, but I know there was a hard collapse in service quality at several points in the 1970s...which ended up with most trains having "tray meal service" by some of the 1980s timetables.

As far as the SWC was concerned, this was not the case, at least in the latter 80's. From 1986-1989 I frequently took it on business and still remember the NY strip steak in the dining car as train cruised along the foothills expressway at dusk overlooking the LA basin. I felt sorry for my co-workers who had gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight back to STL.

 

[railbuck]

And...you've missed the point entirely...which was that the El Cap/Super Chief would have been running combined for many years well before the cited post. They were NOT separate trains in the 1960's. Sometimes the foam gets so deep it obscures one's ability to read a post...and as far as the reliability of Wikipedia, if you feel it's wrong, FIX IT! That's how it works. I've fixed a few errors myself.

The "Timeline" section of both the Super Chief and El Capitan articles states (emphasis added):

January 12, 1958: The Super Chief and El Capitan are combined into one train during the off-peak travel season on a 39½-hour schedule.

So a careful reading of either Wikipedia article would have cleared up the supposed discrepancy.

 

[Palmland]

I rode the Super Chief twice. In January 1969 on the way to my wedding. On that New Year's day departure from Chicago, it was the ultimate Super Chief - running in two sections with 1st section all Pullman. Service and equipment were superb. Cocktails and snacked brought to you by the waiter in the dome. Silver and china in the diner with waiters at attention when not serving - no supplies on tables or staff taking breaks at nearby tables. The second trip was in the spring of 1972 with a one year old. Other than being a combined coach/pullman train, I noticed little difference. Still great service, good food, and those warm rust colored Pullman blankets in the berths. The current SWC still has good scenery.

 

[Donctor]

Six lounges were pulled from storage for PPCs. Only five were placed in to service. So, the article, while not clear, is correct in that five were put in to revenue service.

I do believe that six were placed into service as PPCs, but that one of them, the 39971, was never refurbished (and was eventually sold off).

 

[Anderson]

Another thought comes to mind. I don't know when the trademark got yanked, but I know there was a hard collapse in service quality at several points in the 1970s...which ended up with most trains having "tray meal service" by some of the 1980s timetables.

As far as the SWC was concerned, this was not the case, at least in the latter 80's. From 1986-1989 I frequently took it on business and still remember the NY strip steak in the dining car as train cruised along the foothills expressway at dusk overlooking the LA basin. I felt sorry for my co-workers who had gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight back to STL.

I might need a timeline on this. I know there was a "hard dive" in service quality with SDS, and I know that was the second such dive, but I don't recall whether the first dive was in the late 1980s/early 1990s or in the early 1980s. I do know that both times that this has happened, there's been a hard pushback and the cuts in service weren't retained for too long.

 

[jphjaxfl]

Another thought comes to mind. I don't know when the trademark got yanked, but I know there was a hard collapse in service quality at several points in the 1970s...which ended up with most trains having "tray meal service" by some of the 1980s timetables.

As far as the SWC was concerned, this was not the case, at least in the latter 80's. From 1986-1989 I frequently took it on business and still remember the NY strip steak in the dining car as train cruised along the foothills expressway at dusk overlooking the LA basin. I felt sorry for my co-workers who had gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight back to STL.

I might need a timeline on this. I know there was a "hard dive" in service quality with SDS, and I know that was the second such dive, but I don't recall whether the first dive was in the late 1980s/early 1990s or in the early 1980s. I do know that both times that this has happened, there's been a hard pushback and the cuts in service weren't retained for too long.

Amtrak cut food service expenses significantly in the early 1980s when the Reagan Administration was trying to zero out all funding. Up until that time, Dining Car Service had been somewhat similar to what private railroads had offered on their average trains (not like the Super Chief or Florida Special) Paper plates, napkins, table clothes and plastic utensils were implemented along with a very limited menu. That helped drive down the patronage and it took 5-7 years for Amtrak to get back to more normal. They tried many things like a buffet serving line on the Silver Trains using the old double unit diners. The food was something like Golden Corral. For a while there was no dining service south of Jacksonville, only lounge car fare. All the prior efforts to reduce food service costs have driven down passengers.

 

[Anderson]

Yeah, that's what I thought...I hadn't recalled whether it was early or late 80s, but I had seen a bunch of "tray dining service" listings when I looked up the Spirit of California, and I'd heard a few horror stories (one from Joe Haldeman and another from a friend of mine...I think the stories were from the different eras of cuts, though).

 

[railiner]

Another thought comes to mind. I don't know when the trademark got yanked, but I know there was a hard collapse in service quality at several points in the 1970s...which ended up with most trains having "tray meal service" by some of the 1980s timetables.

As far as the SWC was concerned, this was not the case, at least in the latter 80's. From 1986-1989 I frequently took it on business and still remember the NY strip steak in the dining car as train cruised along the foothills expressway at dusk overlooking the LA basin. I felt sorry for my co-workers who had gotten up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight back to STL.

I might need a timeline on this. I know there was a "hard dive" in service quality with SDS, and I know that was the second such dive, but I don't recall whether the first dive was in the late 1980s/early 1990s or in the early 1980s. I do know that both times that this has happened, there's been a hard pushback and the cuts in service weren't retained for too long.

Amtrak cut food service expenses significantly in the early 1980s when the Reagan Administration was trying to zero out all funding. Up until that time, Dining Car Service had been somewhat similar to what private railroads had offered on their average trains (not like the Super Chief or Florida Special) Paper plates, napkins, table clothes and plastic utensils were implemented along with a very limited menu. That helped drive down the patronage and it took 5-7 years for Amtrak to get back to more normal. They tried many things like a buffet serving line on the Silver Trains using the old double unit diners. The food was something like Golden Corral. For a while there was no dining service south of Jacksonville, only lounge car fare. All the prior efforts to reduce food service costs have driven down passengers.

I remember that....it was done right after Amtrak's so-called 'Camelot' era, very short lived, when many trains were either new Superliner, or freshly converted HEP cars.

They still had full china--the original white with blue trim Amtrak china replaced with new white with black and orange pinstriped china. There was full silverware, fresh flowers in the vases, crisp linens, and most important of all--full crews serving traditional and delicious dining car menu's.

That only lasted for about a year or so, when Mr. Stockman's Office of Management and Budget shocked us all with those drastic cuts to what ensued. It took years to get back to halfway decent service, never quite the same. They reached another high point for a brief period around 1990 when they sent all the chef's to the Culinary Intstitute of America for a special training program. I don't know whatever happenned to all that so-called 'Superliner' china.

 

[AlanB]

Six lounges were pulled from storage for PPCs. Only five were placed in to service. So, the article, while not clear, is correct in that five were put in to revenue service.

I do believe that six were placed into service as PPCs, but that one of them, the 39971 was never refurbished (and was eventually sold off).

Correct!

 

[Amtrak George]

SEPARATE SECTIONS DURING PEAK TRAVEL SEASON: this fact is actually well documented in various sources--for example, Karl Zimmerman's book "Amtrak at Milepost 10" , page 8:

In the last years of independent operation by the Santa Fe...when the combined Super Chief/El Capitan split for peak-season operation, the former often carried seven sleepers, the latter nine bi-level coaches...

Other railroads ran second sections of heavily patronized runs on an as-needed, occasional basis: for example, I rode the Illinois Central's City of New Orleans from Dyersburg to Memphis in the summer of 1969 and it was running in two sections that day, due to unusually high demand.

Some who didn't experience the pre-Amtrak era are not aware that (although certain lines did everything possible to discourage patronage), several railroads still went to great pains, right up to Amtrak Day, to take care of the needs of the traveling public. This included running extra sections of scheduled trains, special trains for certain occasions, and adding cars to regular runs to handle the overflow business. They would even borrow cars from other railroads when necessary.

All that has changed. It's a different world now, and Amtrak is spread so thin that it does well to simply equip their regular consists. But we are lucky to still have long distance trains running!