Santa Fe Super Chief and El Capitan 1936-1971

Except for The Chief, the two most famous Santa Fe passenger trains in the last decades of passenger service were the Super Chief and the El Capitan. Both were introduced with great fanfare and operated with aplomb and panache by the Santa Fe’s operating and passenger department personnel. Ultimately they were combined into one train, though both names were retained. When Amtrak arrived it retained the Super Chief name for a while before the train was renamed the Southwest Chief. Known as “the train of the stars” because of the movie stars who often took this premier accommodation out of Los Angeles, the Super Chief name is still redolent with fame. The history of these two great trains is chronicled in word and picture in the 100 pages of this book by noted railroad author Patrick C. Dorin.