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Jun 8, 2021 - HO Scale
Walthers Proto - HO Scale - Late 1960s Combined Super Chief/El Capitan Deluxe Edition - Delivery Update
Delivery Update:
Shipping issues has delayed the following Baggage Cars, and Steam Generator Cars until July:
- 920-9640 #3918 - Deluxe Edition 1 (#920-825)
- 920-9660 #3709 - Deluxe Edition 2 (#920-826)
- 920-9681 #3735 - Denver Connection (#920-827)
- 920-9620 #3927
- 920-15654 ATSF Business Train #77
- 920-15655 BNSF Business Train #77
Steam Generator Cars
The following two Baggage Cars with decals will be delayed until August:
As the flagships of the Santa Fe's legendary passenger service, the Super Chief and El Capitan offered riders the best of both worlds. Always the last word in luxury, the Super Chief was an oasis of quiet comfort where guests were treated like royalty. With its lower-priced coach seats and spectacular views from the signature Hi-Levels, El Capitan was a favorite with families and business travelers.
Operating as a first and second section on the same 39-plus hour schedule, by the late 1950s ridership for both would peak in summer and again at Christmas. At other times one train could easily do the job, and Santa Fe quietly combined them for the first time on January 12, 1958. This would be standard practice through 1970, when only the combined train operated.
With few changes, Amtrak took over in 1971, however Santa Fe retained all rights to the El Capitan and Super Chief names. Increasingly displeased with Amtrak's ability to maintain high standards, Santa Fe withdrew naming rights in 1974, at which time the train was renamed the Southwest Limited. In 1984, Santa Fe allowed Amtrak to once again use its trademarks for the renamed Southwest Chief, which still serves Chicago-Los Angeles today.
Product Listings:
Locomotives:
No other F-units captured the spirit of passenger service like Santa Fe's vast fleet. Emblazoned with the road's signature Warbonnet scheme, they held premiere assignments from the late 1940s on, and some served with Amtrak!
Construction of the last order for passenger service F7s began in December of 1952 with #306LAB, and continued through March of 1953, when #314LAB was completed. Delivered as matched A-B-B sets, each came with a 48" dynamic brake fan and vertical grilles, but only B units carried steam generators. As the years and miles added up, fuel tank skirts were cut down, and additional grab irons were installed among other modifications, but the most significant change came in the 1960s when they began running as individual units, but still in A-B-B-A lash-ups. As the years passed and the miles began adding up, it became increasingly common to see five units up front, with a random arrangement of A and B units spliced in behind the lead engine.
Perfect power for the combined late 1960s Super Chief / El Capitan and other Santa Fe streamliners, these layout-ready replicas come with all the standard WalthersProto features including:
* Based on Phase II units #306LAB - #314LAB in service from the 1950s to 1970s
* Available with ESU LokSound 5 Sound & DCC for DCC and DC layouts
* Five-Pole, skew-wound high-efficiency can motor
* Helical gears with 14:1 ratio for smooth, ultra-quiet running
* Easy multiple-unit operation
* Superb paint and lettering with real metal and painted finish
* Heavy die-cast metal underframe
* Proto MAX™ metal knuckle couplers
Era-specific features include:
* Five-chime air horn offset to engineer's side
* Rear-mount firecracker radio antenna
* Working Mars light on A Units
* Steam generator detail on B units
* Cut-down fuel tank skirts
* 48" dynamic brake fan
* Eyebrow grab irons above windshield
* Grab irons on and over engineer's side of nose
* Nose-mounted lifting lugs alongside door
* Vertical grilles and louvers
* Nose MU door (printed for scale thickness)
Passenger Cars
The 1950s were a time of continuous upgrades and innovations for Santa Fe's flagship Super Chief and El Capitan that saw the introduction of the road's only standard dome cars, as well as the unique Hi-Level coaches, lounges and diners.
With the latest equipment, superb attention to every detail on board, and innovative advertising and promotion, riders flocked to the trains during the summer vacation season and the holidays. During the fall and late winter however, a single train would suffice, and from January 1958 on, the train ran with a mix of conventional and Hi-Level cars during off-peak periods. This policy of combining and separating by season would be standard until 1970, when the mixed consist was used year 'round, and continued after Amtrak took over the following year.
* Complete consist for the combined Santa Fe trains from 1968 to 1971
* NEW - Pullman-Standard 11-Double Bedroom Sleeper
* Available in 2 versions - Standard w/decals, or Factory-printed name/number
* Prototypically tinted windows with gaskets as appropriate
* Factory-installed grab irons
* Modeler-installed extended drawbars for 22" radius curves
* Superbly detailed inside and out
* Mix and match with other Santa Fe streamliners
* Correct trucks with turned metal 36" wheelsets
* Proto MAX™ metal knuckle couplers
Deluxe Editions:
A superb addition to operations or collections, choose from two complete 11-car sets to model the combined flagship, or choose the layout-sized, three-car Denver Connection, which ferried riders between La Junta, and Denver. Fully assembled, each stunning replica features names and numbers unique to the sets, Preiser passenger and crew figures installed throughout (over 180 in Deluxe Edition Sets 1 and 2; 18 in the Denver Connection) and factory-installed LED lighting as appropriate.
With production strictly limited to the number of preorders we receive and sold only in sets, order now so you're not left at the station!
Deluxe Edition Consist #1
920-825
74' Baggage Car #3918*
85' Baggage-Dorm Transition Car #3477
85' 68-Seat Step-Down Coach (forward seats) #532
85' 68-Seat Step-Down Coach (reverse seats) #528
85' 10-6 Sleeper Pine Pass
85' 36-Seat Diner #601
85' 11 Double-Bedroom Sleeper Indian Lake
85' Pleasure Dome Bar Lounge #500
85' 4-4-2 Sleeper Regal Crown
85' Hi-Level Diner #651
85' Hi-Level Sky Lounge #577
Deluxe Edition Consist #2
920-826
74' Baggage Car #3857
85' Baggage-Dorm Transition Car #3477
85' 68-Seat Step-Down Coach (forward seats) #535
85' 68-Seat Step-Down Coach (reverse seats) #530
85' 10-6 Sleeper Pine Grove
85' 36-Seat Diner #605
85' 11 Double-Bedroom Sleeper Indian Scout
85' Pleasure Dome Bar Lounge #502
85' 4-4-2 Sleeper Regal River
85' Hi-Level Diner #655
85' Hi-Level Sky Lounge #580
The Denver Connection
920-827
Connecting train for combined Super Chief/El Capitan between La Junta, and Denver, Colorado, through 1971, this set is the perfect size for operation or display!
NEWLY TOOLED! Steam Generator Car #134*
Baggage Car #3817
46-Seat Coach #2842 w/18 Preiser figures & LED interior lighting
* No figures or lights
Consists:
While both trains continued to use their assigned equipment throughout the 1960s, minor adjustments were made to both the separate and combined consists. The Super Chief added three 44-seat chair cars (Santa Fe classified all long-distance coaches as chair cars for the use of reclining seats), and a lower-priced lunch-counter diner in peak periods. In 1964, 11 double-bedroom cars (the largest sleeping space available) arrived and were sometimes used in place of the 4-4-2 sleepers. While both trains lost their working Railway Post Office cars in 1968, following the cancellation of first-class mail contracts the previous fall, both continued to handle storage mail (typically bulk shipments to a single large post office such as magazine or catalogs) in baggage cars. Amtrak ran an almost identical combined consist, with the cars eventually repainted in then-current schemes.
Here are some typical Santa Fe combined consists from the late 1960s
Super Chief / EL Capitan Train 17 westbound Chicago- Los Angeles
April 1 to June 1, 1968, all cars run Chicago to Los Angeles as noted.
F3/F7A-B, four to five units typical
Storage Mail - Lightweight Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory
68-Seat Hi-Level Coach (run backward, vestibule on lower end faces front of train)
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
80-Seat Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
68-Seat High-Level Coach (runs forward, vestibule on lower end faces rear of train)
10-6 Sleeper
11-Double-Bedroom Sleeper
4-4-2 Sleeper
Dome Lounge (Pleasure Dome; runs with dome to rear)
36-Seat Diner (kitchen to the rear)
11-Double-Bedroom Sleeper
11-Double-Bedroom Sleeper or 4-4-2 Sleeper
10-6 Sleeper (Kansas City - Los Angeles)
Super Chief / EL Capitan Train 18 eastbound Los Angeles - Chicago
June 1970; during the last full year of Santa Fe operation, only combined consists were operated. All cars run Los Angeles to Chicago.
F3/F7A-B, four to five units typical
Steam Generator (added March 1970; converted lightweight baggage)
Storage Mail - Lightweight Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory
68-Seat Hi-Level Coach (run backward, vestibule on lower end faces front of train)
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
80-Seat Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
72-Seat Hi-Level Coach
68-Seat High-Level Coach (runs forward, vestibule on lower end faces rear of train)
10-6 or 4-4-2 Sleeper
10-6 Sleeper
11-Double-Bedroom Sleeper
Dome Lounge (Pleasure Dome)
36-Seat Diner (kitchen to the rear)
11-Double-Bedroom Sleeper
10-6 Sleeper
History
From its introduction, the San Francisco Chief was one of Santa Fe's most popular trains. Offering direct service from Chicago to the city by the bay - in this case Oakland and later Richmond, where passengers boarded buses for downtown San Francisco - the train also provided convenient service to intermediate stops along 2500+-miles of the road's southern main line. With affordable coach and sleeping car spaces, a choice of casual or fine dining, and a superb view from its "Big Dome" dormitory-lounge cars, the San Francisco Chief was a favorite with business and vacation travelers alike. Its fast schedule (47-1/2 hours) made it a perfect choice for the Post Office as well, and considerable volumes of mail were handled year around. In 1964, additional High-Level coaches arrived from Budd to provide additional seats for the popular train, which remained in service until 1971.
The San Francisco Chief was a named passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from June 6, 1954 to May 1, 1971. It covered the Santa Fe line from near San Francisco, California to Barstow, California, then east to Chicago, Illinois via the Belen cutoff. Previously, this route had been served by one section of the Grand Canyon Limited. For most of its life it also exchanged through cars for/from Houston, Dallas, and New Orleanswith the California Special at Clovis, New Mexico. At 2554 miles this was the longest-ever passenger train run in the United States until 1993 when Amtrak extended the Sunset Limited east to Miami and Orlando. It remains the longest passenger rail itinerary ever operated entirely on a single U.S. railroad. The San Francisco Chief was one of the last new streamliners introduced in the post World War II era. The train's equipment was augmented with Budd Hi-Level cars in 1964.
Despite its name, the San Francisco Chief never actually terminated in San Francisco. Instead, it ran to Santa Fe's Oakland Station (actually in Emeryville), and after 1958, Richmond. When it ran to the Oakland depot passengers could continue to San Francisco on a Santa Fe bus, or, if willing to handle their luggage, on a Key System train on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. After the service was cut back to Richmond the San Francisco connection was only by Santa Fe bus.
Late 1960s Combined Super Chief/ El Capitan is Next Name Train from Walthers
Milwaukee, WI. - Two great trains in one, the Santa Fe Late 1960s Combined Super Chief / El Capitan is the next WalthersProto HO Scale name train. This unique release features an authentic mix of Hi-Level (making their debut as WalthersProto models) and conventional cars, 11 in all, assigned to the combined train during the winter months from 1958 into the early Amtrak years.
This series also introduces two newly tooled Santa Fe models, including 11 Double-Bedroom Sleepers and a Steam Generator Car. All cars come fully assembled with prototypically tinted windows as appropriate, factory-installed grab irons, factory-printed names and numbers, or decals for easy customizing and modeler- installed extended drawbars for 22" radius curves. Walthers will also offer new versions of popular Santa Fe models past and present that include the Hi-Level 72-Seat Coach, Big Dome Bar Lounge, and plated, unlettered versions of other equipment. Based on units #306LAB through #314LAB as they appeared in the late 1960s, WalthersProto EMD F7s in classic Warbonnet colors will be available separately with LokSound 5 Sound and DCC for DCC and DC layouts, and in Standard DC versions. For a complete list of models and delivery dates, please see the attached products.
Fully assembled and ready for operation or display, two Deluxe Edition 11-car combined consists, and an all-new three-car version of the La Junta, Denver Connection, which served through 1971 will be offered. Production of these limited edition consists, sold only in sets, will be strictly limited to the number of preorders received by August 31, 2020. These unique replicas include factory-installed LED interior lighting and Preiser passenger and crew figures throughout the train where appropriate, plus unique names and numbers in each set.
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