Added a Vista Dome car to the El Capitan Consist

I added a Lionel 6-35129 El Capitan Vista Dome #3153 to my El Capitan Consist. This car is based on the early 50's "glass penthouse" vista dome cars used by a variety of passenger train lines. It's a fantasy car as Santa Fe never actually used the small dome cars on the El Capitan. Santa Fe called their six (6) small dome cars the "Pleasure Dome" and they were exclusive equipment to the Super Chief.

In 1954 the El Capitan consist was equipped with full-length dome cars and two years later they got the high-level cars that really put the El Capitan on the map. But this fantasy Lionel car is decorated in their El Capitan single stripe and was added to the catalog in 2008.

The Vista-Dome car was conceived by Cyrus Osborn, a General Motors vice president, in 1944 as he rode in the diesel locomotive of a freight train in the Glenwood Canyon. Overtaken with the views that were not obscured by the walls of a passenger car, he contemplated a method to provide passengers with the same breathtaking views he was experiencing and started sketching away to provide train passengers a means of viewing the scenery. 

Introduced in 1951, Santa Fe called their dome cars "Pleasure Dome". (Burlington Railroad was the first adopter of Mr. Osborn's invention, coined and used the name, "Vista Dome".) The Santa Fe cars were built by Pullman and their domes had flat panes of glass.

"Top of the Super, next to the stars"—this unusual dome lounge with its deep cushioned swivel chairs and glare-proof windows gives you a wonderful unobstructed view of the scenic Santa Fe route.

The Santa Fe Pleasure Dome cars may have been the most luxurious style dome cars ever built. A large lounge with seats for about 20 graced the long end of the car, while a smaller lounge with seats for ten was located under the dome along with a small bar to serve drinks. The short end of the car was the famous Turquoise Room, a private dining room for up to 12 people. The car was always located next to the train’s diner so waiters could easily serve people in the Turquoise room.

This El Capitan poster shows the combination Super Chief El Capitan that Santa Fe started running in 1958 with a Pleasure Dome car in the consist.

Although the El Capitan never ran a small dome car, for my train line, a Vista Dome is the perfect addition! In addition to the Vista Dome Lionel also made a tri-colored single-stripe add-on Baggage Car and add-on Diner car for their Lionel El Capitan consist.

Better trains follow General Motors locomotives

Sante Fe opted to power their El Capitan with the same streamlined locomotive as their Super Chief. The FT Deisel Locomotive was manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. The original FT was a 1,350 hp B-B diesel-electric locomotive produced between November 1939 and November 1945. The "F" stood for "freight" and the "T" for 2700 horsepower with a 2 unit set. A total of 555 cab-equipped A units were built, and 541 cabless booster B units, for a total of 1,096 locomotive units were constructed. All of these were sold to railroads in the United States. It was the first model in General Motors EMD's very successful F-unit series of cab unit diesels and this was the locomotive that convinced many US railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time. 

The first units produced for a customer were built in December 1940 and January 1941 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. FTs were generally marketed as semi-permanently coupled A-B sets (a lead unit and a cabless booster connected by a solid drawbar) making a single locomotive of 2,700 hp. Many railroads used pairs of these sets back to back to make up a four-unit A-B-B-A locomotive rated at 5,400 hp.

Note the Single Headlight indicating this restored locomotive was originally manufactured to pull freight cars. (Dual headlight locomotives were used for passenger trains.)

General Motors Electro-Motive Division FT demonstration ABA

The Santa Fe passenger trains with their distinctive Warbonnet paint scheme were so popular General Motors used one to promote their FT Deisel Locomotives to the public. 

El Capitan Chicago Dearborn Station to Los Angeles Union Station

 Postcards picture the two terminal stations that mark the final destinations of the Santa Fe El Capitan

Lionel El Capitan 6-30001

The Lionel El Capitan 6-30001 was introduced in 2004 and was featured on the cover of the Lionel Ready-to-Run catalog in 2009.

The Lionel Santa Fe El Capitan 6-30001 was built between 2004-2009. The set included one Lionel FT Diesel Locomotive 6-24568 (158).

The Lionel El Capitan Conventional FT Deisel 6-24568 (158) was built from 2004-2009 and was only available as part of the 6-30001 El Capitan passenger set. This locomotive was based on the Sante Fe FT manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Designed to run on O27 and greater radius 3-rail track it is decorated in the ubiquitous Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme. The El Capitan Conv. FT Diesel features included: a three-position E -Unit, Operating headlight, Trainsounds sound system with diesel engine revving, horn, bell, squealing brakes, and operator-controlled CrewTalk, operating front coupler, dual maintenance-free motors, traction tires, die-cast trucks, pilot, frame, and fuel tank lighted cab, and fireman and engineer figures.

Lionel made a powered 'A' Locomotive, a Non-Powered 'A' Locomotive, a Non-Powered B-Unit and 6 Passenger cars for the Lionel El Capitan 6-30001 consist.

1. 6-24568 - FT Deisel Locomotive #158 (only available in the Santa Fe El Capitan set)
2. 6-28905 - FT Deisel Locomotive #160 (Non-Powered, sold individually) 
3. 6-38204 - FT Deisel B-Unit #160 (Non-Powered, sold individually)
4. 6-25130 - Coach #3103 (only available in the Santa Fe El Capitan set)
5. 6-25131 - Coach #3105 (only available in the Santa Fe El Capitan set)
6. 6-25132 - Observation #3198 (only available in the Santa Fe El Capitan set)
7. 6-35102 - Diner #5109 (produced in 2004-2007, sold individually)
8. 6-35128 - Baggage #2103 (produced in 2004-2007, sold individually)
9. 6-35129 - Vista Dome #3153 (produced in 2004-2007, sold individually)

The Lionel El Capitan 6-30001 included one FT diesel locomotive 6-24568 (158), two coaches 6-25130 (3103), 6-25131 (3105), and one Observation car 6-25132  (3198).

In the years following the introduction of the El Capitan, Lionel released three more cars to complete the El Capitan consist.

Lionel 6-25411 Santa Fe El Capitan Diner car (5109) produced 2004-2007

Lionel 6-35128 Santa Fe El Capitan Baggage car (2103) produced 2004-2008

Lionel 6-35129 (3153) Santa Fe El Capitan Vista Dome.produced 2004-2008

Santa Fe El Capitan Drum Head

 It was a popular photo-op to get a photo of a celebrity or a pretty girl pictured behind the Observation car featuring the El Capitain drum head to promote traveling the Santa Fe train.

El Capitan Magazine Advertisement

 

El Capitan Finds a New Home

This winter I got a call from my friend asking if I wanted the El Capitan from his garage. They were preparing to sell the house and knowing I no longer had a train, he thought I might enjoy having the El Capitan for my garage. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity and arranged for a Saturday to come over and remove the track, transformer, and "repossess" the El Capitan.

To prepare for the El Capitan's arrival, I constructed a ceiling shelf in my new man-cave/garage. Since this garage is 3-cars wide, I decided to build a single-car size track and run a 22' vertically hung suspension bridge along one edge. This makes one leg of the track visible from both sides.

The construction of this shelf was virtually identical to my original garage project. A single sheet of 5/8" plywood cut into 6" wide strips provided the self. L brackets were attached below the shelf and drywall anchors were used when the bracket did not land on a stud. 

The first piece of the bridge was the hardest and I spent a fair amount of time leveling the shelf/bridge. It would have been a lot easier if I had a laser level. As it turns out I got one at a yard sale a couple weeks after the project was complete. 

The corners were 2'x'2' and I used a paper template to cut the inside radius. I left the outside corners for future use. The straights were cut to length and the "bridge" was suspended from the ceiling studs with anchor screws, couplers, and 6" 1/4-20 carriage bolts. Hanging the shelf/bridge took a better part of two Saturdays, but in the end I had a nice solid level surface to run the train.

My goal was to hang the shelf low enough to use license plates as a backsplash. It was really close but I cleared the garage door pilly by just enough.

The shelf was trimmed out with the same 1" x 1/8" aluminum trim I used in the first garage almost 20 years ago. The final touch was to install the license plates and I ran a 48' rope light around the perimeter to provide uplight. I'm quite happy with the finished product.

El Capitan Billboard

 

This is a 20"x10" @ 150 dpi graphic that I used to create a nice piece of garage art. I sent the files to Walgreens and cut the image to fit a 20x10 frame.