El Comedor

Last updated
Rock Island 428
El Comedor
ManufacturerPullman-Standard
Order no.Lot 6762
Constructed1947
DiagramPlan 7517
Fleet numbers428
Capacity36 diners
Operators Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
Lines served Golden Rocket
Golden State
Specifications
Car length85 ft 0 in (25.91 m)
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

El Comedor (RI #428) is a former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad dining car. [1] It was one of four built in 1947 on Lot 6762 by Pullman-Standard to plan 7517 for the Golden Rocket , "the train that never was." It was subsequently added to the consist of the Golden State along with its brethren, and stayed with the train for many years after. The car is noted for its beautiful copper interior and Mexican theme. The hammered-copper grilles and window trim were designed by the Mexican artist Jesus Torres, of the Hull House, Chicago, Illinois.

El Comedor seats 48 people at 12 tables. For a number of years this car was parked in the LaSalle Street Station in Chicago where it was used as a stationary diner, serving patrons of the station. The car is now smooth-sided in stainless steel, and is in the collection of the Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati in the Latonia area of Covington, Kentucky.

Comedor is a Spanish language word for diner or a railway dining car.

Related Research Articles

<i>City of Portland</i> (train) Named passenger train in the U.S.

The City of Portland was a named passenger train on the Union Pacific Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon. The first trip left Portland on June 6, 1935, using the streamlined M-10001 trainset. With only one set of equipment, the train left each terminal six times a month. A broken axle derailed the trip that left Chicago on July 23, 1935, and the repaired train resumed service with the trip leaving Portland on February 6, 1936. In May 1936 it started running five times a month instead of six, allowing more time in Chicago between trips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dining car</span> Railroad passenger car that serves meals

A dining car or a restaurant car (English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant.

<i>Super Chief</i> Named passenger train of the Santa Fe Railway

The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" because it often carried celebrities between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.

<i>City of Los Angeles</i> (train)

The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955 and on the Milwaukee Road thereafter. The train had number 103 westbound and number 104 eastbound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dome car</span> American panoramic rail coach with en external dome

A dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car, sleeping car or observation. Beginning in 1945, dome cars were primarily used in the United States and Canada, though a small number were constructed in Europe for Trans Europ Express service.

<i>El Capitan</i> (train) Passenger train

The El Capitan was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. It operated from 1938 to 1971; Amtrak retained the name until 1973. The El Capitan was the only all-coach or "chair car" to operate on the Santa Fe main line between Chicago and Los Angeles on the same fast schedule as the railroad's premier all-Pullman Super Chief. It was also the first train to receive the pioneering Hi-Level equipment with which it would become synonymous.

<i>Chief</i> (train)

The Chief was an American long-distance named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. The Santa Fe initiated the Chief in 1926 to supplement the California Limited. In 1936 the Super Chief was introduced, after the Super Chief was relaunched in 1948 with daily departures from LA and Chicago it gradually eclipsed the Chief as the standard bearer of the Santa Fe because of its timetable oriented to the Raton Pass transit. For some the Chief and San Francisco Chief as deluxe integrated trains with both Pullman sleepers and fully reclining coach seating with all facilities; lounges and pleasure domes, available to all passengers were at least equal flagships better suited to the business and executive market. From the mid 1960s the super Chief was only a small entirely separate section of the El Capitan seated vista train, the El Capitan passengers having no access to the Super Chiefs expensive eateries and bars which selling point was exclusion and service. The Chief was discontinued in 1968 due to high operating costs, competition from airlines, and the loss of Postal Office contracts.

<i>California Limited</i> Named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The California Limited was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It carried train Nos. 3 & 4 and ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.

<i>Santa Fe de Luxe</i> Passenger train

The Santa Fe de Luxe was the first extra-fare named passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

<i>Golden State</i> (train)

The Golden State was a named passenger train between Chicago and Los Angeles from 1902–1968 on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and the Southern Pacific Company (SP) and predecessors. It was named for California, the “Golden State”.

<i>Capitol Limited</i> (B&O train) Former B&O train between New York and Chicago

The Capitol Limited was an American passenger train run by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, originally between New York City and Grand Central Station in Chicago, via Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., Camden Station in Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. For almost 48 years, it was the B&O's flagship passenger train, noted for personalized service and innovation. At the time of its discontinuation on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over most rail passenger service in the U.S., the Capitol Limited operated between Washington and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton Railroad</span> Railroad in the midwestern United States

The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad, was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 and was controlled until 1942 when the Alton was released to the courts. On May 31, 1947, the Alton Railroad was merged into the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad. Jacob Bunn had been one of the founding reorganizers of the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company during the 1860s.

The Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati is a railroad museum in Covington, Kentucky.

<i>George Washington</i> (train) Cincinnati-DC passenger rail service

The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. that operated from 1932, the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, to 1974. A section divided from the main train at Gordonsville, Virginia and operated through Richmond to Phoebus, Virginia. From the west, a section originated in Louisville and joined at Ashland.

<i>Challenger</i> (train) Former passenger train operated by the Union Pacific Railroad

The Challengers were named passenger trains on the Union Pacific Railroad and the Chicago and North Western Railway. The economy service ran between Chicago, Illinois, and the West Coast of the United States. The trains had full Pullman service and coach seating and were an attempt to draw Depression-Era riders back to the rails. Food service was advertised as "three meals for under a dollar a day."

<i>Golden Rocket</i> (train)

The Golden Rocket was a proposed named passenger train of the Rock Island (CRIP) and Southern Pacific (SP) railroads. Planned in the late 1940s, Southern Pacific eventually pulled out of the agreement and service never commenced.

<i>Rocky Mountain Rocket</i> 1939 to 1966 US passenger train

The Rocky Mountain Rocket was a streamlined passenger train of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Rock Island's train numbers 7 and 8 ran between Chicago's LaSalle Street Station and Denver's Union Station and Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Rocket ran from 1939 to 1966; the train was discontinued prior to the creation of Amtrak in 1971.

<i>Arizona Limited</i> American streamliner train from 1940 to 1942

The Arizona Limited was an extra-fare streamliner train operated by the Southern Pacific and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad from 1940 until 1942 on the Golden State route from Chicago, Illinois, to Phoenix, Arizona, via Tucumcari, New Mexico. It was aimed at travelers wanting to get away from winter weather conditions. Like the Santa Fe Chief, the Arizona Limited was streamlined in steam on the Southern Pacific. The Rock Island used both pre-war EMD E6 and Alco-GE DL103b, DL-105, and DL-107 locomotives out of Chicago. These had the maroon and silver "Rocket" liveries. The train itself was painted in the pre-war Pullman two-tone gray livery.

<i>Phoebe Snow</i> (train) American passenger train (1949–1966)

Phoebe Snow was a named passenger train which was once operated by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) and, after a brief hiatus, the Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL). It ran between 1949 and 1966, primarily connecting Buffalo, New York and Hoboken, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hi-Level</span> Class of American bilevel railroad passenger cars

The Hi-Level was a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used in the United States. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars; a sleeping car variant was considered but never produced. Most passenger spaces were on the upper level, which featured a row of windows on both sides. Boarding was on the lower level; passengers climbed up a center stairwell to reach the upper level. Vestibules on the upper level permitted passengers to walk between cars; some coaches had an additional stairwell at one end to allow access to single-level equipment.

References

  1. The Pullman News, Volumes 28-31 . Pullman Company, 1949. 13.