Santa Fe Dome Bar-Lounge 503, La Junta, CO, 1970 (Beyer Patton) Indian Drum, La Junta, CO, 1970 (Beyer Patton)
During the streamline era the Santa Fe came up with a lot of names derived from the native American cultures in the regions that the railroad passed through. They must have developed a list of appropriate names to pull from and doled them out to the different car builders to apply to new cars being built. Somehow one name ended up going to both Budd and Pullman. In 1937, Budd delivered a Bar Lounge-Dormitory car named Moencopi, the name of a Hopi village in Arizona. A year later, Pullman delivered a 4-4-2 sleeping car with the exact same name.
Most of those names got changed. The Pullman Company, which serviced and stocked them, wasn't amused by them. For one thing, their employees couldn't pronounce half of them. For another, Pullman had adopted series naming for a reason. It wasn't so difficult to recognize Vista Plains as a four drawing room, one double bedroom, lounge observation because that's what Vista Cavern, Vista Canyon, Vista Heights and Vista Valley were, too. Coconino (the prewar name of Vista Plains) was another story. Series names gave employees much less to memorize, so they could more quickly assemble the right number of double bedsheets, upper berth sheets and pillows.
Santa Fe 10-6 Sleeper "Palm Summit", La Junta, CO, 1970 (Beyer Patton) RTA LRVs meeting, Cleveland, OH, July 1982 (Beyer Patton)
Look at that nearly new '68/69 Charger in green at left! Also, check out the weathering pattern on the vestibule end.
Interesting to see the rest of the car has been washed. They must have just run an entire consist through the rack.
Also, never saw what looks like limestone residues so evident at the end of a steam heating line; together with the "ALCO wathering" looks like the consist stood together for a long while.
You'd think I would remember that. I did remember the side marker lights were round, but failed to recall the taillights were too!
Downtown bound RTA LRVs, Cleveland, OH, July 1982 (Beyer Patton) The Lake Shore Limited, Cleveland, OH, July 1982 (Beyer Patton)
I wonder who's railyard that is on the right being torn up? ...and what are those odd, steel poles there?
I would guess catenary supports, as they seem to mirror the spacings of those active ones seen on the LRV line at left.
