Hi-Level

Hi-Level
Hi-Level coaches on Amtrak's Southwest Limited at Albuquerque in 1974; the lounge is second from right
The interior of an Amtrak Pacific Parlour Car, a refurbished lounge.
In service	1954–present
Manufacturer	Budd Company
Constructed	1954–1964
Number built	73 (61 coaches, 6 lounges, 6 diners)
Number in service	5
Number preserved	Various in private ownership
Capacity	67 (coach prototypes) 68 (step-down coaches) 72 (coaches)
Operator(s)	Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Amtrak
Specifications
Car length	85 feet (26 m)
Height	15 feet 6 inches (4.72 m)
Weight	80 short tons (73 t) (coaches) 83 short tons (75 t) (lounges) 97 short tons (88 t) (dining cars)
Notes

The Hi-Level is a type of bilevel intercity railroad passenger car built by the Budd Company for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") in the 1950s and 1960s. The first two coaches entered service on the El Capitan in 1954 and found immediate success. Budd built sufficient coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars to fully reequip the El Capitan, with additional coaches seeing use on the San Francisco Chief. Amtrak inherited the entire fleet in 1971 and continued to use the equipment on its western routes. In 1979, the first Superliners, based on the Hi-Level concept, although built by Pullman-Standard, began entering service. As of 2013 Amtrak continues to operate five Hi-Level lounges, which it calls the "Pacific Parlour Cars", on the Coast Starlight.

The Santa Fe introduced the El Capitan in 1938. The train ran on the Santa Fe's main line between Chicago and Los Angeles. Unusually for streamliners of the period, the El Capitan carried coaches only, and had no sleeping cars. Passengers flocked to the new train, and the Santa Fe added cars to meet the demand. The train grew from five cars in 1938 to fourteen in 1952. Sometimes demand was high enough to justify running a second instance ("section") of the train on the same day. The Santa Fe sought a solution to increase the capacity of the train without lengthening it further. Two popular innovations by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) suggested a solution. First, in 1945, the CB&Q introduced the first dome car, in which passengers rode on a second level high above the tracks, affording better views. Second, in 1950, it placed bilevel rail cars in commuter service in the Chicago area. Taken together, these innovations suggested a new possibility: a long-distance bilevel coach, with greater capacity than single-level cars, and the panoramic views of a dome.