Fifty years to the day from the first run of Amtrak train 18, the eastbound Super-Chief-El Capitan, its 2021 version, train 4 Southwest Chief, departs Los Angeles Union Station right on the advertised – 6:00 pm. This train has carried a number of different numbers and names over the past half-century: Trains 17-18 were, in short order, renumbered 3-4 (retaining those numbers ever since) and the name changed from Super-Chief-El Capitan, a carry-over from its Santa Fe days, with El Capitan dropped from the name in 1973. On March 7, 1974, the name was changed to the Southwest Limited, and later, on October 28, 1984, to Southwest Chief. In 1971 it departed LA at 7:30, an hour-and-a-half later than in 2021. In 1971 this train operated with leased Santa Fe F-units, giving way to brand-new Amtrak SDP40Fs in 1973 and, later, F40PHs and eventually Dash 8-40BPs (P40DCs) and P42DCs. Along with other relatively minor route changes over the decades, primarily a couple of changes in Illinois and Kansas, this train originally departed Los Angeles Union Station and traveled through Pasadena and Pomona, changed in January 1994 to a slightly more southerly route through Fullerton – so this shot was not possible in 1974. (Los Angeles, California – May 1, 2021)
