Hi-Level

The Hi-Level was a bilevel intercity railroad passenger car designed by the Budd Company in the 1950s for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which wanted more capacity on its coach-only El Capitan streamliner without lengthening the train. Budd built 73 of them between 1952 and 1964 in stainless steel, as 61 coaches, six lounges and six dining cars. Passengers boarded on the lower level and climbed a central stairwell to the upper level, which held nearly all the seats beneath a row of windows along both sides, while the lower level carried the restrooms, baggage space and mechanical equipment. The two prototype coaches entered service in 1954 and proved popular, and Amtrak inherited the whole fleet in 1971 and used it as the model for its Superliner cars. The last Hi-Levels left regular Amtrak service in 2018.