Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 8, 2020
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The Hi-Level was a bilevel intercity railroad passenger car used in the United States. The Budd Company designed it in the 1950s for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for use on the El Capitan, a coach-only streamliner which ran daily between Los Angeles and Chicago. The design was inspired by the dome car, employed in intercity routes in the Western United States, and by bilevel commuter cars operating in the Chicago area. Budd built 73 Hi-Level cars between 1952 and 1964. Car types included coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars. 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 access the upper level. Vestibules on the upper level permitted passengers to walk between cars. Amtrak inherited the fleet in 1971 and continued to use the cars until their retirement in 2018. The Superliner, based on the Hi-Level concept, entered service in 1979 and remains in service. (Full article...)