@Lou1985 posted:I know I can get a drumhead to put on the last car but I'd like to be somewhat prototypical if I can. To be honest I'm trying to satisfy my curiosity before I go either way.
I've get plenty of pictures of The Super Chief, The Chief, The Texas Chief, The San Francisco Chief, and El Capitan from the late 50s-70s with drumheads on the last car of the train when ATSF stopped using round end observation cars in the mid 1950s. Most photos of The Grand Canyon are of the locomotives pulling the train, especially in the late 40s/early 50s when steam was being retired. I'm guessing there are few photos of the rear of The Grand Canyon because it lacked any sort of drumhead and just had a red light on the rear.
Technically the ATSF did not stop using round end observations, but instead had them rebuilt into blunt end observations to make the cars more flexible in service so they did not always need to be at the end of the train.
As to the topic, in some of my reference material, there appears to be an official ATSF drumhead style logo for the Grand Canyon. The question still remains if that was placed on the rear of the train at one time or if it was just a graphic to advertise the train. Interesting research to be sure.
