The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as
Santa Fe, was one of the larger
railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859. Although the railway was named in part for the capital of
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
, its main line never reached there as the terrain made it too difficult to lay the necessary tracks (
Santa FeSanta Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 62,203 at the April 1, 2000 census; the estimate for July 1, 2006, is 72,056...
was ultimately served by a
branch lineA branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
from
Lamy, New MexicoLamy is a census-designated place in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States, to the south of the city of Sante Fe. The town was named after Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy, and lies within the Bishop John Lamy Spanish Land Grant, which dates back to the eighteenth century.Lamy is part of the...
). The Santa Fe's first tracks reached the
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
/
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
state line in 1873, and connected to
Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was estimated to be 104,951 in 2008, making it the 245th most populous city in the United States....
in 1876. In order to help fuel the railroad's profitability, the Santa Fe set up
real estateReal estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.
"Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
offices and sold
farmA farm is an area of land, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, community, corporation...
land from the land grants that the railroad was awarded by
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
; these new farms would create a demand for transportation (both freight and passenger service) that was offered by the Santa Fe.
Ever the innovator, Santa Fe was one of the pioneers in intermodal freight service, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline, the short-lived
Santa Fe Skyway. A bus line allowed the company to extend passenger transportation service to areas not accessible by rail, and ferry boats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travellers to complete their westward journeys all the way to the Pacific Ocean. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway officially ceased operations on December 31, 1996 when it merged with the
Burlington Northern RailroadThe Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company operating between 1970 and 1996.-History:Burlington Northern Railroad was the product of a March 2, 1970, merger comprising the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy...
to form the
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe RailwayThe BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
.
History
Startup and initial growth
The railroad's charter, written single-handedly by
Cyrus K. HollidayColonel Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was one of the founders of Topeka, Kansas. He was also the first president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, as well as one of the railroad's directors for nearly 40 years....
in January 1859, was approved by the state's governor on February 11 of that year as the
Atchison and Topeka Railroad Company for the purpose of building a rail line from
Topeka, KansasTopeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 122,377 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated...
, to
Santa Fe, New MexicoSanta Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 62,203 at the April 1, 2000 census; the estimate for July 1, 2006, is 72,056...
, and then on to the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
. On May 3, 1863, two years after Kansas gained statehood, the railroad changed names to more closely match the aspirations of its founder to the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The railroad broke ground in Topeka on October 30, 1868 and started building westward where one of the first construction tasks was to cross the Kaw River. The first section of track opened on April 26, 1869 (less than a month prior to completion of the
First Transcontinental RailroadThe First Transcontinental Railroad is the popular name of the U.S. railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and Union Pacific Railroad from Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska to Alameda, California...
) with special trains between Topeka and
PaulinePauline is an unincorporated town in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. Located south of Topeka, it lies next to Forbes Field. Although it began as a small town in its own right, Pauline now is occasionally seen as part of the South City Industry Park for Topeka, Kansas with its many large...
. The distance was only 6 miles (10 km), but the
Wakarusa Creek Picnic Special train took passengers over the route for celebration in Pauline.
Crews continued working westward, reaching
Dodge CityDodge City is a city in and the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, USA. It was named after Colonel Richard Irving Dodge. The population was 25,176 at the 2000 census...
on September 5 1872. With this connection, the Santa Fe was able to compete for
cattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
transportation with the
Kansas Pacific RailwayThe Kansas Pacific Railway was a historic railroad company that operated in the western United States in the late 19th century. It was a federally chartered railroad, backed with government land grants. It operated many of the first long-distance lines in the state of Kansas in the 1870s,...
. Construction continued, and the Santa Fe opened the last section of track between Topeka and the
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
/
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
border on December 23 1873. The Santa Fe's tracks reached
Pueblo, ColoradoPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was estimated to be 104,951 in 2008, making it the 245th most populous city in the United States....
on March 1 1876. Serving Pueblo opened a number of new freight opportunities for the railroad as it now could haul
coalCoal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from Colorado eastward.(
Early history)
Building across Kansas and eastern Colorado may have been technologically simple as there weren't many large natural obstacles in the way (certainly not as many as the railroad was about to encounter further west), but the Santa Fe found it almost economically impossible because of the sparse population in the area. To combat this problem, the Santa Fe set up
real estateReal estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.
"Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
offices in the area and vigorously promoted settlement across Kansas on the land that was granted to the railroad by
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
in 1863. The Santa Fe offered discounted passenger fares to anyone who travelled west on the railroad to inspect the land; if the land was subsequently purchased by the traveller, the railroad applied the passenger's ticket price toward the sale of the land. Now that the railroad had built across the plains and had a customer base providing income for the firm, it was time to turn its attention toward the difficult terrain of the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at above sea level...
.
Crossing the Rockies
LeadvilleLeadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of 10,152 feet , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
was the most productive of all of the Colorado mining regions. Mining in the area began in 1859, first for gold and then two decades later for silver. Several of the Santa Fe's board of directors (along with President
StrongWilliam Barstow Strong served as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1881 to 1889. He is often referred to as either William B. Strong or W. B...
) sought to capitalize on the need to supply the mining towns of Colorado and northern New Mexico with food, equipment, and other supplies. To that end, Santa Fe sought to extend its route westward from
PuebloPueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was estimated to be 104,951 in 2008, making it the 245th most populous city in the United States....
along the
Arkansas RiverThe Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast and traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas....
, and through the
Royal GorgeThe Royal Gorge is a canyon on the Arkansas River near Cañon City, Colorado. With a width of at its base and a few hundred feet at its top, and a depth of in places, the 10-mile-long canyon is a narrow, steep gorge through the granite of Fremont Peak...
in 1877. Royal Gorge was a bottleneck along the Arkansas too narrow for both the Santa Fe and the
Denver and Rio Grande Western RailroadThe Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , generally referred to as the Rio Grande, originally the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, is a former U.S. railroad, having been absorbed into a larger system — Southern Pacific Transportation Company — as the result of a merger...
to pass through, and there was no other reasonable access to the South Park area; thus, a race ensued to build rail access through the Gorge. Physical confrontations led to two years of armed conflict, essentially low-level guerrilla warfare between the two companies that came to be known as the Royal Gorge Railroad War. Federal intervention prompted an out-of-court settlement on February 2, 1880 in the form of the so-called "Treaty of Boston" wherein the D&RG was allowed to complete its line and lease it for use by the Santa Fe. The D&RG paid an estimated $1.4 million to Santa Fe for its work within the Gorge and agreed not to extend its line to
Santa FeSanta Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 62,203 at the April 1, 2000 census; the estimate for July 1, 2006, is 72,056...
, while the AT&SF agreed to forgo its planned routes to
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
and Leadville.
Also looking to the south, an initial outlay of $20,000 was authorized on February 26, 1878 for the construction of a rail line south from
TrinidadThe historic City of Trinidad is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States...
in order to "
..seize and hold Raton PassRaton Pass is a mountain pass on the Santa Fe Trail along the Colorado-New Mexico border in the United States. Raton Pass is a federally designated National Historic Landmark...
." The location of the route was nearly as crucial to the venture's success as was the actual track construction. W. R. "Ray" Morley, a former civil engineer for the (D&RG) hired by the AT&SF in 1877, was given his first assignment to secretly plot a route through the pass (it was feared that any activity in the area would lead the D&RG to construct a narrow gauge line over the Pass). Additionally, Strong learned that the
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
(SP) had introduced legislation to block the Santa Fe's entry into New Mexico. Undaunted, Strong obtained a charter for the New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad Company and immediately sent A. A. Robinson to Raton Pass. From February to December 1878 work crews struggled to build the line between
La JuntaThe City of La Junta is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,568 at the U.S. Census 2000. La Junta is located in southeast Colorado, on the Arkansas River east of Pueblo.During World War II,...
and Raton, and the first Santa Fe train entered New Mexico on December 7.
Facing the competition
While construction over the Rockies was slow and difficult due to the logistics involved, in some instances armed conflicts with competitors arose (such as with the D&RG in
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
and
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
, and — after capturing the Raton Pass — the SP in
ArizonaThe State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...
and
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, as exemplified in the "
frog warA frog war, US usage, occurs when a private railroad company attempts to cross the tracks of another, and this results in hostilities, with the courts usually getting involved, but often long after companies have taken the matter in their own hands and settled, with hordes of workers battling each...
" between SP and Santa Fe subsidiary the
California Southern RailroadThe California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego,...
at
Colton, CaliforniaColton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the site of Colton Crossing, one of the busiest at-grade railroad crossings in the United States. The main transcontinental trunk lines of Union Pacific and Burlington...
in September 1883). The troubles for the railroad went far beyond skirmishes with rival railroads, however. In the late 1880s,
George C. MagounGeorge C. Magoun was, in the late 1880s, the Chairman of the Board of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
, who had worked his way to become Chairman of the Board of Directors for the railroad, was progressively losing his own health. In 1889 the railroad's stock price, which was closely linked in the public's eye with the successes of the railroad's chairman, fell from nearly
$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
140 per share to around $20 per share. Magoun's health continued to deteriorate along with the stock price and Magoun died on December 20, 1893. The Santa Fe entered receivership three days later on December 23 1893, with
J. W. ReinhartJoseph W. Reinhart was the twelfth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Reinhart ascended to the Santa Fe's presidency on December 23 1893, when he was appointed a receiver of the railroad along with John J. McCook and Joseph C. Wilson...
,
John J. McCookJohn James McCook was a American corporate attorney, business director, and soldier, serving as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He was the youngest member of the famed "Fighting McCooks", a prominent Ohio military family which contributed fifteen members to the war...
and Joseph C. Wilson appointed as receivers.
Union Pacific was another rival, but not that much of one, Union Pacific, or UP, was also in the western expansion and also was a route through the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in Canada, to New Mexico, in the United States. The range's highest peak is Mount Elbert in Colorado at above sea level...
for industrial strength.
Expansion through mergers
Having completed a line to the West Coast, by 1886, William B. Strong started looking around for other expansion opportunities. The Financially troubled Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway Company, a Texas line with nearly of track in service provided just such an opportunity. The GC&SF was required, as part of a merger agreement, to construct a line from Fort Worth to Purcell, in the Indian Territory, where AT&SF had a railhead. The connection was completed, and the merger became official on April 27, 1887. GC&SF continued to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary until finally merged directly into ATSF in 1965, by which time it had about of track in service.
A brief look at some key figures comparing the railroad's extent between 1870 and 1945 shows just how much the railroad had grown:
|
1870 |
1945 |
| Gross operating revenue |
$ The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
182,580 |
$528,080,530 |
| Total track length |
62 miles (100 km) |
13,115 miles (21,107 km) |
| Freight carried |
98,920 tons |
59,565,100 tons |
| Passengers carried |
33,630 |
11,264,000 |
| Locomotives owned |
6 |
1,759 |
| Unpowered rolling stock owned |
141 |
81,974 freight cars
1,436 passenger cars |
- Source: Santa Fe Railroad (1945), Along Your Way, Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.
Predecessors, subsidiary railroads, and leased lines
- Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in eastern Texas and to Purcell, Oklahoma.- Nineteenth Century :...
(1887-1965) — an operating subsidiary of ATSF
- California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railway
The California, Arizona and Santa Fe Railway was a non-operating subsidiary of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that was incorporated in 1911 and was merged into the ATSF in 1963...
(1911-1963) — a non-operating subsidiary of the ATSF
- Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway
The Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway was a common carrier railroad that later became an operating subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Arizona. At Ash Fork, Arizona the SFP&P connected with Santa Fe's operating subsidiary, the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad mainline, that...
(1892-1911)
- Arizona and California Railway (1903-1905)
- Bradshaw Mountain Railroad
The Bradshaw Mountain Railroad was a nonoperating subsidiary of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway in Arizona. The 35.65 mile railroad was built to serve the mines in the Bradshaw Mountains. The railroad built from a connection at Poland Junction and at Mayer with the Prescott and...
(1902-1912) — a non-operating subsidiary
- Prescott and Eastern Railroad
The Prescott and Eastern Railroad was a non-operating subsidiary of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway in Arizona. The 26.4 mile common carrier railroad was built to serve the mines in the region. The railroad built from a connection with the SFP&P at Entro and extended south to Poland...
(1897-1911)
- Phoenix and Eastern Railroad (1895-1908)
- California Southern Railroad
The California Southern Railroad was a subsidiary railroad of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in Southern California. It was organized July 10, 1880, and chartered on October 23, 1880, to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego,...
(1880-1906) — a subsidiary railroad chartered to build a rail connection between what has become the city of Barstow and San Diego, California
- Grand Canyon Railway
The Grand Canyon Railway , is a passenger railroad which operates between Williams, Arizona, and Grand Canyon National Park South Rim.-Santa Fe Ownership:...
(1901-1942) — became an operating subsidiary of the ATSF in 1902 and a non-operating subsidiary in 1924
- Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railroad
The Santa Fe and Grand Canyon Railroad was a 56-mile railroad that ran from Williams, Arizona to take mining supplies and people to the copper mines near Anita. In 1901, the SF&GC was sold at foreclosure and became the Grand Canyon Railway, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
(1897-1901)
- Minkler Southern Railway Company (1913-1992?) — a subsidiary created to build the Porterville-Orosi District (Minkler to Ducor, California)
- New Mexico and Arizona Railroad (1882-1897) — ATSF subsidiary; (1897-1934) non-operating SP subsidiary
- New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1878-?) — a subsidiary created to lay track across the Raton Pass into New Mexico
- Santa Fe Pacific Railroad (1897-1902)
- Atlantic and Pacific Railroad
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjoint segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Southern California. It was incorporated by the U.S. Congress in 1866 as a...
(1880-1897)
- Sonora Railway — became an operating subsidiary of the ATSF in 1879
- Verde Valley Railway (1913-1942) — an ATSF "paper railroad" at Clarkdale, Arizona
- Western Arizona Railway (1906-1931) — an ATSF subsidiary (Kingman – Chloride)
- Arizona and Utah Railway (1899-1933)
The failed SPSF merger
The
Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad (SPSF) was a proposed merger between the parent companies of the
Southern PacificThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
and Santa Fe railroads announced on December 23, 1983. As a part of the joining of the two firms, all of the rail and non-rail assets owned by
Santa Fe IndustriesSanta Fe Industries was the diversified parent company, headquartered in Chicago, of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Formed in 1968, its non-railroad operations included construction, real estate, and energy units. In the early 1980s, after longtime head John Shedd Reed had been...
and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company were placed under the control of a holding company, the
Santa Fe–Southern Pacific Corporation. The merger was subsequently denied by the
Interstate Commerce CommissionThe Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland...
(ICC) on the basis that it would create too many duplicate routes.
The companies were so confident that the merger would be approved they began repainting locomotives and non-revenue rolling stock in a new unified paint scheme. After the ICC's denial, railfans joked that SPSF really stood for "Shouldn't Paint So Fast". While the Southern Pacific was sold off, all of the California real estate holdings were consolidated in a new company,
Catellus Development CorporationCatellus Development Corporation is a real estate landowner that was spun off from the real estate holdings of Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroad...
, making it the State's largest private landowner. Some time later, Catellus would purchase the
Union Pacific Railroad'sThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest and oldest operating railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
interest in the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT).
Merger into BNSF
On September 21, 1995 the ATSF merged with the
Burlington Northern RailroadThe Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company operating between 1970 and 1996.-History:Burlington Northern Railroad was the product of a March 2, 1970, merger comprising the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy...
to form the
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe RailwayThe BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
. Some of the challenges resulting from the joining of the two companies included the establishment of a common dispatching system, the unionization of Santa Fe's non-union dispatchers, and incorporating the Santa Fe's train identification codes throughout.
Company officers
Presidents of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway:
- Cyrus K. Holliday
Colonel Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was one of the founders of Topeka, Kansas. He was also the first president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, as well as one of the railroad's directors for nearly 40 years....
: 1860–1863
- Samuel C. Pomeroy
Samuel Clarke Pomeroy was a Republican Senator from Kansas in the mid-19th century, serving in the United States Senate during the American Civil War...
: 1863–1868
- William F. Nast
William Frederick Nast was an American diplomat and entrepreneur. He was the third president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
: September 1868
- Henry C. Lord
Henry C. Lord was the fourth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the son of Dartmouth College president Nathan Lord....
: 1868–1869
- Henry Keyes
Henry Keyes was a prominent politician and railroad executive from Vermont. He was a state senator and was a candidate for governor of Vermont three times. He also served as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
: 1869–1870
- Ginery Twichell
Ginery Twichell was president of the Boston and Worcester Railroad in the 1860s, the Republican Representative for Massachusetts for three consecutive terms and the sixth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.He was born on in Athol, Massachusetts. Some references list his actual...
: 1870–1873
- Henry Strong
Henry Strong was the seventh president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Strong was born in Helensburg, Scotland, the son of Glasgow's Consul General. When he was four years old, he and his family emigrated to the United States...
: 1873–1874
- Thomas Nickerson
Thomas Nickerson was the eighth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between 1874 and 1880. He was also president of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad....
: 1874–1880
- T. Jefferson Coolidge: 1880–1881
- William Barstow Strong
William Barstow Strong served as president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1881 to 1889. He is often referred to as either William B. Strong or W. B...
: 1881–1889
- Allen Manvel
Allen Manvel was the eleventh president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Manvel was born in Alexander, New York. In 1859 he began employment with the Rock Island Railroad as a clerk in the purchasing agent's office. He worked his way up through the ranks to become the general...
: 1889–1893
- Joseph Reinhart
Joseph W. Reinhart was the twelfth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Reinhart ascended to the Santa Fe's presidency on December 23 1893, when he was appointed a receiver of the railroad along with John J. McCook and Joseph C. Wilson...
: 1893–1894
- Aldace F. Walker
Aldace Freeman Walker was one of the original members of the Interstate Commerce Commission when the organization was founded in 1887...
: 1894–1895
- Edward Payson Ripley
Edward Payson Ripley , sometimes referred to as Edward P. Ripley or E. P. Ripley, was the fourteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.- Youth and education :...
: 1896–1920
- William Benson Storey
William Benson Storey, Jr. was the fifteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
: 1920–1933
- Samuel T. Bledsoe
Samuel T. Bledsoe was the sixteenth president of Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.- Early life and family :...
: 1933–1939
- Edward J. Engel: 1939–1944
- Fred G. Gurley: 1944–1958
- Ernest S. Marsh
-Legacy:* Engine No. 4 of the Disneyland Railroad is named "Ernest S. Marsh", it began service there on July 25, 1959....
: 1958–1967
- John Shedd Reed
John Shedd Reed was president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1967 until 1986. The rail transport industry journal Modern Railways named Reed its Man of the Year for 1970....
: 1967–1986
- W. John Swartz: 1986–1988
- Mike Haverty
Michael R. Haverty , aka Mike Haverty, is the seventeenth CEO of the Kansas City Southern Railway . Prior to working for KCS, he had been an executive for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
: 1989–1991
- Robert Krebs
Robert D. Krebs has headed three major United States railroads in succession, leading the Southern Pacific when it was acquired by Santa Fe Industries, rising to lead the resulting Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, and finally being chosen to head the new Burlington Northern Santa Fe when Santa Fe...
: 1991–1995
Passenger train service
The Santa Fe was widely known for its passenger train service in the first half of the 20th century. The Santa Fe introduced many innovations in passenger rail travel, among these the "Pleasure
DomesA dome car is a type of railway passenger car that has a glass dome on the top of the car where passengers can ride and see in all directions around the train. It also can include features of a coach, lounge car, dining car or observation...
" of the
Super ChiefThe Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as "The Train of the Stars" because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.The...
(billed as the "
...only dome car[s] between Chicago and Los Angeles" when they were introduced in 1951) and the "Big Dome"-Lounge cars and double-decker "Hi-Level" cars of the
El Capitan, which entered revenue service in 1954. The Santa Fe was among the first railroads to add dining cars to its passenger train consists in 1891, following the examples of the Northern Pacific and
Union PacificThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest and oldest operating railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
Railroads. Dining along the Santa Fe was often a memorable experience, whether it be on-board in a
dining carA dining car or restaurant car , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
, or at one of the many
Harvey HouseHarvey House may refer to:*One of many hotels of the Fred Harvey Company in the U.S. west, which include :*Harvey House Railroad Depot , listed on the NRHP in California...
restaurants that were strategically located throughout the system.
In general, the same train name was used for both directions of a particular train. The exceptions to this rule included the
Chicagoan and
Kansas Cityan trains (both names referred to the same service, but the
Chicagoan was the eastbound version, while the
Kansas Cityan was the westbound version), and the
Eastern Express and
West Texas Express. All of the Santa Fe's trains that terminated in Chicago did so at
Dearborn StationDearborn Station was the oldest of the six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago during the heyday of rail in the twentieth century. Additionally, the station was used as a terminal for commuter traffic. Located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, it was also referred to as Polk Street Station...
. Trains terminating in Los Angeles arrived at Santa Fe's
La Grande StationLa Grande Station was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, California, until damage from the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 forced its closure. When Union Station opened in 1939, Santa Fe moved all of its passenger services there.- History :Santa Fe...
until May, 1939, when the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) was opened.
To reach smaller communities, the railroad often operated Rail Diesel Cars (
RDCThe Budd Rail Diesel Car or RDC is a self-propelled diesel-hydraulic multiple unit railcars. In the period 1949–62, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
s) for communities on the railroad, and bus connections were provided throughout the system via
Santa Fe TrailwaysThe Trailways Transportation System is a group of 80 independent bus companies that have entered into a franchising agreement.- History :The company was founded February 5, 1936, by: Burlington Transportation Company, Santa Fe Trails Transportation Company, Missouri-Pacific Stages, Safeway Lines,...
buses to other locations. These smaller trains generally were not named, only the train numbers were used to differentiate services.
The ubiquitous passenger service inspired the title of the 1946 Academy-Award-winning
Johnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American songwriter and singer. As a songwriter, he is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
tune "
On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" is a popular song which refers to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was written for the 1946 movie, The Harvey Girls, where it was sung by Judy Garland. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song....
." The song was written in 1945 for the film
The Harvey GirlsThe Harvey Girls is a MGM musical film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about Fred Harvey's famous Harvey House restaurants. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O'Brien, Ray Bolger, and Marjorie Main...
, a story about the waitresses of the
Fred Harvey CompanyThe origin of the Fred Harvey Company can be traced to the 1875 opening of two railroad eating houses located at Wallace, Kansas and Hugo, Colorado on the Kansas Pacific Railway. These cafés were opened by Fred Harvey, then a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
's restaurants. It was sung in the film by
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
and recorded by many other singers, including
Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
. In the 1970s, the ATSF used Crosby's version in a commercial.
Regular revenue trains
The Santa Fe operated the following named trains on regular schedules:
- The Angel: San Francisco, California — Los Angeles, California — San Diego, California
- The Angeleno: San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States, in West Central Texas. As of 2009 according to an estimate published by the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total population of 91,880....
— Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the seventeenth-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city within the state of Texas. Located in and a cultural gateway into the American West, the city covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, and Denton counties, serving as the county seat for Tarrant...
(on the GC&SFThe Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in eastern Texas and to Purcell, Oklahoma.- Nineteenth Century :...
)
- The Antelope: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's estimated population as of 2008 was 551,789, with an estimated metro-area population of 1,206,142...
— Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
- Atlantic Express: Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
— Kansas City, Missouri (this was the eastbound version of the Los Angeles Express).
- California Express: Chicago, Illinois — Kansas City, Missouri — Los Angeles, California
- California Fast Mail: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California — San Francisco, California
- California Limited
The California Limited was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and a true "workhorse" of the railroad. It was assigned train Nos. 3 & 4, and its route ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California...
: Chicago, Illinois — San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles)
- California Special: Los Angeles, California — Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
- Cavern: Clovis, New Mexico — Carlsbad, New Mexico
Carlsbad is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 27,463. Carlsbad is the center of the designated micropolitan area of Carlsbad-Artesia, which has a total population of 51,658.Carlsbad is located in the...
(connected with the Scout).
- Centennial State: Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
— Chicago, Illinois
- Central Texas Express: Sweetwater, Texas
Sweetwater is a city in and the county seat of Nolan County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,415 at the 2000 census.-History:At Sweetwater during World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots were trained under the direction of the famed aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran at the former...
— Lubbock, TexasLubbock is an American city in the state of Texas. Located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, it is the county seat of Lubbock County, and the home of Texas Tech University. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 199,564,...
- Chicagoan
The Chicagoan and Kansas Cityan were a pair of American named passenger trains operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. They ran from Chicago, Illinois to Wichita, Kansas, with a later extension to Oklahoma City....
: Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois (this was the eastbound version of the Kansas Cityan passenger train).
- Chicago Express: Newton, Kansas
Newton is a city in and the county seat of Harvey County, Kansas, United States. The population was 17,190 at the 2000 census. Newton is located north of Wichita and is included in the Wichita metropolitan statistical area .- History :...
— Chicago, Illinois
- Chicago Fast Mail: San Francisco, California — Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois
- Chicago-Kansas City Flyer: Chicago, Illinois — Kansas City, Missouri
- The Chief: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California
- Eastern Express: Lubbock, Texas — Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 173,627 at the 2000 census. The Amarillo metropolitan area has an estimated population of...
(this was the eastbound version of the West Texas Express).
- El Capitan: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California
- El Pasoan: El Paso, Texas
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in...
— Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 521,999 as of July 1, 2008, according to U.S. census estimates, and ranks as...
- El Tovar: Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois (via Belen)
- Fargo Fast Mail/Express: Belen, New Mexico
Belen is a city in Valencia County, New Mexico, United States. Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem and over time has gained the nickname "Hub City" because of the Belen Cutoff of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Cutoff made it possible for many more trains to traverse east and west...
— Amarillo, TexasAmarillo is the 14th-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 173,627 at the 2000 census. The Amarillo metropolitan area has an estimated population of...
— Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois
- Fast Fifteen: Newton, Kansas — Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466 within an area of...
- Fast Mail Express: San Francisco, California
San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
(via Los Angeles) — Chicago, Illinois
- Golden Gate: Oakland, California
Oakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
— Bakersfield, CaliforniaBakersfield is a city at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California, United States. It is located roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively...
with coordinated connecting busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
service to Los Angeles and San Francisco
- Grand Canyon Limited
The Grand Canyon Limited was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was assigned train Nos. 23 & 24, and its route stretched between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California....
: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California
- The Hopi: Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois
- Kansas Cityan: Chicago, Illinois — Kansas City, Missouri (this was the westbound version of the Chicagoan passenger train).
- Kansas City Chief: Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois
- Los Angeles Express: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California (this was the westbound version of the Atlantic Express).
- The Missionary: San Francisco, California — Belen, New Mexico — Amarillo, Texas — Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois
- Navajo: Chicago, Illinois — San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles)
- Oil Flyer: Kansas City, Missouri — Tulsa, Oklahoma with through sleepers to Chicago via other trains
- Overland Limited
The Overland Limited was one of the named passenger trains on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.Operating as train Nos. 7 & 8 between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, the line was inaugurated in 1901 and ran until the Santa Fe Eight took over the route in 1915...
: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California
- Phoenix Express: Los Angeles, California — Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the fifth most populous city in the United States...
- The Ranger: Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois
- The Saint: San Diego, California — Los Angeles, California — San Francisco, California
- San Diegan
The San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and a "workhorse" of the railroad. Its 126-mile route ran from Los Angeles, California south to San Diego. It was assigned train Nos. 70–79 The San Diegan was one of the named passenger...
: Los Angeles, California — San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
- San Francisco Chief
The San Francisco Chief was a named passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as Nos. 1 & 2 from June 6, 1954 to May 1, 1971. Its route traversed the entire Santa Fe line from San Francisco, California south to Barstow, California, then east to Chicago, Illinois via the...
: San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles) — Chicago, Illinois
- San Francisco Express: Chicago, Illinois — San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles)
- Santa Fe de Luxe
The Santa Fe de Luxe was the first extra-fare named passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.The de Luxe was inaugurated on December 12, 1911, with a weekly schedule between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California...
: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California — San Francisco, California
- Santa Fe Eight: Belen, New Mexico — Amarillo, Texas — Kansas City, Missouri — Chicago, Illinois
- The Scout: Chicago, Illinois — San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles)
- South Plains Express: Sweetwater, Texas — Lubbock, Texas
- Super Chief
The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as "The Train of the Stars" because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.The...
: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California
- The Texan: Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2008 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of...
— New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
(on the GC&SFThe Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in eastern Texas and to Purcell, Oklahoma.- Nineteenth Century :...
between Houston and GalvestonGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466 within an area of...
, then via the Missouri Pacific RailroadThe Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The company came under control of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1982.-History:...
between Galveston and New Orleans).
- Texas Chief: Galveston, Texas (on the GC&SF
The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in eastern Texas and to Purcell, Oklahoma.- Nineteenth Century :...
) — Chicago, Illinois
- Tourist Flyer: Chicago, Illinois — San Francisco, California (via Los Angeles)
- The Tulsan: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-largest in the United States. With an estimated population of 385,635 in 2008, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 916,079 residents projected to reach one million between 2010...
— Kansas City, Mo. with through coaches to Chicago, Illinois via other trains (initially the Chicagoan/Kansas Cityan)
- Valley Flyer
For the New Zealand-based bus company of the same name, please see Valley Flyer .The Valley Flyer was a short-lived, named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway....
: Oakland, CaliforniaOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
— Bakersfield, CaliforniaBakersfield is a city at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California, United States. It is located roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively...
- West Texas Express
Santa Fe passenger trains 93 and 96 operated between Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas. The westbound train was called the West Texas Express while its eastbound counterpart was known as the Easter Express. For much of their careers they were stand-alone trains, operating without connecting cars at...
: Amarillo, Texas — Lubbock, Texas (this was the westbound version of the Eastern Express).
One-time and special trains
Occasionally, a special train was chartered to make a high-profile run over the Santa Fe's track. These specials were not included in the railroad's regular revenue service lineup, but were intended as one-time (and usually one-way) traversals of the railroad. Some of the more notable specials include:
- Cheney Special: Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the site of Colton Crossing, one of the busiest at-grade railroad crossings in the United States. The main transcontinental trunk lines of Union Pacific and Burlington...
— Chicago, Illinois (a one-time train that ran in 1895 on behalf of B.P. Cheney, a director of the Santa Fe).
- Clark Special: Winslow, Arizona
Winslow is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 9,931.It was named for either Edward F. Winslow, president of St...
— Chicago, Illinois (a one-time train that ran in 1904 on behalf of Charles W. Clarke, the son of then Arizona senator William Andrew Clark).
- David B. Jones Special
The David B. Jones Special was a one-time, passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois at the request of David Benton Jones. David B. Jones was suddenly taken ill with cancer at his winter home "Pepper Hill" in Montecito,...
: Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois and on to Lake Forest, IllinoisLake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States, and is one of the most affluent communities in the United States, and ranked within the top three communities of the Central United States along with Winnetka, Illinois. The population was 20,059 at the 2000 census...
(a one-time, record-breaking train that ran between May 5 to 8, 1923, on behalf of the president of the Mineral Point Zinc Company).
- Huntington Special: Argentine, Kansas
Argentine is a neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas located in the southern part of Wyandotte County. It is bordered on the west by the Turner neighborhood, on the east by the Rosedale neighborhood, on the south by Johnson County, and on the north by Armourdale neighborhood and by the Kansas River...
— Chicago, Illinois (a one-time train that ran in 1899 on behalf of Collis P. HuntingtonCollis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
).
- H.P. Lowe Special: Chicago, Illinois — Los Angeles, California (a one-time, record-breaking train that ran in 1903 on behalf of the president of the Engineering Company of America).
- Miss Nellie Bly Special: San Francisco, California — Chicago, Illinois (a one-time, record-breaking train that ran in 1890 on behalf of Nellie Bly
Nellie Bly was an American journalist, author, industrialist, and charity worker. She is most famous for an undercover exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within...
, a reporter for the New York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York from 1860 until 1931. It played a major role in the history of American newspapers.-Early years:...
newspaper).
- Peacock Special: Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois (a one-time train that ran in 1900 on behalf of A.R. Peacock, vice-president of the Carnegie Steel and Iron Company).
- Scott Special
The Scott Special, also known as the Coyote Special, the Death Valley Coyote or the Death Valley Scotty Special, was a one-time, record-breaking passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from Los Angeles, California, to Chicago, Illinois, at the request of "Death...
: Los Angeles, California — Chicago, Illinois (the most well-known of Santa Fe's "specials," also known as the Coyote Special, the Death Valley Coyote, and the Death Valley Scotty Special; a one-time, record-breaking train that ran in 1905, essentially as a publicity stunt).
- Wakarusa Creek Picnic Special: Topeka, Kansas
Topeka is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 122,377 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated...
— Pauline, KansasPauline is an unincorporated town in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. Located south of Topeka, it lies next to Forbes Field. Although it began as a small town in its own right, Pauline now is occasionally seen as part of the South City Industry Park for Topeka, Kansas with its many large...
(a one-time train that took picnickers on a 30-minute trip, at a speed of 14 miles-per-hour, to celebrate the official opening of the line on April 26, 1869).
Steam locomotives
The Santa Fe operated a large and varying fleet of
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. The term usually refers to its use on railways, but can also refer to a "road locomotive" such as a traction engine or steamroller....
s, most notable of which was the
2-10-2A 2-10-2 steam locomotive in the Whyte notation for wheel arrangements has two leading wheels , ten driving wheels , and two trailing wheels...
"Santa Fe", originally built for the railroad by
Baldwin Locomotive WorksThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania...
in 1903 and the AT&SF would ultimately end up with the largest fleet of them at over 300. Aside from the
2-10-2A 2-10-2 steam locomotive in the Whyte notation for wheel arrangements has two leading wheels , ten driving wheels , and two trailing wheels...
the Santa Fe rostered virtually every type of
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. The term usually refers to its use on railways, but can also refer to a "road locomotive" such as a traction engine or steamroller....
imaginable including
4-4-2In the Whyte notation a 4-4-2 is a steam locomotive that has a two-axle leading truck, two powered driving axles and a one-axle trailing truck...
Atlantics,
2-6-0In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 2-6-0 has a pair of leading wheels followed by six driving wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...
Moguls,
2-8-0In the Whyte notation, a 2-8-0 is a railroad steam locomotive that has a single-axle leading truck followed by four powered driving axles. In the US, this wheel arrangement is commonly called a Consolidation.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
Consolidations, 2-8-2
Mikados (or "Mikes"),
2-10-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-0 is a locomotive with two leading wheels, generally in a radially swinging leading truck, and ten coupled driving wheels, five on each side...
Decapods,
2-6-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 2-6-2 has two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:...
Prairies,
4-8-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-4 locomotive has four leading wheels, eight coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
Northerns,
4-6-4A 4-6-4 locomotive, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, has four leading wheels , six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels ....
Hudsons,
4-6-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-6-2 locomotive has four leading wheels , six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels . These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
Pacifics,
4-8-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-2 locomotive has four leading wheels , eight coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels...
Mountains,
2-8-4In the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has one unpowered leading axle followed by four powered driving axles and two unpowered trailing axles. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway used the name Kanawha for...
Berkshires, and
2-10-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, ten driving wheels , and four trailing wheels...
Santa Fes. The railroad also operatd a fleet of heavy articulated steam locomotives including
2-6-6-2In Whyte notation, 2-6-6-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels...
s, 2-8-8-0s, 2-10-10-2s,
2-8-8-2.A 2-8-8-2, in the Whyte notation for describing steam locomotive wheel arrangements, is an articulated locomotive with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. The equivalent UIC classification is, refined to Mallet locomotives, D1...
s, and the rare 4-4-6-2
Mallet type.
Diesel locomotives, passenger
Santa Fe's first set of diesel-electric passenger locomotives was placed in service on the
Super ChiefThe Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was often referred to as "The Train of the Stars" because of the many celebrities who traveled on the streamliner between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.The...
in 1936, and consisted of a pair of blunt-nosed units (EMC 1800 hp B-B) designated as Nos. 1 and 1A. The upper portion of the sides and ends of the units were painted
gold, while the lower section was a
dark olive green color; an olive stripe also ran along the sides and widened as it crossed the front of the locomotive.
Riveted to the sides of the units were metal plaques bearing a large "Indian Head"
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
, which owed its origin to the 1926
Chief "
drumheadThe term drumhead refers to a type of removable sign that was prevalent on North American railroads of the first half of the 20th century. The sign was mounted at the rear of passenger trains, and consisted of a box with internal illumination that shone through a tinted panel bearing the logo of...
" logo. "
Super Chief" was emblazoned on a plaque located on the front. The rooftop was
light slate gray, rimmed by a
red pinstripe. This unique combination of colors was referred to as the
Golden Olive paint scheme . Before entering service, Sterling McDonald
's General Motors "Styling Department" augmented the look with the addition of red and blue striping along both the sides and ends of the units in order to enhance their appearance.
In a little over a year the EMC E1 (a new and improved streamlined locomotive) would be pulling
Super Chief and other passenger consists, resplendent in the now-famous
Warbonnet paint scheme devised by Leland Knickerbocker of the GM "Art and Color Section." Its design is protected under , granted on November 9, 1937. It is reminiscent of a Native American ceremonial
headdressHeadgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.Headgear serve a variety of purposes:...
. The scheme consisted of a
red "bonnet" which wrapped around the front of the unit and was bordered by a
yellow stripe and
black pinstripe. The extent of the bonnet varied according to the locomotive model, and was largely determined by the shape and length of the carbody. The remainder of the unit was either painted
silver or was composed of stainless steel panels.
All units wore a nose emblem consisting of an elongated yellow "Circle and Cross" emblem with integral "tabs" on the nose and the sides, outlined and accented with black pinstripes, with variances according to the locomotive model. "
SANTA FE" was displayed on the horizontal limb of the cross in black,
Art DecoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
-style lettering. This emblem has come to be known as the "cigar band" due to its uncanny resemblance to the same. On all but the "
Erie-built" units (which were essentially run as a demonstrator set), U28CGs, U30CGs, and FP45s, a three-part yellow and black stripe ran up the nose behind the band.
A "Circle and Cross" motif (consisting of a yellow field, with red quadrants, outlined in black) was painted around the side windows on "as-delivered" E1 units. Similar designs were added to E3s, E6s, the
DL109/110 locomotive set, and ATSF 1A after it was rebuilt and repainted. The sides of the units typically bore the words "
SANTA FE" in black, 5"– or 9"–high extra extended Railroad Roman letters, as well as the "Indian Head" logo , with a few notable exceptions.
Railway identity on diesel locomotives in passenger service:
| Locomotive Type |
"Indian Head" |
"Circle and Cross" |
"Santa Fe" |
Logotype |
Starting Year |
Comments |
| ATSF 1 and 1A |
Yes |
Yes* |
Yes |
No |
1937 |
"Circle and Cross" added to No. 1 after rebuild in May 1938 |
EMC E1, E3, & E6The EMD E6 was a , A1A-A1A, passenger train locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E6A, was manufactured from November, 1939 to September, 1942, and 91 were produced...
|
Yes* |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
1937 |
"Indian Head" added to B units at a later date |
| ALCO DL109/110 |
Yes* |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
1941 |
No "Indian Head" on B unit |
EMD FTThe EMD FT was a diesel-electric locomotive produced between November 1939, and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division . All told 555 cab-equipped A units were built, along with 541 cabless booster B units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes |
No |
1945 |
"Indian Head" added to B units at a later date |
ALCO PAALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
/ PBALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes |
No |
1946 |
"Indian Head" added to B units at a later date |
EMD F3The EMD F3 was a , B-B freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between July 1945 and February 1949 by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant. A total of 1,111 cab-equipped lead A units and 696 cabless booster B units were built...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes |
No |
1946 |
"Indian Head" on B units only |
| FM Erie-built The Erie-built was the first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive built by Fairbanks-Morse, introduced as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and EMD E-unit...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes* |
No |
1947 |
"Indian Head" and "SANTA FE" on A units only |
EMD F7The EMD F7 was a Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel . It succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes* |
No |
1949 |
"Indian Head" on B units only; "SANTA FE" added in 1954 |
EMD E8The EMD E8 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E8A, was manufactured from August, 1949 to December, 1953, and 449 were produced – 446 for U.S., and 3 for Canada...
|
Yes* |
No |
Yes |
No |
1952 |
"Indian Head" on B units only |
| GE U28CG The U28C was developed by General Electric from the U25C, with a slight increase in power of 300 hp . A passenger-hauling variant, the U28CG, was also produced for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.-External links:* Sarberenyi, Robert. ...
|
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
1966 |
"Santa Fe" logotype in large, red "billboard"-style letters |
GE U30CGGeneral Electric's U30C was at one time the company's most successful six-axle locomotive, with 600 units being sold over a production run spanning more than nine and a half years. This locomotive model is capable of producing 3000 horsepower...
|
No |
No |
Yes* |
No |
1967 |
5"–high non-extended "SANTA FE" letters |
| EMD FP45 The EMD FP45 is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not want its prestigious Super Chief and other passenger...
|
No |
No |
Yes* |
No |
1967 |
9"–high "SANTA FE" letters |
Source: Pelouze, Richard W. (1997). Trademarks of the Santa Fe Railway. The Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society, Inc., Highlands Ranch, CO. pp. 47–50.
In later years, Santa Fe adapted the scheme to its gas-electric "
doodlebugIn the United States, doodlebug was the common name for a self-propelled railroad car . While such a coach typically had a gasoline-powered engine that turned a generator which provided electricity to traction motors, which turned the axles and wheels on the trucks, versions with mechanical...
" units . The standard for all of Santa Fe's passenger locomotives, the
Warbonnet is considered by many to be the most recognized corporate logo in the railroad industry. Early in the Amtrak Era, Santa Fe embarked on a program to paint over the red bonnet on its F units that were still engaged in hauling passenger consists with
yellow (also called
Yellowbonnets) or
dark blue (nicknamed
Bluebonnets) as it no longer wanted to project the image of a passenger carrier.
Diesel locomotives, freight
Diesel locomotiveA Diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a Diesel engine. Several types have been developed, the principal distinction being in the means by which the prime mover's mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels .-Overview:Early internal combustion...
s used as switchers between 1935 and 1960 were painted black, with just a thin white or silver horizontal accent stripe (the sills were painted similarly). The letters "
A.T.& S.F." were applied in a small font centered on the sides of the unit, as was the standard blue and white "
Santa Fe" box logo. After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, diagonal white or silver stripes were added to the ends and cab sides to increase the visibility at grade crossings (typically referred to as the
Zebra Stripe scheme). "
A.T.& S.F." was now placed along the sides of the unit just above the accent stripe, with the blue and white "
Santa Fe" box logo below.
Due to the lack of abundant water sources in the American desert, the Santa Fe was among the first railroads to receive large numbers of streamlined diesel locomotives for use in freight service, this in the form of the
EMD FTThe EMD FT was a diesel-electric locomotive produced between November 1939, and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division . All told 555 cab-equipped A units were built, along with 541 cabless booster B units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to...
. For the first group of FTs delivered between December, 1940 and March, 1943 (#100–#119) the railroad selected a color scheme consisting of dark blue accented by a pale yellow stripe up the nose, and pale yellow highlights around the cab and along the mesh and framing of openings in the sides of the engine compartment; a thin, red stripe separated the blue areas from the yellow.
Because of a labor dispute with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, who insisted that every cab in a diesel-electric locomotive consist must be manned, FT sets #101-#105 were delivered in A-B-B-B sets, instead of the A-B-B-A sets used by the rest of the Santa Fe's FTs. The Santa Fe quickly prevailed in this labor dispute, and FT sets #106 on were delivered as A-B-B-A sets.
The words "
SANTA FE" were applied in yellow in a 5"–high extended font, and centered on the nose was the "
Santa Fe" box logo (initially consisting of a blue cross, circle, and square painted on a solid
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
sheet, but subsequently changed to baked steel sheets painted bronze with the blue identifying elements applied on top). Three thin, pale yellow stripes (known as
Cat Whiskers) extended from the nose logo around the cab sides. In January, 1951 Santa Fe revised the scheme to consist of three yellow stripes running up the nose, with the addition of a blue and yellow
Cigar Band (similar in size and shape to that applied to passenger units); the blue background and elongated yellow "
SANTA FE" lettering were retained.
The years 1960 to 1972 saw non-streamlined freight locomotives sporting the
Billboard color scheme (sometimes referred to as the
Bookends, or
Pinstripe scheme) wherein the units were predominantly dark blue with yellow ends and trim, with a single yellow accent pinstripe. The words "
Santa Fe" were applied in yellow in a large serif font (logotype) to the sides of the locomotive below the accent stripe (save for
yardA classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
switcherA switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has...
s which displayed the "
SANTA FE" in small yellow letters above the accent stripe, somewhat akin to the
Zebra Stripe arrangement).
From 1972 to 1996, and even on into the BNSF era, the company adopted a new paint scheme often known among railfans as the
Yellowbonnet which placed more yellow on the locomotives (reminiscent of the company's retired
Warbonnet scheme), the goal again to ensure higher visibility at grade crossings. The truck assemblies, previously colored black, now received silver paint.
In June, 1989 Santa Fe resurrected the
Warbonnet and applied the scheme in a modified fashion to two
EMD FP45The EMD FP45 is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not want its prestigious Super Chief and other passenger...
units, #5992 and #5998 (this time, displaying "
Santa Fe" in large, "billboard"-style red letters across the side). The units were re-designated as #101 and #102 and reentered service on July 4, 1989 as part of the new "Super Fleet" (the first Santa Fe units to be so decorated for freight service). The six remaining FP45 units were thereafter similarly repainted and renumbered. From that point forward, all new locomotives wore the red and silver, and many retained this scheme after the
Burlington Northern Santa FeThe BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
merger, some with "
BNSF" displayed across their sides.
For the initial deliveries of factory new "Super Fleet" equipment, the Santa Fe took delivery of the EMD GP60M, GP60B and
General Electric B40-8WThe Dash 8-40BW, or B40-8W as some call it, is a four-axle road diesel locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the early 1990s...
, which made the Santa Fe the only US
Class I railroadA Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
to operate new 4-axle (B-B) freight locomotives equipped with the North American Safety Cab. These units were intended for high-speed intermodal service, but towards the final days of the Santa Fe, could be found working local trains and branchline assignments.
Several experimental and commemorative paint schemes emerged during the Santa Fe's diesel era. One combination was developed and partially implemented in anticipation of a merger between the parent companies of the Santa Fe and
Southern PacificThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
(SP) railroads in 1984. The red, yellow, and black paint scheme (with large red block letters "SF" on the sides and ends of the units) of the proposed
Southern Pacific Santa Fe RailroadIn the 1980s, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Southern Pacific Transportation Company attempted a merger. It began with the merger of holding companies Santa Fe Industries and Southern Pacific Company on December 23, 1983 to form the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation , which...
(SPSF) has come to be somewhat derisively known among
railfanA railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
s as the
Kodachrome livery due to the similarity in colors to the boxes containing slide film sold by the Eastman Kodak Company under the same name (
KodachromeKodachrome is the trademarked brand name of a type of color reversal film that was manufactured by Eastman Kodak from 1935 to 2009. Kodachrome was the first successfully mass-marketed color still film using a subtractive method, in contrast to earlier additive "screenplate" methods such as...
film was one of the preferred brands in use by railfans). A common joke among railfans is that "SPSF" really stands for "
Shouldn't Paint So Fast." Though the merger application was subsequently denied by the
ICCThe Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland...
, locomotives bearing this color scheme can still be found occasionally in lease service.
Ferry service
The Santa Fe maintained and operated a fleet of three passenger
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
boats (the
San Pablo, the
San Pedro, and the
Ocean Wave) that connected Oakland with San Francisco by water. The ships traveled the eight miles between the San Francisco Ferry Terminal and the railroad's
Point RichmondRichmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
terminal across the Bay. The service was originally established as a continuation of the company's named passenger train runs such as the
Angel and the
Saint. The larger two ships (the
San Pablo and the
San Pedro) carried
Fred Harvey CompanyThe origin of the Fred Harvey Company can be traced to the 1875 opening of two railroad eating houses located at Wallace, Kansas and Hugo, Colorado on the Kansas Pacific Railway. These cafés were opened by Fred Harvey, then a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
dining facilities.
The rival
Southern Pacific RailroadThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
owned the world's largest
ferry fleetSan Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and...
(which was subsidized by other railroad activities), at its peak carrying 40 million passengers and 60 million vehicles annually aboard 43 vessels. Santa Fe discontinued ferry service in 1933 due to the effects of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
; the construction of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge initiated the slow decline in demand for SP's ferry service, which was eventually discontinued as well.
See also Ferries of San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and...
.
See also
- Beep (SWBLW)
The "Beep" is a one-of-a-kind switcher locomotive built in 1970 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at its Cleburne, Texas workshops...
- California and the railroads
The establishment of America's transcontinental rail lines securely linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed to the state’s social, political, and economic development...
- CF7
A CF7 is an EMD F-unit railroad locomotive that has had its streamlined carbody removed and replaced with a custom-made, "general purpose" body in order to adapt the unit for road switching duty. All of the conversions were performed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in their Cleburne,...
- Corwith Yards, Chicago
Corwith Yards, a railroad intermodal freight terminal located at Pershing Road & Kedzie Avenue in the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, in the neighborhood of Brighton Park, is a landmark in the history of railroad freight transport. At the time it was built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe...
- David L. Gunn
David L. Gunn is a transportation system administrator who has headed several important railroads and transit systems in North America....
- Santa Fe 2926
Santa Fe 2926 is a former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 4-8-4 steam locomotive originally built in 1944 by Baldwin. This locomotive was part of the last group of steam locomotives, and one of the largest 4-8-4 types that was ever built, purchased new by the Santa Fe...
- Santa Fe 3751
Santa Fe 3751 is a restored 4-8-4 steam locomotive that was originally owned and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It is located in the Central City East neighborhood of Los Angeles, California and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.- History :Built in 1927...
— A restored 4-8-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-4 locomotive has four leading wheels, eight coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. The term usually refers to its use on railways, but can also refer to a "road locomotive" such as a traction engine or steamroller....
- Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad
The Disneyland Railroad , originally the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a narrow gauge railroad at Disneyland, Anaheim, California, United States, that was inaugurated on the park's opening day, July 17, 1955. This live steam railway was constructed for $240,000; each of the original four...
- Hutchinson County Historical Museum
The Hutchinson County Historical Museum, also known as Boom Town Revisited, is a museum in Borger, Texas, with more than sixty exhibits spanning the period from the 16th century expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to the Texas Panhandle petroleum boom of the 1920s...
in BorgerBorger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...
, TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
- Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch
The Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch was a railroad refrigerator car line established as a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1884 to carry perishable commodities...
- SD26
The SD26 was an EMD SD24 diesel locomotive that was specially modified by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the mid-1970s. In an effort to spare the cost of purchasing new motive power, the Santa Fe elected to expand on the success of its CF7 and other capital conversion programs and...
- Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad
In the 1980s, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Southern Pacific Transportation Company attempted a merger. It began with the merger of holding companies Santa Fe Industries and Southern Pacific Company on December 23, 1983 to form the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation , which...
- Super C
The Super C was a premium, high-speed intermodal freight train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway from 1968 to 1976. Dubbed the "World's Fastest Freight Train," the all-TOFC and container train's route ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California on a 40-hour schedule.-...
- BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
- The merged company that replaced ATSF Railway.
External links