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 1954 to 1971. Its route traversed the entire Santa Fe line from San Francisco, California south to Los Angeles, then east to Chicago, Illinois. The San Francisco Chief was one of the very last new streamliners introduced to the traveling public in the post World War II era. The train was reequipped with Budd Hilevel cars in 1964.

Despite its name, the San Francisco Chief never actually terminated in San Francisco. Instead, it ran to Santa Fe's Oakland Station (actually located in Emeryville), and after about 1960, Richmond. In the years when it ran to the Oakland depot, passengers could continue on to San Francisco by transferring to a Key System train which would take them to a San Francisco-bound ferry. After the Bay Bridge was completed, the journey could be made by Key System train on the lower deck of the bridge, or by bus. By the time service had been cut back to the Richmond depot, the San Francisco connection was by way of Santa Fe's own buses.

A 1954 consist:fact|date=July 2008|source of consist?
*EMD F-7 A-B-B-A Unit
# Baggage #3409
# Coach #2816
# Coach #2817
# Coach #2818
# Lunch counter diner #1569
# Big Dome Bar lounge dormitory #550
# Fred Harvey diner #1479
# 24-duplex roomette sleeper "Indian"-series
# 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper "Blue Bay"
# 10-roomette, 6-double bedroom sleeper "Pine Bluff"
# 4-double bedroom, 4-compartment, 2-drawing room sleeper "Regal"-series

ee also

* Passenger train service on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

External links

* [http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/001/138fddcg.asp Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak]
* [http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Internet/Consists/01SFChief.htm "San Francisco Chief"] information from the Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society.
* [http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/sfp.html Several photos of the "San Francisco Chief"]