Chief (passenger train)

The "Chief" was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Its route ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. The "Chief" was inaugurated as an all-Pullman limited train to supplement the road's "California Limited", with an extra surcharge of USD $10.00 for an end-to-end fare. The heavyweight began its inaugural run from both ends of the line, simultaneously, on November 14, 1926, making the cross-country trip in the advertised 63 hours, a speed that brought the East and West one business day closer.

The "Chief" became an instant success, gaining the slogan "Extra Fast-Extra Fine-Extra Fare" though it failed to relieve traffic on the "California Limited". The "Chief" quickly became famous as a "rolling boudoir" for film stars and Hollywood executives alike. In time, the "Chief" would reduce its schedule to equal that of its cousins, the "Super Chief" and "El Capitan," and would ultimately drop the extra fare requirement as well.

The "Chief" would have been the "crown jewel" of most railroads' passenger fleets. But it did not survive the national decline in passenger demand, and ended operations on May 15, 1968.

History

Timeline

* 1926: In order to supplement the "California Limited", Santa Fe inaugurates the all-Pullman, extra-fare limited heavyweight "Chief", running between Chicago and Los Angeles.
* November 14, 1926: The "Chief" makes its initial run from both ends of the line, simultaneously.
* 1937: The Santa Fe announces that the "Chief" will receive all streamlined (lightweight) cars to replace the original heavyweights, and will run on a 50¾-hour schedule.
* February 22, 1938: 10 new streamlined cars are placed into service.
* 1942: Consist size expands to 13 cars, and each logs 743 daily miles.
* 1945: The train receives a complete replacement of rolling stock, and the schedule is reduced to 45 hours.
* March 27, 1947: New sleeping car service is inaugurated to go directly to San Diego.
* December 14, 1953: The 45-hour schedule is reduced to 39 hours, 45 minutes eastbound and 39 hours, 30 minutes westbound.
* January 10 1954: The fare surcharge is dropped after the Union Pacific reintroduces its all-coach "Challenger" train.
* 1954: Coaches are added to the "Chief" and dining service is limited to a lunch-counter coffee shop car. Round-end observation cars are removed, leaving the train without such equipment since its inauguration. The cars are blunt-ended at Pullman's Richmond, California facility and returned to service in the new "San Francisco Chief's" consists as Pullman lounges.
* 1956: Santa Fe transfers transcontinental sleeping car service from the "Super Chief".
* September 5, 1956: A Santa Fe fireman from the stationary eastbound "Fast Mail Express" throws a switch right front of the speeding "Chief" near Springer, New Mexico, causing it to enter the siding occupied by the "Fast Mail Express" and collide head-on with the idling train. Both engine crews (save for the hapless "Fast Mail" fireman) are killed instantly; a total of 20 train crew and "Chief" dining car employees are killed in the collision. Thirty-five additional passengers and crew members are injured.
* May 15, 1968: The "Chief" ceases operations as a passenger train; Santa Fe will resurrect the name for its new fast "piggyback" freight train later that year.
* Summer 1972: Amtrak revives the "Chief" for a three month period, utilizing the original passenger service schedule and train Nos. 19 & 20.

Equipment used

A typical heavyweight "Chief" consist in Winter, 1937:

* 4-6-4 "Hudson"-type Steam Locomotive #3451
* Express Mail #2041
* Railway Post Office #63
* Baggage-Club-Lounge #1304 "Chief Manakaja"
* Lounge "General Carr" (10 sections, likely utilized as crew Dormitory space)
* Fred Harvey Company Diner #1472
* Sleeper "Glen Ewen" (6 compartments, 3 drawing rooms)
* Sleeper "Laurel Wood" (8 sections, 2 compartments, 1 drawing room)
* Sleeper-Observation-Lounge "Crystal Bay" (3 compartments, 2 drawing rooms)

A typical "mixed" "Chief" consist as of January 31, 1938 (the "Chief" regularly included heavyweight head-end cars in its consist, even into the late 1940s):

* 4-6-4 "Hudson"-type Steam Locomotive #3460 (also known as the "Blue Goose")
* Railway Post Office #79 (heavyweight)
* Baggage #1894 (heavyweight)
* Baggage-Buffet-Lounge #1380 "San Miguel" (also included a barber shop)
* Sleeper "Otowi" (17 roomettes)
* Sleeper "Ganado" (14 sections)
* Sleeper "Toreva" (8 sections, 2 compartments, 2 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Mankoweap" (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 Dbl. Bdrm.)
* Dormitory-Club-Lounge #1373 "Tesuque"
* Fred Harvey Company Diner #1477
* Sleeper "Mohave" (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Sinyala" (8 sections, 2 compartments, 2 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper-Observation-Lounge "Betahtakin" (4 drawing rooms, 1 double bedroom)

"Transcontinental Sleeping Car Service" was inaugurated in Spring 1946, and the "Chief" began regularly carrying three such cars in its consist: two originating in New York City, and the other in Washington, DC (most often these were smooth-sided cars painted two-tone Pullman grey). By the following summer, the "Chief" had retired all of its steam-driven motive power and was usually pulled behind A-B-B-A sets of EMD FT locomotives or A-B-A sets of the new ALCO PAs).

The following is a typical all-lightweight "Chief" consist as of late 1947:

* ALCO PA Locomotive #53L
* ALCO PB Locomotive #53A
* ALCO PA Locomotive #53B
* Baggage #3452
* Railway Post Office #88
* Baggage #3438
* Baggage-Buffet-Lounge #1381 "San Marcial" (also included a barber shop)
* Sleeper "Maito" (17 roomettes)
* Sleeper "Verde Valley" (6 sections, 6 roomettes, 4 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Imperial Park" (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Tapacipa" (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms)
* Dormitory-Club-Lounge #1372 "Picuris"
* Fred Harvey Company Diner #1497
* Sleeper "Kayenta" (4 compartments, 2 drawing rooms, 4 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Sinyala" (8 sections, 2 compartments, 2 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Tolani" (8 sections, 2 compartments, 2 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper-Observation-Lounge "Biltabito" (4 drawing rooms, 1 double bedroom)

A typical "Chief" consist in the mid-1950s (note the absence of an observation car, which was eliminated as per Santa Fe policy):

* EMD F7A Locomotive #46C
* EMD F7B Locomotive #46B
* EMD F3B Locomotive #19B
* EMD F7B Locomotive #301A
* EMD F7A Locomotive #301L
* Baggage #3657
* Baggage #3442
* Baggage-Dormitory #1381
* "Chair" car / Coach (44 "leg-rest" seats) #2938
* "Chair" car / Coach (44 "leg-rest" seats) #2883
* "Chair" car / Coach (44 "leg-rest" seats) #2909
* Lunch Counter-Diner #1568
* "Chair" car / Coach (44 "leg-rest" seats) #2848
* "Chair" car / Coach (44 "leg-rest" seats) #2831
* "Big Dome"-Lounge #509
* Fred Harvey Company Diner #1491
* Sleeper "Blue Island" (10 roomettes, 2 compartments, 3 double bedrooms)*
* Sleeper "Pine Dale" (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Palm Star" (10 roomettes, 6 double bedrooms)
* Sleeper "Citrus Valley" (6 sections, 6 roomettes, 4 double bedrooms) (ran from Chicago, Illinois — Denver, Colorado; switched out at La Junta, Colorado).
* Sleeper "Estancia Valley" (6 sections, 6 roomettes, 4 double bedrooms) (ran from Denver, Colorado — Los Angeles, California; switched in at La Junta, Colorado).

:*NOTE: The nineteen "10-2-3" sleepers in the "Blue" series had a floorplan configuration unique to the Santa Fe.

References

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ee also

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

External links

* [http://www.csrmf.org/ California State Railway Museum]
* [http://www.atsfrr.com/ Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society]