Santa Fe Railroad / Super Chief

The Santa Fe Super Chief was the famous first class Pullman train for the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. The Super Chief transported passengers between Chicago Illinois and Los Angeles California in the most luxurious style of any railroad during it's time and was considered the flagship train for the AT & SF. The Super Chief was designed as a competitor to the streamlined "City of Los Angeles" named train operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.

The route of the Santa Fe Railroad Super Chief was essentially what today's route is for Amtrak's Southwest Chief. When the Super Chief began service in 1937 the schedule called for one run each week. When the Super Chief's popularity grew to it's highest, the train was scheduled once daily in each direction.

Super Chief in Albuquerque, NM

The trip duration between Chicago and Los Angeles was 39 hours and 45 minutes, a great speed during the mid 1900's. This was the train often frequented by the wealthy and famous. The train became known as "The Train of the Stars" because it was used often by big name Hollywood celebrities. Many western movies were filmed during the 1940's and 1950's around Gallup New Mexico. The famous El Rancho Hotel, still in operation in Gallup, was the hotel of choice for the actors and actresses. The Super Chief train ran through Gallup on it's Chicago to Los Angeles round trip.

The same route featured the AT & SF "El Capitan". This named train was a non-Pullman sleeper train whereas the first class Super Chief featured the Pullman sleepers. The El Capitan was an all coach train. During the era of these new streamlined diesel trains running through the southwest, the train ride itself was a culture adventure. In fact, the El Capitan was so named to honor the Spanish Conquistadors who had originally settled much of the southwest and California. You can see the cultural influence the AT & SF had on the southwest and that which the southwest had on the Santa Fe Railroad Super Chief when you have the opportunity to view some of the artwork featuring this train with the scenic southwest backgrounds. In the year 1958, the Super Chief and the El Capitan were combined as one train and this configuration stayed in place until the end of AT & SF's passenger service in 1971.

No doubt, the Super Chief had a strong marketing arm behind it. A very interesting book, All Aboard for Santa Fe; Railway Promotion of the Southwest , 1890's to 1930's, by author Victoria E. Dye,describes quite a lot about the marketing efforts of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad all the way back to the early years with Fred Harvey. Dye explains how the railroad gained passengers by promoting the unique culture of the southwest region with artwork and photographs in popular magazines and journals of the era.

The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad may have been the best railroad as far as promotion went. Very early on, the railroad teamed up with Fred Harvey who would go on to establish the Fred Harvey Company with a large string of eateries and hotels along the AT & SF route. Harvey went on and managed the dining cars for the AT & SF when this service was introduced in 1892 with the railroad's "California Limited". When the Super Chief began service in 1937, the Fred Harvey Company managed the dining cars from the first day.

Super Chief lounge car interior

Typically, the Super Chief had one dining car with a lounge car attached to handle passengers waiting for their dining reservation. To give you another idea of just how first class the Super Chief was, the famous Turquoise Room dome-lounge car was placed immediately in front of the dining car. These three cars, the lounge car mentioned above, the diner and the Turquoise Room dome-lounge car, allowed the Super Chief to truly offer it's passengers “a new world standard in travel.”

For those wishing to see an authentic AT & SF Super Chief dining car, the California State Railroad Museum located in Old Town Sacramento, has one on display where you can also take a walk through it's interior. If  your western trip happens to take you anywhere near Sacramento California, this is a great stop to make. All of the AT & SF Super Chief dining cars were named after Indian tribes or pueblos. The dining car on exhibit in Sacramento is named the "Cochiti" for the Native American pueblo just south of Santa Fe New Mexico. The California State Railroad Museum also displays a restored Super Chief diesel engine.

AT & SF Cochiti dining car

The AT & SF Super Chief, when originally started up prior to World War Two, was set up with no passengers allowed to embark or disembark between Kansas City and Barstow California. This of course helped with the fast schedule the train was known for. During the war the rules did allow for passengers to get on and off at La Junta Colorado and Albuquerque New Mexico. When the war ended, the Super Chief allowed passengers to embark and disembark at all points along the route.

Three additional related articles you will find interesting are Fred Harvey and the AT & SF Civilize the Southwest. The Historic La Posada Harvey House in Winslow Arizona and the old Harvey House dining room in Slaton Texas, now a B & B.

Today, the history minded tourist can learn a lot more about the famous Super Chief at the Galveston Railroad Museum in Galveston Texas which is set to open in November 2012. There will be a restored Super Chief engine on display there as well as other AT & SF rail cars.

(Albuquerque and lounge car interior photos from the public domain. Cochiti dining car photo from author's collection)