The Chief, The Train That Started It All For The Santa Fe

The Chief was the train that started it all for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (commonly known as the Santa Fe). The Santa Fe would be renowned for its vaunted streamlined passenger fleet but the Chief, inaugurated in the mid-1920s began a legend that lives on to this day. While the Chief was never adorned as luxuriously as the fabled Super Chief or operated on such a super fast schedule it nevertheless remained a popular train within the Santa Fe’s fleet. In an event, while the Chief ushered in the Santa Fe’s Chicago – Los Angeles passenger services it was the first to be discontinued by the railroad, making its last run in 1968, three years before the rest of its sister trains and the startup of Amtrak.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, distinctively known as the Santa Fe, likely is not only this country’s but also the world’s most recognized and famous railroad. It has had its own movie, song, and numerous model trains and other purchasable gifts created in its honor. The railroad’s renowned Warbonnet livery has been made in several variations ranging from the more popular silver and red with yellow trim to the blue and yellow. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, albeit no longer an operating company, is truly a railroad whose name is as common as that of Coca Cola or General Electric.

What led the Santa Fe to becoming an industrial icon was the introduction of the Chief passenger train in late 1926, and then the Super Chief ten years later. In the late 1930s its legendary Warbonnet paint scheme was born, applied to the new streamlined Super Chief led by Electro-Motive’s new EA streamlined passenger diesels (the new motive power was something the Santa Fe was very quick to embrace), and it was an instant hit.

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway over the years had become a class act in transportation service, and this was no different with its Super Chief passenger trains which regularly cruised at speeds reaching 90 mph between Chicago and LA covering the distance in around 40 hours (because of its excellent service its no wonder the railroad had many well known figures using its trains, all the way until the Amtrak takeover in 1971). The Super Chief would also have a number of other similar trains like it (such as the Texas Chief and San Francisco Chief) including its sister train the El Capitan.

The Chief has its beginnings dating back to November of 1926 when the Santa Fe inaugurated a heavyweight, all-Pullman passenger train to complement the railroad’s, then flagship of the L.A. – Chicago market, the California Limited. The train remained virtually unchanged for a decade until the last day of January 1938 when it was reequipped with streamlined, lightweight equipment from the Budd Company and Pullman-Standard (although, interestingly, it was still powered by a streamlined 4-6-4 Hudson-Type steam locomotive and not one of the new EMC EA diesels like the Super Chief was equipped with).

The newly reequipped Chief featured sleepers (of course), a buffet-lounge complete with a barbershop, club-lounge, diner, and sleeper-lounge observation although the train was considerably slower than its big sister, the Super Chief, operating on a 50+ hour schedule (due to the additional stations the train served). While the train was not nearly as posh as the Super with its fabled Turquoise Room and rare, exotic woods, the Chief did receive the Santa Fe’s beautiful Warbonnet livery of red, yellow, and black.

General Motors’ artist Leland Knickerbocker designed the paint scheme, which featured gleaming stainless steel with the front half of the locomotive painted in red crimson, wrapping around the cab and trailing off along the bottom of the carbody with a Native American-inspired design (a design that would go on to distinguish the Santa Fe) used on the front of the nose with “Santa Fe” flanking the center. For trim golden yellow and black was used. As Knickerbocker put it the design was meant to convey an Indian head with trailing feathers of a warbonnet (thus where the livery derived its now-famous name).

Surprisingly the Chief did not receive diesels until two years after World War II when it was finally equipped with the American Locomotive Company’s (Alco) beautiful PAs (and matching cabless PBs). Later, in the 1950s the train received even further upgrades with its motive power (partly due to the PA’s unreliability) when it took delivery of several EMD F7As and Bs.

The Chief remained a top-notch operation by the Santa Fe until the 1960s when due to significant losses in passenger traffic the railroad (along with the rest of the industry) was forced to begin seriously cutting back its passenger operations. With two trains already serving Chicago and Los Angeles the Santa Fe opted to cut the Chief which was discontinued in May of 1968, three years prior to the startup of Amtrak on May 1, 1971.

For more reading on the Santa Fe you might want to consider Santa Fe Railway from Steve Glischinski. Of course, being that the Santa Fe is our country's most legendary railroad hundreds of publications (many quite good) have been written about it over the years detailing various subjects. However, this book will at least give you a general overview and history of the Santa Fe (filled with many, excellent, historical and colorful photographs) at which point you can decide if you are interested in further books of study on the railroad. Even if you are a historian of the ATSF and have not seen this book I'm sure you will enjoy it!

And, for more reading on the Santa Fe's famous Chief please consider purchasing a copy of Santa Fe Chiefs from author Bill Yenne. The book not only covers the famous flagship but also a number of other Chiefs operated by the Santa Fe. For anyone interested in the Santa Fe and/or its passenger operations you will very likely enjoy this book, which is also filled with photographs.