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Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

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Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
File:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Herald.jpg
Overview
HeadquartersChicago, Illinois
Reporting markATSF
LocaleArizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas
Dates of operation1859–1995

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the largest 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 Mexico, its main line never reached there as the terrain made it too difficult to lay the necessary tracks (Santa Fe was ultimately served by a branch line from Lamy, New Mexico). The Santa Fe's first tracks reached the Kansas/Colorado state line in 1873, and connected to Pueblo, Colorado in 1876. In order to help fuel the railroad's profitability, the Santa Fe set up real estate offices and sold farm land from the land grants that the railroad was awarded by Congress; these new farms would create a demand for transportation (both freight and passenger service) that was, quite conveniently, offered by the Santa Fe.

History

Startup and initial growth

Cyrus K. Holliday, the first president of the railroad.

The railroad's charter, written single-handedly by Cyrus K. Holliday 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, Kansas, to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and then on to the Gulf of Mexico. 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 Railroad) with special trains between Topeka and Pauline. 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 City on September 5 1872. With this connection, the Santa Fe was able to compete for cattle transportation with the Kansas Pacific Railway. Construction continued, and the Santa Fe opened the last section of track between Topeka and the Colorado/Kansas border on December 23 1873. The Santa Fe's tracks reached Pueblo, Colorado on March 1 1876. Serving Pueblo opened a number of new freight opportunities for the railroad as it now could haul coal from Colorado eastward.

An ATSF passenger train in operation circa 1895.

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 estate offices in the area and vigorously promoted settlement across Kansas on the land that was granted to the railroad by Congress 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 for the railroad to tackle the difficult terrain of the Rocky Mountains.

Crossing the Rockies, competition with the Rio Grande

Construction over the Rocky Mountains was slow, difficult and went as far as armed conflict with competitors such as the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in Colorado and New Mexico, and after capturing Raton Pass, the Southern Pacific Railroad in Arizona and California.

The troubles for the railroad were more than just skirmishes with competitors. In the late 1880s, George C. Magoun, 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 $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. Reinhart, John J. McCook and Joseph C. Wilson appointed as receivers.

A comparison map prepared by the Santa Fe Railroad in 1922 showing the Santa Fe Trail (top) and the Santa Fe Railroad (bottom).


Expansion through mergers

File:Santa Fe - Along Your Way cover, 1945.jpg
Santa Fe No. 2A, an EMD E1 is shown pulling the Super Chief on the cover of the railroad's 1945 promotional publication "Along Your Way."

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 $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.


The failed SPSF merger

Merger into BNSF

Company officers

Presidents of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway:

William Barstow Strong, president 1881-1889.

Passenger train service

File:Santa Fe passenger timetable cover, Nov 29 1942.jpg
The cover of the railroad's November 29 1942 passenger timetable. Vignettes of the American Southwest and Native American people were common in Santa Fe advertising.

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 Domes" of the Super Chief (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 Pacific Railroads. Dining along the Santa Fe was often a memorable experience, whether it be on-board in a dining car, or at one of the many Harvey House 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 Station. Trains terminating in Los Angeles arrived at Santa Fe's La Grande Station until May, 1939 when the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) was opened.

To reach smaller communities, the railroad often operated Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) for communities on the railroad, and bus connections were provided throughout the system via Santa Fe Trailways buses to other locations. These smaller trains generally were not named, only the train numbers were used to differentiate services.

Regular revenue trains

File:AT&SF Super Chief drumhead logo.png
The Santa Fe often adorned the ends of its observation cars with "drumhead" logos bearing the names of its trains. In terminals such as Dearborn Station, bumper posts carried the logos as well, a practice that continued long after the railroad removed observations from its roster.

The Santa Fe operated the following named trains on regular schedules:

File:Z-5284.jpg
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his "sidekick" Mortimer Snerd pose in the cab of Santa Fe #51L, an ALCO PA unit, to mark its delivery to the railroad in 1946.
A map depicting the "Grand Canyon Route" of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway circa 1901.
File:Interior Galley Santa Fe 1474 Cochiti.jpg
The galley aboard former (now restored) Santa Fe dining car #1474, the Cochiti, which saw many years of service as a part of the Super Chief.


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:

Paint schemes & markings

Steam locomotives

File:ATSF 3751 at San Bernadino 1-10-99a from TrainWeb com.jpg
Santa Fe #3751, a restored 4-8-4 originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1927, passes through San Bernardino in January, 1999.


Diesel locomotives, passenger

File:ATSF 1.jpg
AT&SF diesel-electric units Nos. 1 and 1A stop in Los Angeles, California wearing their modified Golden Olive paint scheme in May, 1936.
File:ATSF Chief 1926.jpg
The 1926 Chief "drumhead" logo.

Santa Fe's first set of diesel-electric passenger locomotives was placed in service on the Super Chief in 1936, and consisted of a pair of blunt-nosed units (EMD 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" logo, which owed its origin to the 1926 Chief "drumhead" 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 [1] [2]. 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 EMD 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." Reminiscent of a Native American ceremonial headdress, the scheme consisted of a red "bonnet" which wrapped around the front of the unit, that 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 comprised of stainless steel panels.

All units wore a nose emblem consisting of an elongated yellow "Circle & 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 Deco-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 & 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 [3] [4], with a few notable exceptions.

Railway identity on diesel locomotives in passenger service:

Locomotive Type "Indian Head" "Circle & Cross" "Santa Fe" Logotype Starting Year Comments
ATSF 1 and 1A Yes Yes* Yes No 1937 "Circle & Cross" added to No. 1 after rebuild in May, 1938
EMD E1, E3, and E6 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 FT Yes* No Yes No 1941 "Indian Head" added to B units at a later date
ALCO PA and PB Yes* No Yes No 1946 "Indian Head" added to B units at a later date
EMD F3 Yes* No Yes No 1946 "Indian Head" on B units only
FM Erie-built Yes* No Yes* No 1947 "Indian Head" and "SANTA FE" on A units only
EMD F7 Yes* No Yes* No 1949 "Indian Head" on B units only; "SANTA FE" added in 1954
EMD E8 Yes* No Yes No 1952 "Indian Head" on B units only
GE U28CG No No No Yes 1967 "Santa Fe" logotype in large, red "billboard"-style letters
GE U30CG No No Yes* No 1967 5"-high non-extended "SANTA FE" letters
EMD FP45 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 & Modeling Society, Inc., Highlands Ranch, CO. pp. 47–50.

In later years, Santa Fe adapted the scheme to its gas-electric "doodlebug" units [5]. 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

File:ATSF RS-2 2098 PSRM.jpg
A museum restoration of AT&SF Alco model RS-2 #2099 bears the #2098 in the Zebra Stripe paint scheme.

Diesel locomotives used in freight service (with the exception of streamlined units) between 1934 and 1960 were painted black, with a thin white or silver accent stripe and diagonal white or silver stripes painted on the ends and cab sides to increase the visibility at grade crossings (typically referred to as the Zebra Stripe scheme). The letters "A.T.& S.F." were applied in a small font to the sides of the unit just above the accent stripe, with the standard blue and white "SANTA FE" logo below.

The years 1960 to 1972 saw non-streamlined freight locomotives sporting the Billboard color scheme wherein the units were predominately 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 yard switchers 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 FP45 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 Fe merger, some with "BNSF" displayed across their sides.

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 Pacific (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 Railroad (SPSF) has come to be somewhat derisively known among railfans 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 (Kodachrome 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 ICC, locomotives bearing this color scheme can still be found occasionally in lease service.

File:ATSF2932.jpg
Santa Fe #2932, an EMD model GP35, carries the experimental Kodachrome paint scheme.
File:AT&SF5703BillWeibel.jpg
Santa Fe #5703, one of five EMD model SD45-2s specially decorated in red, white, and blue to commemorate America's Bicentennial, leads the Super C high-speed intermodal train.


References

  • Baker Library Historical Collections, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Records, 1879-1896. Retrieved May 10 2005.
  • . ISBN 0-517-63350-7. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
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  • The Cosmopolitan (February 1893), The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe. Retrieved May 10 2005.
  • . ISBN 87046-088-99. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
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  • Gibson, Elizabeth (July 16 2002), The Old West - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (Part 1). Retrieved May 13 2005.
  • Gibson, Elizabeth (July 23 2002), The Old West - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (Part 2). Retrieved May 10 2005.
  • . ISBN 0-7603-0380-0. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
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  • Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University (2004), Alumni Profiles: W. John Swartz. Retrieved May 11 2005.
  • Santa Fe Railroad (1945), Along Your Way, Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Santa Fe Railroad (November 29 1942), Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway System Time Tables, Rand McNally and Company, Chicago, Illinois.
  • . ISBN 0-88418-000-X. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
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See also
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