Chief (train)

Chief (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 a surcharge of USD $10.00 for an end-to-end trip. 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, five hours faster than the California Limited. (The same day, the Overland Limited began its extra-fare 63-hour schedule between Chicago and San Francisco.)

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.