Super Chief - History

History

  • August 1935: General Motors Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) delivers two blunt-nosed diesel-electric units Nos. 1 and 1A, which would ultimately power the Super Chief.
  • September 9, 1935: Nos. 1 and 1A make their first test run with eight heavyweight passenger cars and a dynamometer car.
  • May 12, 1936: The Santa Fe inaugurates the all-diesel powered Super Chief-1 amid much fanfare. Eleanor Powell, Hollywood's legendary dancer, christens it "The Train of the Stars."
  • May 10, 1937: The last of four "preview" runs of the Super Chief-2, with an improved 3,600 hp (2.7 MW), two-unit, streamlined diesel locomotive set built by EMC, concludes as the train pulls into Union Station in Los Angeles. All heavyweight cars used on the Super Chief are replaced with lightweight stainless steel cars. The public is invited to tour the new train at Santa Fe's La Grande Station on May 11 and 12.
  • May 15, 1937: The Super Chief-2 departs Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. PST. The train completes its maiden run in just 36 hours and 49 minutes (2 hours and 56 minutes ahead of schedule), setting a new Santa Fe speed record in the process, one that would never be broken. Both of the new E1 units suffered mechanical damage during the trip east and were taken out of service for repairs.
  • May 18, 1937: The Super Chief-2 commences its first regular run, led by Unit 1A and EMC demonstrator Unit 512 (a.k.a. AT&SF Unit 1C), as it departs Chicago's Dearborn Station. The passenger list includes ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his "sidekick" Charlie McCarthy.
  • January 1938: E1 Units 3 and 3A are added to the Santa Fe roster and placed into service on the Super Chief-2.
  • February 26, 1938: A "borrowed" six-car Chief consist begins operating as the Super Chief-2½ due to production delays in order to provide twice-weekly service on the line.
  • July 2, 1938: A second, all-lightweight trainset built by Pullman-Standard enters service as the Super Chief-3 and officially replaces the Super Chief-2½. Until 1946 each trainset makes a weekly round trip between Chicago and Los Angeles, averaging 636 miles per day.
  • 1941: The Santa Fe takes delivery of its only 2,000 hp (1.5 MW) ALCO DL-107/108 model locomotives, units 50 and 50A.
  • July 7, 1942: The Super Chief goes on a wartime schedule of 41 hours, 45 minutes. Consist expands to 12 cars.
  • June 2, 1946: The line reverts to its prewar schedule of 39 hours and 45 minutes.
  • September 29, 1946: The Super Chief begins an every-other-day departure schedule from Chicago and Los Angeles, leaving each terminal on even days of the month.
  • January 25, 1948: Locomotive #19L, leading the Super Chief, loses braking ability at Los Angeles' Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT). The train crashes through a steel bumper post and then a concrete wall at the end of the dead-end track and comes to rest with the front half of the locomotive 20 feet above Aliso Street. No injuries, but the engineer loses his job over the incident.
  • February 29, 1948: The AT&SF receives the first post-War equipment order from Pullman-Standard and places these into service on the Super Chief. The railroad now has five Super Chief trainsets, enough to operate daily.
  • December 29, 1949: Train No. 17, led by locomotive set #37L/A/B/C, collides with a tanker truck in Azusa, California. All four locomotives, baggage car #3409, and railway post office #88 are damaged by fire.
  • 1950–1951: The Super Chief is reequipped with new streamlined sleeping cars built by the Budd Company and the American Car and Foundry Company (ACF), and dining cars from Pullman-Standard. Santa Fe also adds the Pullman-built "Pleasure Dome"-Lounge car (one of the most luxurious ever made for any train) to its Super Chief consists, billing it as the "...only dome car between Chicago and Los Angeles." A speedometer in the front of the car showed the train's velocity.
  • June 1952: The Super Chief is featured in the Warner Bros. film Three for Bedroom "C" starring Gloria Swanson.
  • 1954: The General Tire and Rubber Company uses the Super Chief as the centerpiece of a print advertisement for its new "Nygen Cord" tire, in which the train is towed by an AT&SF switcher using one of the tires as a connecting link.
  • January 10, 1954: The $15.00 extra-fare charge is reduced to $7.50; the barbershop and shower-bath are discontinued. The Super Chief started carrying the coast-to-coast Pullmans (which ran through to New York on the Broadway Limited or the 20th Century Limited); the transcon sleepers had formerly been carried by the Chief.
  • 1956: Round-end observation cars are removed from the Super Chief, converted to blunt-ended cars at Pullman's Calumet, Illinois shops, and returned to train Nos. 17 and 18. In early 1958 they are permanently removed.
  • January 12, 1958: The Super Chief and El Capitan are combined into one train during the off-peak travel season on a 39½-hour schedule.
  • 1958: All five Super Chief trainsets are refurbished and redecorated.
  • August 21, 1964: A rail from a passing train "spears" coach #2804 in Kingman, Arizona.
  • January 6, 1969: Locomotives #46L, #39C, #310B, #45B, and #44A derail due to unknown causes in Holcomb, Kansas. Cars #2924, #2866, #1563, #539, #713, #714, #650, #578, #712, #716, #707, and #526 leave the tracks as well.
  • May 1, 1971: Amtrak is formed and takes over operation of the nation's passenger service, thus ending 35 years of the Santa Fe Super Chief. Amtrak retains the use of the Super Chief / El Cap names, with the Santa Fe's concurrence.
  • 1973: Amtrak drops the El Capitan designation.
  • March 7, 1974: The Santa Fe directs Amtrak to discontinue use of the names Super Chief (which then becomes the Southwest Limited) and Texas Chief (which is renamed the Lone Star) due to a perceived reduction in the quality of service.
  • November 30, 1980: Amtrak's Superliners replace the "Pleasure Dome" and "Hi-Level" cars on the Southwest Limited.
  • October 28, 1984: Due to improvements in service, the Santa Fe allows Amtrak to change the name of the Southwest Limited to the Southwest Chief.
  • August 26, 1999: The United States Postal Service issues 33-cent All Aboard! 20th Century American Trains commemorative stamps featuring five celebrated American passenger trains from the 1930s and 1940s. One of the five stamps features an image of EMC E1 Unit No. 6 painted in the Super Chief's "warbonnet" livery.

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