On November 14, 1926, after eight winters of not running the de Luxe, Santa Fe inaugurated the Chief. Significantly, the railway didn’t include the word “limited” in the name, hinting that this train, like the de Luxe, was even better … Continue reading
If the PDF of this booklet looks repetitious, it is because most of the 6-1/4-inch-wide pages of color photos are interspersed with 2-1/2″-wide pages of text. Even more confusing is that most of the photos are oriented at 90 degrees … Continue reading
We’ve previously seen a 1968 version of this brochure. Here are two earlier versions. Click image to download a 2.9-MB PDF of this brochure. Above is the Spring, 1963 edition while below is the Spring, 1966 version of the brochure. … Continue reading
In 1968, when this brochure was published, Santa Fe operated the Chief as a sort of counterpoint to the Super Chief: where the latter left Chicago and Los Angeles in the evenings, the Chief left in the mornings. The Chief … Continue reading
In 1926, the Chief replaced the California Limited as Santa Fe’s premiere train, with a faster schedule, extra fare, and, of course, an all-Pullman consist. The Indian images used to promote the train later inspired the warbonnet paint scheme used … Continue reading
In lieu of canceling train service (which generally required either federal or state approval), various ways that railroads attempted to save money in the face of declining ridership included: 1. Simplifying exterior paint schemes; 2. Simplifying dining car menus; 3. … Continue reading
Hernando Gonzallo Villa was another in the stable of artists nurtured by the Santa Fe Railway in the first half of the twentieth century. Born in 1881 in Los Angeles to parents who had moved there when California was still … Continue reading
