Like the Great Northern’s placemat, this Santa Fe placemat shows a map of the railroad, in this case surrounded by hints of sights seen along the way. But this placemat is much simpler, being printed only in one color. What … Continue reading
Category Archives: Santa Fe
Here’s an 8″x9″ brochure that unfolds into a 16″x18″ sheet advertising Santa Fe’s San Francisco Chief. One side of the brochure describes the train, focusing on the Big Dome, while the other side describes San Francisco and Yosemite Park, suggesting … Continue reading
A total of 237 dome cars were built during the Silver Age, with Budd making 159 or almost exactly two-thirds. (See table below for a complete list.) Most of these cars still exist–complete lists, histories, and dispositions of the dome … Continue reading
Click image to download a PDF of this luggage tag. Passengers checking baggage on the hi-level El Capitan were given colorful baggage tags advertising the train. However, unless you had a lot of luggage, it wasn’t necessary to check it … Continue reading
On July 8, 1956, the Budd Company and the Santa Fe Railway wowed the railroad world by introducing a whole new kind of train: the Hi-Level El Capitan. Just 27 months after adding Big Domes to the El Capitan, the … Continue reading
In an effort to compete with the California Zephyr and City of San Francisco, in July, 1954, the Santa Fe inaugurated its San Francisco Chief. In addition to coaches, sleepers, and a diner, each of the six trains included a … Continue reading
When Burlington inaugurated its vista-domed Kansas City and American Royal Zephyrs on the Chicago-Kansas City route, the Santa Fe responded by ordering full-length domes for several trains serving the same route. Although Pullman, which manufactured the Milwaukee Super Domes, proposed … Continue reading
Click image to download a PDF of this letterhead. Super Chief passengers could write letters on this beautiful stationery featuring “Turquoise Woman.” They could mail the letters in envelopes marked “Super Chief.” Click image to download a PDF of this … Continue reading
In addition to ads featuring the interior of the train, the Santa Fe ran a long series of brown- or turquoise-colored ads featuring Southwest Indian art. One reason may have been that two-color printing cost less than four-colors, but another … Continue reading
The Santa Fe ran two distinctly different series of ads for the Super Chief and its other trains. One series featured four-color illustrations of scenes on board the train–mostly of some part of the Pleasure Dome. The other series, which … Continue reading