Starting in 1916, The Ranger was Santa Fe’s train between Chicago and Galveston, Texas, the same route as the streamlined Texas Chief. In the busy years during and right after the war, The Ranger might include three or four coaches and five or six sleepers. But after the Texas Chief began operating in 1948, The Ranger was relegated to a secondary role with just two coaches, two sleepers, and a lot of head-end baggage, mail, and express cars.
Click image to download a PDF of this letterhead. Click here to download a PDF of the matching envelope.
For most of the 1950s, The Ranger only went from Kansas City to Galveston, and after 1957 from Kansas City to Houston. The train was terminated in 1960, so this stationery must be from that year or earlier. Never streamlined, the photo below shows the train sometime before the Texas Chief replaced it as the premiere train on that route.
Taken in Ardmore, Oklahoma, probably before the war, this photo appears to show two baggage cars, three coaches, a diner, and four sleepers. Click image for a larger view. Photo from Kansas Historical Foundation.