| Page 37

A Glorious Sight at Any Season

Posted on November 28, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

The underlying theme of this brochure is that the south rim of the Grand Canyon that was served by the Santa Fe was open year round. Unmentioned except by implication is that the north rim that was served by Union Pacific was only open in the summers.

Click image to download a 4.0-MB PDF of this brochure.

This 8-1/2″x11″ brochure, which unfolds to 25-1/2″x11″, describes all of the activities that could be enjoyed at the south rim (some of which, presumably, took place only in the summer). These included mule rides into the canyon, watching Indian dances, motor coach trips along the canyon rim, and of course eating and staying at Fred Harvey hotels, lodges, and camps. Continue reading →

Fred Harvey’s Indian Building

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 28, 2023

In addition to operating dining cars, restaurants, and hotels, Fred Harvey sold lots of gifts, particularly Indian-themed goods in Arizona and New Mexico. Here are some postcards featuring the company’s wares on display at the Indian Building in the Albuquerque station-Alvarado Hotel complex. Most of these postcards appear to be from the immediate post-war era so I’m roughly dating them to 1950.

Click image to download a 244-KB PDF of this postcard.

The postcard calls this the Spanish Room. Some of the blankets on display may have been made by Southwest Indians, but others appear to be foreign-made, particularly the one with the dancers hanging on the wall. Apparently, the name Spanish Room was intended to convey that many of these items were made in Mexico. Continue reading →

Fred Harvey Hotel & Restaurant Postcards

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

At various times in its history, Fred Harvey owned or managed dozens of hotels and restaurants, many of which were a part of or immediately adjacent to Santa Fe train stations. It probably issued postcards advertising all of them, but here are just a few. As with yesterday’s cards, these are generally presented from east to west.

Click image to download a 192-KB PDF of this postcard.

The first postcard shows artist James Edgar Miller (1899-1993) painting murals in the Fred Harvey restaurant at Dearborn Station, the station Santa Fe used in Chicago. Born in Idaho Falls, Miller studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. Once described as “the most versatile artist in America,” he was comfortable with sculpting, painting, carving linoleum, stained glass, and of course murals. He did this restaurant in 1950 so the postcard must date from around that year. Continue reading →

A Trip on the Santa Fe via Postcard

Posted on November 25, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Fred Harvey issued lots of postcards showing Santa Fe trains crossing the country. We’ve seen many in the past; here are a few more presented in approximately east-to-west order. All of these are Phostint cards printed for Fred Harvey by the Detroit Publishing Company between about 1911 and 1924, when Detroit went out of business.

Click image to download a 221-KB PDF of this postcard.

Here’s a train, possibly the California Limited, crossing the Rio Grande River about 10 miles west of Albuquerque. This card is postmarked 1921. Continue reading →

Rock Island December 1938 Timetable

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2023

What a difference a few years makes! Since yesterday’s 1931 timetable, whose cover was a throw-back from 1910, the Rock Island had entered the streamlined era, leading to a complete makeover of the railroad and its advertising. The orange cover (perhaps a reference to the Golden State) on yesterday’s timetable has been replaced by a bright red cover (on the back of course). This change was made with the introduction of Rock Island’s fleet of streamlined rockets in September 1937.

Click image to download a 23.0-MB PDF of this 36-page timetable.

The front cover still advertises the “de luxe” Golden State Limited as well as the “luxury-economy” Californian, the latter being the newish name (not really new as it was used in the 1920s) for the Apache since a few month earlier in 1938. The Golden State is no longer the real news at Rock Island, however, as it still takes more than 60 hours to get from Chicago to Los Angeles while both UP and Santa Fe are running trains over the same route in less than 40 hours. Continue reading →

Rock Island October 1931 Timetable

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2023

The Golden State Limited was still an all-Pullman train when this timetable was issued, a status it would soon lose due to the Depression. In 1932, Southern Pacific would add a chair car between Los Angeles and Phoenix. By 1934, coaches went all the way between Chicago and Los Angeles.

Click image to download a 29.6-MB PDF of this 40-page timetable.

SP-RI continued to operate a secondary train, the Apache, between Chicago and Los Angeles through the 1930s. A third train, the Californian, had disappeared from Chicago but continued to operate (in name only) as the Memphis-Californian from Memphis to Tucumcari, where it connected with the Apache. Continue reading →

Something New in Summer Outings

Posted on November 22, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2023

In the late 1920s, the Rock Island started a Vacation Travel Service Bureau that attempted to compete with Union Pacific and Burlington’s escorted tours by offering unescorted tours whose transportation, accommodations, and meals were fully prepaid in advance. This booklet advertises this as something new, which makes me think it was issued in one of the first years of this program.

Click image to download an 5.9-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet. Click here to download an 889-KB PDF of the front- and back-cover of this booklet.

We’ve previously seen a 1932 booklet like this one. Unlike this one, the cover of the 1932 edition didn’t wrap around to both front and back. Instead, the front cover portion of the painting was replaced by a message from National Park Service director Horace Albright imploring Americans to visit the national parks. Continue reading →

Rock Island January 1926 Timetable

Posted on November 21, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 20, 2023

Yesterday’s booklet mentioned a “new fast” but as yet unnamed Chicago-Los Angeles train that would be introduced on December 28, 1924, the same day as the Golden State Limited was reequipped with new cars. Actually, the “new” train was the old Golden State Limited, now renamed the Golden State Express. This timetable, which went into effect a year and six days after the new trains were introduced, shows that, while the Limited was still an all-Pullman train, the Express carried coaches and tourist sleepers. Unlike the new Limited (but like the old one), the Express didn’t offer shower baths, a ladies’ maid, or men’s barber/valet service.

Click image to download a 29.3-MB PDF of this 40-page timetable.

The Express also operated as a kind of advanced Limited. It left Chicago 2-1/2 hours before the Limited and arrived in Los Angeles a half-hour before. Eastbound, it left Los Angeles and arrived in Chicago an hour and 59 minutes before the Limited. Both trains required 68 hours minus one minute for their eastbound journeys, while westbound the Limited took 68-1/4 hours and the Express took 70-1/4 hours. Continue reading →

New, Fast, Luxurious Service to California

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 20, 2023

The purpose of this booklet isn’t entirely clear. The main cover shown below (which, this being the Rock Island, is the back cover) is boring and uninformative. The front cover is the painting of Carriso Gorge by W.H. Bull, which I have noted before is unrealistically colored and doesn’t say anything about why the booklet was issued.

Click image to download a 14.9-MB PDF of this 32-page booklet.

The inside front cover announces the “new, modern-in-every-respect Golden State Limited,” which offered a ladies’ lounge, maid and manicure service, and shower bath, services previously found only on the Santa Fe de Luxe. Although the booklet has a printer date of 11-24, this train didn’t enter service until December 28, 1924. The booklet also mentions the Californian “from Kansas City” to Los Angeles, the Memphis-Californian, plus an new but unnamed “fast train from Chicago and Kansas City” to California. As we will find out tomorrow, that train would initially be called the Golden State Express. Continue reading →

What Other People Say

Posted on November 19, 2023 by Train LoverOctober 15, 2023

Rock Island faced stiff competition over all of its major routes and was at a disadvantage over most of those routes. Between Chicago and Denver it had to cover many more miles than the Burlington or UP and couldn’t compete on time. Between Chicago and Los Angeles, Rock Island and its competitors Santa Fe and UP agreed to match each others times, and the trains were comparably equipped, but the Golden State Route was the least scenic of the three.

Click image to download a 4.9MB PDF of this 18-page booklet.

Given these disadvantages, what Rock Island had left to compete on was service, and according to the letters in this booklet it did a remarkable job. “Coming unsolicited,” says the introduction, “they indicate without bias or prejudice the character of service maintained by Rock Island Lines.” Since the letters all have actual names and, in most cases, signatures of the letter writers, it would be hard to argue that they had been falsified. Continue reading →