Santa Fe "Super Chief" 1954 educational film

This public domain film features A look at the Santa Fe's Super Chief from Chicago to Lamy, NM. Good archival look at the name train of the Santa Fe.

[@gda44256]

Santa Fe was one of the finest passenger railroads. I fondly remember riding the "El Capitan" in 1969 from Chicago to L.A. The service was impeccable- from the coach cars to the fabulous dining car. I will always remember this awesome trip.

[@markjosephbudgieridgard]

What a gem I love to watch these railroad promotianal films no one makes them quite like the USA great 👍

[@Poliss95]

British Transport Films made better ones. You get poems by people like W.H. Auden on them.

[@UP4466]

The observation car 'Navajo", which you can see in this film, is located at the Colorado railroad museum.

[@JackieontheTrunk]

I will go look for that!

[@jwrailve3615]

@@JackieontheTrunk that museum was amazing and I was overwhelmed when I went there. It was a January 21 so a lot of the motive power and cars I couldn’t go in because of “covid” but I was all over the ones on there turntable side tracks. Also went to forney just to see my second big boy while I was up there. Literally just saw my third big boy two days ago in Dallas and likely one on the east coast will be next

[@eoj2495]

Great film...I remember these educational films from elementary school.. and what a great overview of train travel. thanks

[@ardenkwong5299]

Train 19 is indeed the westbound Chief. This film is a "composite" of various stock AT&SF company films from 1950 to 1954.At the start, Bob and his father check in at the gateman's kiosk for the Chief.The adjacent sign says train 19, and they walk pass its observation car's taildrum head indicating the Chief. Chair cars were added to #19 and 20 in 1954. Observation (or tail cars) "cameoff" the Chief in 1954 also. It had no dome cars in 1954, but 2 years later, fulllength Big Domes would be added to #19 and 20.The Super Chief's Pleasure Domes were used #17 and 18 which was all-Pullman,i.e., no chair (coach) cars (which Bob walks through). The Pleasure Domes were"short" dome cars compared to the full length Big Domes. There is a shot of the interior of this short dome which was lifted from a different color film promoting the Super Chief (with the very same actress enjoying thepanoramic view perched in one of the short dome's rotating chairs). Most of the diesels pulling the various passenger trains are F-7's. There may be a few upgraded F-3's which were near identical (high fans verses low for theF-7's).There is an interior cab shot with the engineer and locomotive number 177Cstenciled on the cab interior wall.This is an FT diesel delivered around 1940 and first used in both freight andpassenger service, and then 6 to 8 years later, just in freight service as F-3 andF-7 and PA-1 replacements (for passenger service) were delivered.Judging from the engineer's attire, I estimate the year of the cab interior shot to be 1950 give or take 3 years.The train is not leaving Chicago's Dearborn Station and its massive train shed,rather a sunnier substitute. As it "leaves Chicago", it passes a slow speed limitsign which is actually outside Kansas City.Near the end of the trip, there is a 3/4's shot showing the speeding "domeless" train passing Joshua Tree National Park in California which is "very west" ofLamy, NM.Lastly, the end shot shows the tail car sporting a Super Chief drum head. Somuch for one railfan's nit pickiness and shallow trivia. Former Santa Fe CEO John S. Reed reserved the rights to the Super Chief nameand trademark, knowing that Amtrak service would not even come close to keepingup the high service standards set by AT&SF's first class Fred Harvey food serviceand the Pullman Company's premier sleeper service.Hence the Southwest Limited and later the Southwest Chief as trains 3 and 4 wasnewly branded, and now 37 laters, is fighting for its life. A bus bridge "along theSanta Fe trail" will be the opening death-kneel towards the SWC's (and its SWscenery and tradition) eventual demise and death.It loses money yes, but losing the fastest, smoothest rail route between Chicagoand LA will be equal to the loss of a scenic national treasure that hasn't been thisgrave and sad since the loss of the pre-Amtrak California Zephyr in March 1970.

[@jackanthony976]

ARDENKWONG: The bus bridge was voted down by Congress by an overwhelming vote. The bus bridge was the idea of the new crack pot President of Amtrak, Richard Anderson who was appointed by none other than Trump.

[@xr6lad]

@@jackanthony976 because keeping an expensive over priced train no one can afford to ride except retirees is a great way to spend money just to keep your hobby alive. Keeping under used overpriced trains does not save railways or increase ridership.

[@saulschlapik6818]

A couple other mistakes: :58 they appear to be getting out of the cab at Chicago's Union Station, not Dearborn however the arrival/departure board 1:09 is at Dearborn. 9:59 the Super Chief didn't have a counter diner and I doubt the Chief had one in 54 either. At the time they were on the El Capitan.

[@donl3248]

My uncle has a model railroad layout that takes up his entire basement. When I help him operate it for NMRR train shows, my favorite diesel train is the Santa Fe Super Chief.

[@jamesclaeys8419]

My earliest memory is a trip we took from Ohio to New Mexico on the Santa Fe Super Chief, nice way to travel.

[@alexfoli9906]

La locomotive F-7 est vraiment Très belle ! Une des légendes Américaines. Merci à Vous pour cette Video.

[@glasscitadel12]

@sfo1164 thanks for posting. i was a Santa Fe train child. I use to ride the Texas Chief to Oklahoma City, and my uncle was a chef on the Super and the El Cap, back in the day.

[@frederickmiles327]

Yes the Chief was the greatest train in the United States. The Pennslvania Railways ,'Broadway Limited' and NYC 20C Limited both arrived in Chicago at 9am after the overnight jorrney in 15/17 hours from New York and Phiidephia and Boston ( New England States from Boston conncted to the 20C at Albany). The Chief left Chicago at 10 am and was in Los Angeles about 10.30 pm for following day. The Chief was the only train that took just one night to go from Chicago to LA and two nights across the USA it was the most expensive and most luxurious of all. The Super Chief was a later night departure from Chicago. After the Chief was stopped in 1966 the San Franciso Chief appears to have replaced it in the 10am departure and Santa Fe would have prefered to run the San Franciso chief into LA in the grand canyon entry slot from Barnstow and just run privately in the 1970s the great consists of the Super Chief and San Fran Chief on the Chicago LA route one on the ralton pass route the other thru Armillo. There were two problems with the Chief one was that it many ways it functioned as the private bordello for powerful and ambitious politicians and producers and stars in film TV and popular entertainment. Both Reagan and Eisenhower rode the Chief until 1964 not flying supposedly because of the danger of flying over the Grand Canyon even in the age of the piston engine Constellations and DC6 it was a rough somewhat dangerous flight taking 8hrs in 300 mph. The other issue was that Santa Fe never really attended to can it. As well as the Texas Chief, Super Chief and San Francisco Chief they were prepared to mantain a third daily Chicago train after the postal service withdrew the railways contact for first class mail in 1967. First class mail continued on the Boston-NY- Washington corridor's till 1977 and cities 400 miles radius from Chicago to Amtrak started in 1971 . Santa Fe never imagined the ICC would choose to stop the Chief losing about a million a year and continue the 'Grand Canyon', losing a fortune on 69 hour and 84 stops schedule from Chicago to LA. Santa Fe never succeded in stopping the Grand Canyon and ran it in a considerably enhanced form despite the enormous cost of its eight big sets as the decline of the Dallas Express and Chicagoan made many good carriages available tor the Canyons last years.

[@emilkarpo]

Reagan did ride the Super Chief from time to time but his first choice was the Union Pacific City Of Los Angeles.

[@jackanthony976]

I hope Bobby is ok. The guy who picked up Bobby at the station looked a little spooky and anxious to me. I certainly hope that was actually "Uncle Ray" who picked up Bobby.

[@FreihEitner]

Lucky Bob. I never got to ride on The Super Chief, or in a dome or observation car. Though I have ridden on the successor Southwest Chief and in a Superliner Lounge car which is today's equivalent to the dome car of old. It's a wonderfully relaxing way to travel and to see the country -- not crammed into a 3x3 foot space with no leg room at 40,000 feet and seeing nothing.

[@patrickwolbach]

The observation car (Navajo) that was at the end of the Super Chief is on display at the Colorado railroad museum.

[@DeadFishFactory]

I have no idea why I watched the whole thing, but trains are pretty interesting.

[@lochas9901]

Me either. Must be the 9-year-old boy in me that could have watched these train films all day forever.

[@wesmcgee1648]

1969 was the last passenger train I rode from Louisiana to Chicago. I was 11.

[@glasscitadel12]

I had a 3am lay over in Kansas City station. i enjoyed seeing the Santa Fe model train on display in the window, inside the station. This is a great movie.

[@chamisa77]

Awesome video. Thanks for posting this.

[@pilotmanpaul]

This was surprisingly interesting.

[@dominicsipos6634]

Wow all dressed up even a tie!

[@tommytruth7595]

Yes, people dressed up back then. Today they look like homeless crackheads.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

@@tommytruth7595 It's a free country. We dress how we want. Most dress for comfort. Suits are usually uncomfortable.

[@SouthwestChief]

@howardkevinm At 1:40, train 19 is the Chief. The Consist is the Chief. This is the Chief.

[@Viaamtrak]

@wrestlcub You are right! I did not catch that right away. Maybe Mr. Watson likes taht mile and a half walk to Polk and Dearborn from Canal and Adams.

[@thememeking9771]

The Super Chief route is now used by Amtrak's Southwest Chief.

[@jackanthony976]

Amtrak's Southwest Chief is a few notches below the Super Chief in terms of service. First of all, the Super Chief was for the most part a first class train with only first class sleepers..coaches were added later on and even then the coach passengers had their own separate dining room. Also for whatever reason, the Super Chief was a few hours faster in running time than Amtrak's Southwest Chief.

[@cats0182]

@@jackanthony976 I've never been on the SWC. However, given AMTRAK's record, I doubt that the SWC can compare to the Super Chief at any level. Why was the Super Chief a few hours faster? Simple, it made fewer stops, and was a priority for the Santa Fe Railroad. Today's SWC has to share track with BNSF freights. I suspect the latter are now the priority.

[@jackanthony976]

CATS01. You probably already know this but the Santa Fe Super Chief did share tracks with freights but the freights were owned by Santa Fe as well. In addition Santa Fe's Super Chief took a slightly different route between Kansas City and Chicago than Amtrak's Southwest Chief which cut down on the running time. Also contributing to the faster running time was the excellent state of repair Santa Fe kept its tracks, never allowing them to deteriorate like BNSF allowed them to. I did ride Amtrak's Southwest Chief last year and it ran on time to the minute. The running time has been shortened now that the Tiger grants have allowed the tracks and signaling to be upgraded to once again pristine condition on most sections. Some work remains to be done but Amtrak's current president Richard Anderson is holding it up.

[@sohailanjum1439]

I love it most beautiful time

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

@Lyle Grandersom Yeah while we had segregation here other parts of the world had war, famine and disease. So where would you rather live.

[@Poliss95]

@@TheMrPeteChannel And other parts of the world didn't have war, famine, disease OR segregation. That's where I live.

[@gisellesmith297]

Wish we still had the Santa Fe SC. I rode on one when I was 10 , they had an Indian on the Train so nice it was. My Parents and I landed in New York took the Train to Chicago then got on the Santa Fe Super Chief and came to Los Angeles. We arrived at the Los Angeles Station on May 27th 1956..Only thing I missed was open Windows that's what we had back in Germany ..

[@shirleyvega5111]

So cool I remember all that. Love Shirley

[@natalieyaghmourian4926]

wow that is so interesting

[@shelbijack]

Giselle Smith Sorry wrong year I was 13...

[@VidClips858]

It even kept the same train number.

[@lindsaypeterholden2701]

Wish we had names like this in the UK Californian Zephyr and Super chief.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

Well there's no California in England! Not to many North American Indian Chiefs too!

[@leftcoaster67]

You have names like Flying Scotsman! (Scotswoman!)

[@prayerpatroller]

My name is Ray and I live in Santa Fe!

[@Bigbuddyandblue]

Off goes Bob to the ranch, never to be seen again 😂

[@tommytruth7595]

2:54, that was not the engineperson, it was the fireperson who received the "go ahead" signal.

[@Ilikebakconn2]

This came up for “Santa fe super chief crash”

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954!

[@andrewhurricane]

@Micheal Sheldon Reed The Amtrak signature steak is actually really really good.

[@jackanthony976]

It is good! However, the new Amtrak president appointed by Trump has already removed the signature steak from several Amtrak long distance trains and replaced it with a bagel and piece of fruit.

[@captainmorgan757]

@captainmorgan757 a correction...I ment howardkevinm. Sorry, SouthwestChief!

[@micmac99]

5:05 can you even get anything close to that on Amtrak??????

[@JoshDoesTravel]

Michael Sheldon Reed Actually yes. As of now, on long distance trains, food is still cooked up in the downstairs kitchen of the superliners, meaning you can have steak done just the way you like it, among other items

[@SouthwestChief]

@howardkevinm It was an all Pullman train. This is the Chief, not the Super Chief. Incorrect title.

[@jackanthony976]

The Chief added coaches in the mid 50's. And the Super Chief was slightly more luxurious.

[@kevinhoward9593]

3:41 im curious to where that is (was). im sure that scene is an apartment complex or something now. 4:13 doesnt seem to amazed to be on one of the most famous trains in history. 4:25 the Super Chief DID NOT carry coaches in 1954. It was an All-Pullman extra Fare (extra fast heh heh) train. The Super Chief i think was faster then the 20th Century Limited. It covered the 990 miles from Chicago and La Junta, CO in 15h 52m. 8 minutes faster then the Limited 960 at 16hr. Amtrak probably takes 21.

[@kathieharine5982]

You are correct. The train in the video was the Chief, not the Super Chief.

[@rossbryan6102]

30 YEARS AT&SF EMPLOYMENT, STILL GOT MY PASS!!!! “PRICELESS”

[@fordlandau]

Watch out for the neighbour Bob !!

[@jackanthony976]

I hope that really was "Uncle Ray" that picked up Bobby at the station.

[@Mikey300]

You get off at 09:04 at Lamy to go to the city of Santa Fe and to the AEC lab at Los Alamos. Uncle Ray works for the AEC and his “ranch” is just a cover story. 😃

[@johnjackson8401]

1954 was the heyday for railroad passenger travel. Bygone era.

[@Bigbuddyandblue]

I never understood why people book a luxury train with an observation car, vista dome car, pay the added cost, and then stare at a newspaper the whole time 😂

[@SouthwestChief]

@howardkevinm The film isn't wrong. The heading to this KZbin clip is wrong. Take a look at 2:06 as the drumhead clearly shows this is the Chief and not the Super Chief.

[@vancepomerening4794]

Just one problem with the end scene. That train is Eastbound, not going to California.

[@RivetGardener]

So Bobby was sent off to a dude ranch, "an adventure, with cowboys and horses".....hmm. Very nice train though.

[@jdknbw]

bobby is wearing the same thing when he gets on, and then the next day gets off---how crass can you get

[@micmac99]

Where's Bobby's iPad? his PSP? his MP3 player? his GameBoy? his iPhone? (and thanks to ex-wife my 16 year old son has ALL these things...sheesh!)

[@dominicsipos6634]

Dad didn't tip the porter

[@alanpeterson6224]

Dominic Sipos: Yeah he did. He said, "Stay away from hard liquor, BOY.

[@jackanthony976]

And stay away from strange men lurking in the lounge car BOY.

[@leftylou6070]

Ah yes, back in the day when people were people.

[@captainmorgan757]

Notice how some people feel the need to insult and belittle others? No doubt SouthwestChief has such low self esteem.

[@thememeking9771]

Chair Car!? Seriously. Coach is way better for a train.

[@michaelwhalen2442]

Does anybody remember when this country was ninety percent White European Caucasian descent?

[@clearlycaribbeanreb2895]

Now, people wear PJ’s on airplanes like they would wear to Walmart. Society has truly devolved.

[@canturgan]

It looks a bit agricultural and so slow.

[@leftcoaster67]

That's part of the charm.

[@emilkarpo]

When the promotional moves this was made from were done the Santa Fe mainline had a lot of 100mph running. 36 3/4 hours Chicago to Los Angeles is not slow.

[@jonwebb2300]

This is truly sick. Who on earth would send a young child on a train trip by themselves?

[@devildoc225]

Because back then, society still had standards. It wasn't the "triggered" shit show we have today. There was still normalcy in the US back then. There was nothing "sick" about it.

[@emilkarpo]

I regularly traveled by my self as a child. It was normal in those days. Most summers I'd be sent off to my grandparents ranch in Young and Jack County Texas from Houston on the Sam Houston Zephyr or Twin Star Rocket in coach. Later after moving to Arizona I would be sent on the Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle-Westerner from Tucson to Fort Worth by Pullman. Never once had even the hint of a problem. People knew how to behave and were expected to behave.

[@rossbryan6102]

WHEN KIDS RIDE ALONE AND THE CONDUCTOR AND TRAIN ATTENDANT KNOWS, THEN THE KID IS WATCHED OUT FOR! ALSO OTHER TYPES OF SPECIAL NEEDS PEOPLE ARE LOOKED AFTER!! NOT LIKE RIDING GREYHOUND!!

[@missedshot9235]

@@devildoc225 Just look at some of the 'animals' we have traveling on the nations airlines today... That is whats sick

[@Poliss95]

@@devildoc225 Because back then everything was covered up.