The Texas Chief was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and Galveston, Texas. It was the first Santa Fe "Chief" outside the Chicago–Los Angeles routes. The Santa Fe conveyed the Texas Chief to Amtrak in 1971, which renamed it the Lone Star in 1974. The train was discontinued in 1979.
History
Santa Fe
The Santa Fe introduced the Texas Chief on April 3, 1948.[1] The train competed with the Texas Eagle (Missouri Pacific Railroad) and the Texas Special (Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad/St. Louis–San Francisco Railway). The journey from Chicago to Galveston required 26 hours 15 minutes, ten hours faster the previous service on the route.[2] Service to Dallas, Texas, began on December 5, 1955. Patronage was strong; historian Keith L. Bryant Jr. credited the Texas Chief with causing the withdrawal of the Texas Special.[3] The Texas Chief was the first major train outside the Chicago–Los Angeles route to carry the "Chief" moniker popularized by the Chief and Super Chief.[4]
Amtrak
The general decline in passenger traffic in the 1960s led to cutbacks on the Texas Chief. Service south of Houston, Texas, ended in April 1967. The Dallas section ended on August 4, 1968.[5]
Amtrak retained the Texas Chief between Chicago and Houston.[5] Santa Fe was planning to discontinue the service unless it was included in the new national system.[6] In 1973 Amtrak proposed re-routing the Texas Chief to serve Dallas. This new route would use the Southern Pacific between Dallas and Houston.[7][8][9] Opposition from the SP killed the plan.[10] In 1974 the Santa Fe withdrew permission to use the name due to a perceived decline in service, so Amtrak renamed it the Lone Star.[11]
Rolling stock
The Texas Chief debuted with new equipment, including coaches, Pullman sleeping cars, a dining car, and a lounge.[1][3] In 1966 the Santa Fe assigned its 10 new GE U28CG diesel locomotives to the Texas Chief.[12] After 1968 excess Hi-Level coaches from the El Capitan and San Francisco Chief could be found on the Texas Chief, along with Big Dome full-length dome lounges from the discontinued Chief.[13][14]
The Texas Chief featured a wide variety of equipment during its short Amtrak tenure. In addition to ex-Santa Fe equipment such as Hi-Level coaches and Big Domes, Amtrak assigned Vista-Dome dormitory-buffet-lounge-observation cars from the former California Zephyr.[15]
References
- Footnotes
- ^ a b Santa Fe Railroad (April 2, 1948). "New Schedules (advertisement)". The Atchison Daily Globe. Atchison, Kansas. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "New Texas Chief Due Here Sunday On Its First Trip". The Ponca City News. Ponca City, Oklahoma. April 2, 1948. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Bryant 1974, p. 350
- ^ Yenne 2005, p. 93
- ^ a b Sanders 2006, p. 107
- ^ "Need of Texas Chief in System Stressed". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Corpus Christi, Texas. Associated Press. December 2, 1970. p. 55 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "No Sense Switching Chief's Path". Waco Tribune-Herald. Waco, Texas. June 16, 1973. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dallas Included in Rerouting Of Amtrak Railroad Service". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Associated Press. February 24, 1973. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "No Decision on Texas Chief Route". The Waco News-Tribune. Waco, Texas. June 8, 1973. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Smith 1974, p. 83
- ^ Sanders 2006, p. 109
- ^ EuDaly 2009, p. 218
- ^ Flick & Kogan 1999, p. 22
- ^ Wayner 1972, p. 196
- ^ Sanders 2006, p. 119
- Sources
- Bryant, Jr., Keith L. (1974). History of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6066-0.
- EuDaly, Kevin; et al. (2009). The Complete Book of North American Railroading. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2848-4. OCLC 209631579.
- Flick, Michael W.; Kogan, Dennis (1999). "Santa Fe's Hi-Level Passenger Cars". Warbonnet. 5 (3).
- Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34705-3.
- Smith, Jr., Griffin (August 1974). "Waiting For The Train". Texas Monthly. 2 (8).
- Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.
- Yenne, Bill (2005). Santa Fe Chiefs. Saint Paul, Minnesota: MBI. ISBN 978-0-7603-1848-5.
Further reading
- Farrington, S. Kip Jr. (1958). Railroads of the Hour. Coward-McCann. OCLC 1226241.
External links
Passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chiefs |  | |
| Other named trains | ||
| One-time specials | ||
| Rolling stock | ||