Misplaced Pages

Texas Chief
The Dallas section of the Texas Chief in 1964
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
First service	April 3, 1948
Last service	May 19, 1974
Successor	Lone Star
Former operator(s)	Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (1948–1971) Amtrak (1971–1974)
Route
Termini	Chicago, Illinois Galveston, Texas
Distance travelled	1,410 miles (2,270 km)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	15 (west), 16 (east)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Chair cars (also: ladies lounge and men's dressing room) (1950)
Sleeping arrangements	Sections, roomettes, double bedroom, drawing rooms, compartment
Catering facilities	Dining car
Observation facilities	Lounge car
Route map Legend Chicago Joliet Streator Chillicothe Galesburg Illinois Iowa Fort Madison Fort Madison closed 1968 Shopton La Plata Marceline Iowa Kansas Kansas City Emporia Newton Wichita Winfield Arkansas City Kansas Oklahoma Ponca City Perry Guthrie Oklahoma City Norman Purcell Pauls Valley Ardmore Marietta Oklahoma Texas Gainesville Fort Worth Cleburne McGregor Temple Bellville Yard Houston Galveston This diagram: view talk edit

The Texas Chief was a passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka & 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. 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 took 26 hours 15 minutes, ten hours faster the previous service on the route. 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. 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.

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.

Amtrak retained the Texas Chief between Chicago and Houston. Santa Fe was planning to discontinue the service unless it was included in the new national system. In 1973 Amtrak proposed re-routing the Texas Chief to serve Dallas. This new route would use the Southern Pacific between Dallas and Houston. Opposition from the SP killed the plan. 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.

Rolling stock

The Texas Chief debuted with new equipment, including coaches, Pullman sleeping cars, a dining car, and a lounge. In 1966 the Santa Fe assigned its 10 new GE U28CG diesel locomotives to the Texas Chief. 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.

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.

References

Footnotes

1. ^ Santa Fe Railroad (April 2, 1948). "New Schedules (advertisement)". Atchison Globe. Atchison, Kansas. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "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.
3. ^ Bryant 1974, p. 350
4. Yenne 2005, p. 93
5. ^ Sanders 2006, p. 107
6. "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.
7. "No Sense Switching Chief's Path". Waco Tribune-Herald. Waco, Texas. June 16, 1973. p. 1C – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Dallas Included in Rerouting Of Amtrak Railroad Service". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Associated Press. February 24, 1973. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "No Decision on Texas Chief Route". Waco News-Tribune. Waco, Texas. June 8, 1973. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Smith 1974, p. 83
11. Sanders 2006, p. 109
12. RIP Super Chief Railway Age March 25, 1974 page 8
13. Train Name Changes: The Real Story Amtrak News June 1, 1974 page 9
14. EuDaly 2009, p. 218
15. Flick & Kogan 1999, p. 22
16. Wayner 1972, p. 196
17. 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

• 1948 timetable

v t e Passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Chiefs	Chief San Francisco Chief Super Chief Texas Chief
Other named trains	California Limited California Special Chicagoan El Capitan Golden Gate Grand Canyon Limited Hassayampa Flyer Kansas Cityan Navajo Overland Limited San Diegan Santa Fe de Luxe Scout Valley Flyer West Texas Express
One-time specials	Miss Nellie Bly Special David B. Jones Special Scott Special
Rolling stock	Big Dome Hi-Level Pleasure Dome

• Former Amtrak routes
• Former long distance Amtrak routes
• Named passenger trains of the United States
• Night trains of the United States
• Passenger rail transportation in Illinois
• Passenger rail transportation in Missouri
• Passenger rail transportation in Kansas
• Passenger rail transportation in Oklahoma
• Passenger rail transportation in Texas
• Passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
• Railway services introduced in 1948
• Railway services discontinued in 1974
• 1948 establishments in the United States
• 1974 disestablishments in the United States