The Chief was an American long-distance named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway that ran between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. The Santa Fe initiated the Chief in 1926 to supplement the California Limited. In 1936 the Super Chief was introduced, after the Super Chief was relaunched in 1948 with daily departures from LA and Chicago it gradually eclipsed the Chief as the standard bearer of the Santa Fe because of its timetable oriented to the Raton Pass transit. For some the Chief and San Francisco Chief as deluxe integrated trains with both Pullman sleepers and fully reclining coach seating with all facilities; lounges and pleasure domes, available to all passengers were at least equal flagships better suited to the business and executive market. From the mid 1960s the super Chief was only a small entirely separate section of the El Capitan seated vista train, the El Capitan passengers having no access to the Super Chiefs expensive eateries and bars which selling point was exclusion and service. The Chief was discontinued in 1968 due to high operating costs, competition from airlines, and the loss of Postal Office contracts.
The Chief in Morley, Colorado, August 1967
The Chief in 1929 at the Dodge City, Kansas depot
ATSF President Ernest S. Marsh (right) aboard the Chief in 1966
Locomotive #3460, the Blue Goose, which was the streamlined steam locomotive for the Chief
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States.
ATSF 5051, an EMD SD40-2, leads a train through Marceline, Missouri, in August 1983.
D&RGW through Royal Gorge in 1881
Gold bond of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company, issued October 1, 1889
AT&SF and SP Railroad trains meet at Walong siding on the Tehachapi Loop in the late 1980s.