A Trip on a Santa Fe Passenger Train, 1954 Film

Sweet!

You're awesome Don. 

Mark

Oh my! That took me right back. The tempo of the wheel-clicks is indeed correct for a passenger train at speed. 

The only bone I can pick is the locomotive speedometer maxing at 75mph. Back-in-the-day I was aboard The Chief and clocked lots of 89mph speeds as well as some 99mph. A tiny slip-up, filming a freight-geared F cab.

Wonderful old promo film. My how things have changed. The train is spotless and the diner is like traveling in a first class restaurant!  Amazing. The Santa Fe was a class act in every way!

I reckon Bob's family was quite well heeled. A roomette across the states? $$$

Any guesses as to where the on-train city scenes were filmed?

Minute 3:50 looks like "The Gooseneck" in KCMO.

Minute 4:15 looks like a bridge scene at SF Jct in KC, too.

Anyone know?

Andre

We have taken the trip many times from Chicago to Los Angeles and were at the station in 2001 & 2005 where Bobby detrained when we stayed in Santa Fe, NM. There was a train ride on The Santa Fe Southern that took us there and we had dinner next to the station out in the open at picnic tables. Interesting to see how they dressed Bobby with a vest and tie back in those days.

Ed New Haven Line

The boy ended his trip at Lamy, NM.  That's the station where my wife and I start and end our train trips.

Love this film. I first saw it in school back in '74. Didn't realize it was twenty years old at that time. 

We watched it back-to-back with The Freight Train, which is also on YouTube.

I think some of the signal scenes are used in both films, as they are both on the Santa Fe. 

The opening scenes are at Dearborn Station in Chicago. Interestingly, by the time I first saw this, Dearborn Station had been closed for several years.

No matter. It's great to see the dawn of the diesel age recorded on film

Great promo film!  Always loved the ATSF warbonnet colors on the engines and stainless steel cars.. A bit before my time but very much enjoyed this.  Thanks for posting.

On the locomotive, below the engineer's / fireman's window there is a valve or knob in a recess.  Lionel modeled this feature on their F-3s     What is that ?  anybody know ?

Steve

Steve24944 posted:

On the locomotive, below the engineer's / fireman's window there is a valve or knob in a recess.  Lionel modeled this feature on their F-3s     What is that ?  anybody know ?

Steve

Sandbox filler cap.

Rusty

Rusty Traque posted:

Steve24944 posted:

On the locomotive, below the engineer's / fireman's window there is a valve or knob in a recess.  Lionel modeled this feature on their F-3s     What is that ?  anybody know ?

Steve

Sandbox filler cap.

Rusty

Thanks  

My first train trip was in 1953 on the Coast Daylight behind a G-4. I walked the train until I came to the observation car. The men were smoking cigars and they made me leave. At least I got a look at the car. Don

Tom, Lamy looks the same. How many people live there? Love it. What is the local railroad called and how big. Don

scale rail posted:

My first train trip was in 1953 on the Coast Daylight behind a G-4.

Maybe a "GS-4"?

I walked the train until I came to the observation car. The men were smoking cigars and they made me leave. At least I got a look at the car. Don

My first train trip was in the mid to late 60s (66 or 67?) and my mother dressed us boys in our Sunday best just like Bobby.  We lived in San Francisco and took the bus to Oakland to catch the train.  We got off in Stockton, not even an overnight trip.  We were headed to visit my Uncle who lived on an almond orchard near Stockton,  The spot we detrained at was barely a whistle stop. I'm not sure I even remember a platform,  Mom said the train was the Zephyr but Mom was known to make stuff up when she didn't know that answer so I don't know for sure.

During my college years, late 70s, I would frequently take the Coast Daylight from Oxnard to Richmond when going home for holidays or short visits.  It was always the Northbound trip on the train and the return riding with a friend or on the bus.   I can't remember for sure why I never made the return trip on the train - I think it was the timing of it.  At the time the train was about the same cost as the bus, a lot more comfortable to ride but took a good 2 hours longer ... if it was on time.  By the time I made these trips it wasn't as common to dress up for travel and I didn't.

Although I never modeled the Santa Fe, I always enjoyed their railroad and their engineering proficiency. My first long distance passenger train trip was 1960, going to college at Oklahoma State. Being from New Jersey, I had to take a sleeper on the DL&W (Erie Lackawanna by then) to Buffalo, where the sleeper was switched on to the Nickel Plate for Chicago. In Chicago I took a "transfer van" to Lasalle Street Station, for the "connection" to the Santa Fe Texas Chief. My roomette looked just like that in the film! The service on the EL & NKP was really good, but the service on the Santa Fe was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE! I detrained at Ponca City, Okla. I even returned back to NJ the same way, at the end of my first year.

After returning from the U.S. Army on January 2, 1967, EMD assigned me to ride and record data from SD45 units on the Santa Fe high speed main line between Amarillo, Texas and Clovis New Mexico. The Santa Fe was still one fantastic railroad, and I even made a few deadhead trips on the Chief, when there were no freights.

I noticed that Bobbys parents couldn't pack his bags fast enough, and hurried him to get on the train. Wonder what that's about...lol

redjimmy1955 posted:

I noticed that Bobbys parents couldn't pack his bags fast enough, and hurried him to get on the train. Wonder what that's about...lol

The old song comes to my mind "There'll Be A Hot Time In Old Town Tonight."

Andre

scale rail posted:

Tom, Lamy looks the same. How many people live there? Love it. What is the local railroad called and how big. Don

According to Google, Lamy's population in 2010 was 218.  Lamy is about 20 miles from Santa Fe.

The railroad is the Santa Fe Southern.  It used to provide limited freight service to Santa Fe from the Santa Fe RR connection at Lamy.  I am not sure if it still does.  It also ran a dinner train.  Here are a few photos taken in Santa Fe.

Back in ought 1955, the owner of the gun shop my dad worked for, my dad and a friend of his, set out for Wyoming deer hunting in a 1954 Dodge Pace car. Rounding out the party was our pastor and myself, in the Reverend's 1956 Nash Ambassador sedan. I was nineteen at the time. On the way back, we were on US 30 out of Ogallalla, Nebraska. It was late at night, the road was straight (except to go around the sugar beet towns) and the preacher had his foot on the floor. I was in the back seat and kept noticing a bright light off to the left that was gradually gaining on us. Before too long, the City of San Francisco came roaring by. I don't know how fast we were going, but I know the train was doing well over a hundred MPH. What was more impressive that about a half an hour later, the second section caught up with us and passed us again. 

Number 90 posted:

The boy ended his trip at Lamy, NM.  That's the station where my wife and I start and end our train trips.

The the boy got on the CHIEF, and got off the SUPER CHIEF.  (Look at the drumheads at the beginning and end.)   And locomotive 300 was labelled 166 on the inside of the cab.  And coaches wete not on either at the time....

Remember seeing Lamy on the Amtrak SW LTD when that train still had most of the cars the ATSF used on the SC/EL CAPITAN.  Impressive 20 car train.  

The only thing I did not like about the roomette was the bed coveted the toilet at night....

But this is not a railfan short.  It did show the basics of long haul passenger trains at the time, at least ATSF.  Interesting the short incuded well behaved young men.

I was about the same age when I went passenger train solo.  Amtrak.  On ATSF.  Houston to Newton, KS, then to Dodge City!

scale rail posted:

Tom, Lamy looks the same. How many people live there? Love it. What is the local railroad called and how big. Don

About 50 people live right there.  They keep a close eye on all activity and nobody bothers a car parked at the depot for a couple of weeks.  There are some outlying ranches and homes on acreage that probably have a Lamy mailing address.  The steakhouse across the street is open again.  A brewpub from Santa Fe has put in a beer and wine bar and also serves soups and sandwiches, right in the freight end of the depot.  I had a good beer and a good bowl of green chile stew there in February.

The Santa Fe Southern is the local railroad, currently inactive, but not abandoned. Actor Michael Gross, at one time, had a financial interest in the railroad.   It has rights to the old ATSF Santa Fe branch.  I booked a trip on it as part of this year's Santa Fe Historical & Modeling Society Convention in Albuquerque this June.  It was a bit expensive because they have to clean up and make ready their equipment which has been sitting for a while.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

Number 90 posted:

The boy ended his trip at Lamy, NM.  That's the station where my wife and I start and end our train trips.

The the boy got on the CHIEF, and got off the SUPER CHIEF.  (Look at the drumheads at the beginning and end.)   And locomotive 300 was labelled 166 on the inside of the cab.  And coaches wete not on either at the time....

 

Actually, according to Wiki coaches were added to the Chief in 1954. The Super Chief was all Pullman until, beginning in the Summer of 1962,  reclining seat chair cars and a separate coach lounge and diner were added, (from June 11 through Sept 7). 

ON EDIT: I took a couple pics of my '62 timetable:

The EL CAPITAN was combined with the SC sometime in the late 1950's, exvept for summer and winter holiday season.

Pullman traffic seemed to be suffering in 1954, and crashed by 1962.  But there seemed to be a demand for coach, at least during the time period, in vacation season.  At least you can easily get to the WC!  (Hi Level coach you had to climb downstairs.)