From an email I received:
Seventy-five years ago today, Santa Fe's eastbound SUPER CHIEF threaded Raton Tunnel and emerged into rain-drenched Colorado. After shedding its steam helper at Trinidad, the train rocketed ahead with the muscle of three Diesels totaling 5,400 horsepower. ATSF was going all-out to set a speed record on this, the homeward leg of the Super's "goodwill tour" to the west coast. At 7:37, the train braked to a stop at La Junta, an hour and 38 minutes ahead of schedule.
Engineer Tucker Taylor took over for the 202-mile run to Dodge City KS. As the Super gathered speed, two VIP passengers in NAVAJO decided to time the passing mileposts with a pocket watch - "for th' **** of it, to see just how fast this thing is goin'." The watch-owner measured 32 seconds, and mentally calculated 113 miles per hour. Even that was surpassed when the train slammed through Caddoa CO and then roared past Prowers 10.8 miles and 5.5 minutes later, averaging 117.6 miles per hour!
By the time Taylor braked his train to a stop in Dodge City at 10:01 p.m., the Super Chief was an hour and 54 minutes early.
sent by JL and portions adapted from "SUPER CHIEF: Train of the Stars" by Stan Repp (1980)
