The Kansas Cityan pulls into Dallas. Say what, Tulsa, you nutcase? The Kansas Cityan was a diesel-powered all chair streamliner that operated between Chicago and Oklahoma City. So what is this really? Well, yeah. After all the streamlined chair cars and most of the diesels terminated in OkC in the wee hours, a Pullman or two from Chicago ran on overnight to Dallas, providing an alternate schedule to the Texas Chief. Normally one E unit handled this; the train usually ran A-B-B E Units between Chicago and Oklahoma City so the boosters could shuttle east and west without being turned on a wye. The train doubled as a mail train south of the Oklahoma capital. It also got combined with the Dallas-California cars via Brownwood, so it ran between Ft. Worth and Dallas more than one or two Pullman sleepers long. And if the E unit needed maintenance, well, the train ran via the shop town of Cleburne, where a spare Pacific was always at hand. So, yes. That one streamlined Pullman from Chicago makes this motley collection of cars from the City, and from California, pulled by whatever was handy at Cleburne, coming into Dallas in the misty Texas morning the Kansas Cityan.
1930 at the La Grande Station. This was where the Santa Fe Railway operated out of in Los Angeles before the Union Station was opened in 1939. La Grande opened in 1893 at the corner of 2nd St and Santa Fe Ave in downtown L.A. A burro-drawn wagon is advertising the fact that a wagon takes 16 days to get to Death Valley, but you can get there in an Essex automobile in only six hours and 19 minutes.
FTA-B-B #153 and 2-8-2 mikado #4054 leading a freight in January of 1952 in Heidenheimer, TX, Galveston Sub. Rodney Peterson photo.
I came across this picture of action on Raton Pass and did a double take upon seeing what looks like an N&W Y-Class 2-8-8-2 on the point of a passenger train. Puzzled, I did a little research to find that the N&W sold eight aging Y-3s to the Santa Fe to help move WW-II tonnage on Raton. After war's end, seven were sold to the VGN and the other was scrapped.
They hated (needed, but hated) the Mallets but loved the boilers. Plans were made to reboiler the 3751 Class, which had smaller, lower-pressure boilers than their other Northerns, with these monstrous teakettles, but apparently the Virginian made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
Interesting! Elsewhere I read that the Santa Fe also found the Y3s too slow. The Y3s were old, first added to the N&W roster in 1913 and they were the back bone of coal drag power into the mid-1920s when the Y4s were introduced.
Yes, they could barely reach the lowest speed at which the E-Units could operate full throttle without burning something out. That was true even on flat land, due to back-pressure between the low and high pressure cylinders. But the single-expansion two cylinder chassis and 80" drivers would have cured the boilers of that! I don't think the Santa Fe needed the power so much as they were short of crews. Mind you, they did need power. That wasn't the only second-hand power they bought during the war, which is something they hadn't done since about 1870. Witness this Belpaire-equipped, Juniata-built Santa Fe hog; it looked a lot more at home in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania than in Pittsburgh, Kansas. You can almost see the outline of the keystone-shaped number plate on the smokebox door. http://www.3rdrail.com/images/SF-882-mikado.jpg But they genuinely hated compound articulateds. These particular Mallets, however, could help some trains that would otherwise require two 2-10-2s and two crews to get them up Raton. Or, at least, two of them could do what three old 2-10-2s could do. With so many young men overseas in the armed forces, that was suddenly a big deal. War is hell.
Folks line up during a Santa Fe Railroad promotional tour in order to view the 1880 Steam Engine 2-8-0 "Cyrus K. Holliday" at the Santa Fe depot in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Some vintage passengers are part of the tour as well. 1952.
Somewhere in Kansas, probably McPherson area. The Santa Fe style number boards behind the bell would place it about after WWI. The locomotive was scrapped 7-31-1922 at Topeka. Looks like about 65 lb rail it is on. Note the snow plow pilot.
What a beautiful locomotive! One of many that I find to be a shame that were not preserved. In terms of diesels, Alco DL-109s and FM Erie Builts come to mind as well.
After buying steam exclusively from Baldwin from 1902 on, the Santa Fe only got ankle deep in Baldwin diesels. There were over a hundred switchers, counting the one they actually returned to BLW. But there were only seven road locomotives, and they never went far. They were relegated to transfer service early, and wound up switchers--specifically, hump switchers.
The 1200 Class were their oldest Pacifics (and among the oldest Pacifics). But they were the road's only 4-6-2 types with 79" drivers until the 3400s were rebuilt in the late 30s and early 40s. So, some got "betterments" that many newer engines didn't, like feedwater heaters and stack extensions.
The first locomotive in the 3776 class of 4-8-4 Northerns that the Santa Fe bought, leads a train over Cajon Pass. The 3776 was purchased from Baldwin in 1941 and lasted until June 8, 1959 when it was sold for scrap. This was the last class of Northerns bought by the ATSF that were delivered with nickle steel boilers. For some reason they had problems with them. This one had its boiler replace in January of 1950. Waiting on the siding is 2-8-2 #3129, a Mikado. Probably in helper service. It came from Baldwin in 1916 and was scrapped June 29, 1952. Chard Walker photo. Steven Priest collection.
