What's Left of Santa Fe Railway's Forgotten Past?

The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, commonly known as the Santa Fe Railway, was chartered in 1859 to serve the rapidly expanding western United States. Its initial goal was to link Atchison and Topeka in Kansas with Santa Fe, New Mexico, facilitating commerce and settlement. Under the leadership of Cyrus K. Holliday and later William Barstow Strong, the railway expanded significantly, becoming one of the largest rail networks in the country. It played a crucial role in the development of the American Southwest, promoting tourism with its iconic Super Chief passenger train and fostering economic growth through freight services. In 1995, the Santa Fe Railway merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), one of the largest freight railroads in North America.

IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.

» CONTACT

» DISCLAIMER

» CREDIT
Sponsor - TrainStation 2
Scriptwriter - Sebastian Ripoll
Editor - Karolina Szwata,
Host - Ryan Socash
Music/Sound Design: Dave Daddario

» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[SuperTemak]

It was "El Capitan, " not "El Captain." In the 1950's I lived in a house very near the Santa Fe tracks in Cucamonga, California. I really enjoyed watching those trains zip by.

[ericdemo]

The engine is not a "Two Eighty". It is a "Two, Eight, Oh". That number schema represents the engine's wheel layout. Two leading wheels, eight drivers, and zero trailing wheels.

[UncleBearski]

Burlington NorthERN. But good work, as always!!

[curly]

I loved that early US railroad film footage. Thanks for sharing it. I recall seeing the very wholesome film, "The Harvey Girls" starring Julie Garland as in those stills of yours. I have eaten at a restored Harvey restaurant near Painted Desert, Arizona. I greatly enjoy your History episodes. Keep up the good work, please.

[xray]

One thing you can often ID an SF line by, is the style of road crossing. They used these super high quality concrete pads bordered with steel. They always stand out and we’re built to last forever. You can still see them all over on their old lines.

[jerrysinclair]

Ryan, thank you for the history lesson about the "ATSF'! Great history there. That railroad was a real trailblazer.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Ryan, as you now know, railroad fans are a tough crowd, they certainly know their stuff. Regardless, this presentation was very enjoyable and informative. Wouldn't mind seeing you make this into a series that included other great railroads. Just be sure to have at least one or two RR fanatics preview it before it's released, haha! Keep up the good work!

[metalheadrailfan]

The Santa Fe imo was the greatest of all time US railroads. Everything from the sleek Warbonnets leading the Super Chief to the high priority intermodal speedsters of the 90s. It's so ingrained with the image of the southwest that not seeing a Santa Fe logo somewhere just doesn't seem right.

[Wantingutoo]

My favorite railroad. Main line passed through my town west of Newton. Great Uncle Al ran the steamer back in the day. Rode . Nice trip Amtrak from Newton to Albuquerque and back in the 90's. Nice trip

[bobdinitto]

As a child I rode the Santa Fe Railroad from Chicago to California to visit family there in 1961 when I was 5. I remember being fascinated when the train rounded a long curve and I saw the back of the train moving in the opposite direction than we were going. When we stopped briefly in Texas Mom said "Let's get out so we can stand on the ground in Texas." As soon as we hit the platform she said "Oh my God, it's so hot here! Let's get back in the train!" So I spent approximately one minute standing on the ground in Texas.

[Rezqewr]

My paternal Grandfather was a "Railroad Man, " working as a car inspector for the Santa Fe, when one of their major rail heads was Las Vegas, New Mexico. The last time I was there, 3 years ago, the old roundhouse where they garaged the locomotives was still standing. The tracks and turntable are sadly, long gone, but the building still stands.

[danimal]

Hey Ryan, I just wanted to let you know that you and one other YouTube history channel have actually figured out how to make history interesting for me! I graduated likely well before you were born, but if my high school history teachers would have presented their lessons the way both of you do, my grades would have been far better! I've been subscribed for quite a long time now, and I have enjoyed every episode so far!

Thank you for the awesome content!

[J-]

Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Burlington from the Burlington Route railroad, Northern from Great Northern and Northern Pacific, and Santa Fe from the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe.

[glencook]

I absolutely love your videos. They've become a huge part of my days and have done a lot to improve my depression. Thank you so much. Some of your videos just like you've suggested have hit close to home.

[herrdrayer]

I have a couple of connections to the Santa Fe. My grandfather earned a degree in physics on the GI bill after sailing with the Navy during WW2, and after a stint on the Manhattan project, spent the majority of the 50s working in the R&D department at ATSF. His team developed the first cushioned drawbar, marketed it as the Shock Control boxcar, and demonstrated it by loading the prototype with bottles of California wine, waybilling it to bang through every switch yard on the system, then opened it in Chicago with the press attending. Every single bottle was intact and not a drop was spilled.

After that, his team designed and built the company's, if not country's, first track geometry car. The prototype was a boxcar with a caboose cupola plopped on top, and mechanical measuring equipment fed their data onto long strips of paper for analysis later. When the equipment was working properly, Grandpa sat up in the cupola, snapping pictures of the scenery along the mainline.

One last anecdote. As an ATSF employee, he frequently rode the cushions, traveling to meetings aboard the Super Chief. Whenever he came home from such trips, Grandma sent him straight to the laundry room and thereupon to the shower, because he reeked of tobacco. What we don't hear about when folks wax nostalgic about golden age rail travel, is that smoking was the norm, and even nonsmokers couldn't get away from the stench of tobacco smoke aboard even the most prestigious trains. Super Chief passengers regularly sat in their private rooms and chain smoked from LA to Chicago, and no amount of cleaning could eradicate the smell.

[SoloPilot]

16:50 -- Expecting the merger to go through, they painted several locomotives in the new "SP/SF" paint scheme. After the deal fell through, the joke was that the paint scheme stood for "Shouldn't Paint So Fast" . . .

[sfbfriend]

I certainly remember the Sante Fe, and the Zephyr which I don't recall running with SF. My grandfather started out around Searsboro IA in the Roundhouse, moving up to a fireman then an engineer and onto a road crew. He ended up in Los Angeles working for SP but on Pacific Electric, working in the repair facilities. I have his certificate from Baldwin Locomotive for a Fireman and then an Engineer from 1903. Love the RR history, country wouldn't be what it is today if it wasn't for the RR. Great video, loved it.

[HighHolyOne]

Growing up in Chicago in the 1960's, we heard the nightly news, sponsored by the Santa Fe passenger division. I can hear the jingle clearly in my head, "🎶 On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe" 🎶 I believe directly from the song.

[freetolook]

I remember as a kid growing up in the late 50's and early 60's marveling over the Lionel Sante Fe train set in the store and not being able to afford it!
😩😭😂

[donalddodson]

Thank you, Ryan. Loved the old photos of San Diego's Depot. Great to see the famous Bekins warehouse, the two mission-style towers on the Depot and San Diego Gas & Electric's (SDG&E) generator, steam & trolley barn.