The ''Super C'' was a high-speed intermodal

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

on the

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 larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

from 1968 to 1976. Dubbed the "''World's Fastest Freight Train''," the all-TOFC (

trailer-on-flatcar Trailer on flatcar, also known as TOFC or piggyback, is the practice of carrying semi-trailers on railroad flatcars. TOFC allows for shippers to move truckloads long distances more cheaply than can be done by having each trailer towed by a truck, s ...

, or "piggyback") and COFC (

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

-on-flatcar) train ran about between

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on a 40-hour schedule.

Overview

The brainchild of company president

John Shedd Reed John Shedd Reed (1917 in Chicago, Illinois – March 16, 2008 in Lake Forest, Illinois) was president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and then its parent Santa Fe Industries from 1967 until 1986. The rail transport industry jour ...

, the ''Super C'' (led by a pair of

EMD FP45 The EMD FP45 is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not ...

s) made its first run on January 17, 1968, covering the distance in a record-breaking 37½ hours averaging . The second test train did the ride even faster in 34½ hours averaging . For an added fee of $1,400 per trailer shippers were guaranteed fast delivery. Santa Fe tried high-speed freight operations on its Illinois Division in late 1966. By year's end, passenger-geared GE U28CG locomotives took 19 piggyback cars from L.A.'s Hobart Yard to Chicago in 61 hours. On June 8, 1967 a joint run using New York Central's ''Flexi-Van'' container cars traveled from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Los Angeles in 54 hours, 21 minutes. The Super C carried high-priority items such as auto parts and electronic components; the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

soon became a consistent customer. It was allowed . Train length varied from one to 15 or 20 cars. In the end, too few shippers chose to pay for 40-hour delivery, especially considering that a standard TOFC load arrived in 15 hours more. The final blow came in 1976 when the Santa Fe lost its mail contract to a joint venture of the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

and the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

that could deliver at lower cost on a 50-hour schedule. The Super C completed its last trip on May 20, 1976.

References

* *

External links

ATSF FP45 90
— the history of the first locomotive to lead the ''Super C''. * {{cite web, url=http://www.atsfry.com/OralHistory/Elwood/elwood2.htm, title=Santa Fe's ''SUPER 'C' '': The World's Fastest Freight Train, last=Elwood, first=Jack, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301181609/http://www.atsfry.com/OralHistory/Elwood/elwood2.htm, archivedate=2009-03-01 At th
Santa Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society
official website. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway High-speed rail in the United States Named freight trains