The ''Santa Fe de Luxe'' was the first extra-fare named passenger train 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 ...

. The ''de Luxe'' (meaning something luxurious, or elegant) started on December 12, 1911, on a seasonal weekly schedule 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' ...

. It was the first train the Santa Fe called "Extra Fast - Extra Fine - Extra Fare." It was conceived by company president

Edward Payson Ripley Edward Payson Ripley (October 30, 1845 – February 4, 1920), sometimes referred to as Edward P. Ripley or E. P. Ripley, was the fourteenth president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Youth and education Ripley was born on Octob ...

as the Santa Fe equivalent to the ''

20th Century Limited The ''20th Century Limited'' was an express passenger train on the New York Central Railroad (NYC) from 1902 to 1967. The train traveled between Grand Central Terminal in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, Illinois, along ...

'' ( New York Central) and ''

Broadway Limited The ''Broadway Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central ...

'' ( Pennsylvania Railroad). The trip took 63 hours each way and the sixty passengers paid a surcharge of $25 each way. Passengers could only board in Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City, or at

Williams, Arizona Williams ( yuf-x-hav, Wii Gvʼul) is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, United States, located west of Flagstaff. Its population was 3,023 at the 2010 census. It lies on the routes of Historic Route 66 and Interstate 40. It is also the southe ...

(where those heading to the Grand Canyon boarded a train of the

Grand Canyon Railway The Grand Canyon Railway is a heritage railroad which carries passengers between Williams, Arizona, and the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The railroad, built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, was completed on September 1 ...

. On arrival at Summit in

Cajon Pass Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andr ...

in California eastbound passengers were presented with

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

corsages (for the ladies) and engraved pigskin wallets (for the men). On the westbound run, ladies received a bouquet of

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s and a basket of California

oranges An orange is a fruit of various citrus species in the family Rutaceae (see list of plants known as orange); it primarily refers to ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', which is also called sweet orange, to distinguish it from the related ''Citrus × ...

, while the men got the usual wallet. The ''de Luxe'' was not essential to the war effort and was withdrawn on May 1, 1917.

Equipment used

It took the Pullman Company almost a year to design and build the 12 heavyweight steel underframe cars of the two identical consists of the ''de Luxe'', one of which was: * Baggage-Club-

Lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

(also included a barber shop and library) #1328 ''San Gabriel'' *

Fred Harvey Company The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing ...

Diner #1434 * Sleeper (7 drawing rooms) ''Pima'' * Sleeper (7 drawing rooms) ''Piute'' * Sleeper (7 compartments, 2 drawing rooms) ''Vaca'' * Sleeper (7 compartments, 2 drawing rooms) ''Walpi'' * Observation-Parlor ''El Quivira'' The cars were lavishly furnished and had

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

lighting. Drawing room passengers slept in brass beds instead of the usual berths. The dining cars featured the first attempt at air conditioning on rail passenger cars; the dining room was cooled in the summer with large blocks of ice. The trains were pulled by the best available of the road's passenger pool locomotives. On the prairie districts of Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, most divisions saw fast 4-4-2 "Atlantic"-type engines assigned. On many of the western mountain districts,

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

"Pacific"-type steam locomotives were used, with helpers added over the toughest grades.

References

* * *

External links

California State Railway MuseumSanta Fe Railway Historical & Modeling Society
{{ATSF named trains Passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1911 Night trains of the United States Railway services discontinued in 1917

Equipment used

See also

References

External links