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Grand Canyon Limited

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File:OP-2102.jpg
The Grand Canyon Limited, led by Santa Fe #5021, departs Belen, New Mexico under a full head of steam on January 12, 1947.

The Grand Canyon Limited was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was assigned train Nos. 23 & 24, and its route stretched between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California.

In 1901, the Santa Fe Railroad completed a 64-mile (103-km) long branch line from Williams, Arizona to "Grand Canyon Village" at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. The first scheduled train of the Grand Canyon Railway to convey paying passengers arrived from Williams on September 17 of that year.

Branch line trains as well as special excursions departing from Southern California, Chicago, and Texas and travelling directly to the Rim were often schedule as a part of the Santa Fe's Southwestern promotional strategy. Finally, on June 29, 1929, service commenced on the Grand Canyon Limited, named for the railroad's most popular tourist attraction. It quickly became one of America's most celebrated vacation trains.

Under typical operation the westward trains were split in two sections upon arrival at Barstow, in order that one section could travel directly to San Francisco (Oakland-Richmond) via the Tehachapi Loop, while the other continued on to Los Angeles. During World War II, the Limited was often run in two or three sections to transport troops between Chicago-Los Angeles and San Francisco. In its later years, the train steadily lost passengers to the railroad's flashier, more-modern name trains such as the Super Chief and its streamlined passenger cars.

The Grand Canyon train lost its name in early 1968 when the railway petitioned the ICC to drop service to the Grand Canyon National Park[1]; however the train would continue to operate as Trains 23 and 24 until the May 1, 1971 handover of all passenger service to Amtrak[2] .


History

Timeline

  • September 17, 1901: The Santa Fe inaugurates service on the Grand Canyon Railway, running between Williams, Arizona and the South Rim of Grand Canyon.
  • January 1905: The first-class, Santa Fe-built El Tovar Hotel opens its doors. The structure is situated just 20 feet from the canyon rim.
  • June 29, 1929: The Grand Canyon Limited enters service; schedule 66 hours each way between Chicago and Los Angeles.
  • June 4, 1938: the Grand Canyon Limited and the Navajo are rerouted over the Belen cutoff through Amarillo, Texas. Transit time is reduced to 60 hr 15 min westward and 58 hr 35 min eastward.
  • July 7, 1945: Combined train No. 2 (The Scout) and No. 24, powered by locomotive #3733, strikes a "Caterpillar" shovel. The locomotive's pilot, headlight, and cylinders are damaged in the collision.
  • June 2, 1946: The Grand Canyon Limited is rerouted from Santa Fe's Second District (via Pasadena) to the Third District (via Riverside-Fullerton) to balance the number of passenger trains entering the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT).
  • June 8, 1947: The line receives its first diesel locomotives and stainless-steel lightweight passenger cars. The train is broken into two separate sections and the name is shortened to the Grand Canyon. The operating schedule is reduced to 48 hours, 45 minutes.
  • December 27, 1949: Train No. 23 collides with an automobile at a grade crossing in Highland Park, California, which flattens the wheels on the locomotives.
  • May 31, 1951: Combined train No. 2 (The Scout) and No. 23 is sideswiped by train No. 123 in Chandler, Arizona, derailing cars #RSX 287, express #2558, baggage #1634, and "chair" cars #3108 and #3070. No. 123 cars baggage #1791 and #1601, "chair" cars #3087, #3158, and #1169, diner #1461, lounge #136, and sleepers L.S. Hungerford, Tonelea, Toreva, and Centgate also sustain damage.
  • April 5, 1964: Train No. 123, consisting of five locomotives and 16 cars, encounters a rockslide while traveling at 81 miles-per-hour through Doublea, Arizona.
  • Early 1968: The Santa Fe Railway files for permission to discontinue all passenger service to the Grand Canyon National Park; the Grand Canyon train is stripped of its name becoming simply Trains 23 and 24.
  • May 2, 1971: The final Train 24, dispatched from Los Angeles on April 30, arrives at Dearborn Station in Chicago, ending Santa Fe revenue passenger service.

Equipment used

File:OP-2227.jpg
Four EMD FT locomotives, pulling a lightweight consist of the renamed Grand Canyon, passes west of Vaughn, New Mexico on September 21, 1947.

A wide variety of steam- and diesel-powered locomotives served the Grand Canyon Limited over the course of its lifetime.

The original rolling stock delivered for the second-class Grand Canyon Limited consisted of all heavyweight cars built by the Pullman-Standard. The equipment used on both trains was as follows:

Train consists varied daily as traffic density fluctuated; the train often ran in two or three sections during the summer months.

Near the end of its career, in 1968, reflecting the dwindling passenger traffic of the time, a typical consist between the Chicago and Kansas City portion of the trip was as follows:

  • Two Alco PA's
  • One Streamline Baggage Car
  • Two coaches

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Timetables". The Official Guide of the Railways. 101 (1): 517–547. 1968. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Timetables". The Official Guide of the Railways. 103 (11): 428–450. 1971. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

References

  • Duke, Donald and Stan Kistler (1963). Santa Fe...Steel Rails through California. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA.
  • Duke, Donald (1997). Santa Fe: The Railroad Gateway to the American West, Volume Two. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-110-6.
  • Frailey, Fred W. (1974). A Quarter Century of Santa Fe Consists. RPC Publications, Godfrey, IL.
  • Schafer, Mike, Pike Size Trains, Model Railroader Magazine, November 1980, p. 67
  • Strein, Robert; et al. (2001). Santa Fe: The Chief Way. New Mexico Magazine. ISBN 0-937206-71-7. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)
  • Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. Wayner Publications, New York, NY. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Zimmerman, Karl (1987). Santa Fe Streamliners: The Chiefs and Their Tribesman. Quadrant Press, Inc., New York, NY. ISBN 0-915276-41-0.
A map depicting the "Grand Canyon Route" of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway circa 1901.
A group photo of passengers from the first run of the Grand Canyon Railway in 1901.
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