Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF, ATSF), or Santa Fe for short , was an American railway company. The company was last located in Schaumburg (Illinois) , and until 1991 in Chicago . In addition to being involved in rail transport, the ATSF also operated a fleet of ship tugs and the short-lived airline Santa Fe Skyway . Areas that were not accessible by rail were opened up via bus routes, and ferries were operated in the Bay of San Francisco , which enabled long-distance travelers to complete their journey to the Pacific. The company merged in 1995 with Burlington Northern (BN) to form the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway .
Route network
The ATSF had one of the largest rail networks in the United States. The core of the network was the main line from Topeka via Albuquerque to San Francisco , Oakland , Los Angeles and San Diego , which is still in operation today with the exception of a short stretch in Kansas. Despite the name, the main route did not go through Santa Fe , but only connected the city via a branch line from Lamy . In the California Tehachapi Mountains the main line was interrupted, instead the Tehachapi Loop of the Southern Pacific Railroad was used. Other main routes led to Denver , Dallas , Houston , Phoenix , Kansas City and Chicago . An extensive network of branch lines existed mainly in the states of Kansas , Oklahoma , Texas , Arizona and California . In 1929 the network covered 13,157 miles. In 1970 there were 12,881 miles, which consisted of 21,472 miles of track. In 1994 the route network still comprised 7800 miles.
history
Founding companies
The oldest predecessor company, the Atchison and Topeka Railroad , was founded in January 1859 by Cyrus K. Holliday to link these two cities. In 1863 "Santa Fe" was added to the company name, as Santa Fe should also be connected to the route network. The construction work on the route leading in the southwest began in Topeka on October 30, 1868, where the Kansas River had to be crossed in a first large step .
Expansion through the prairie
The first only 6 miles (10 km) long section from Topeka to Pauline was opened on April 26, 1869, less than a month before the completion of the first transcontinental route , with the special train Wakarusa Creek Picnic Special . On September 5, 1872, Dodge City was reached, making it possible to compete in cattle transport with the Kansas Pacific Railway . On December 23, 1873, the state line between Kansas and Colorado was reached. The company built further west, not in the direction of Santa Fe, but to Pueblo , which was reached on March 1, 1876. From now on, coal could be transported east from Colorado. The construction of the line in Kansas and in eastern Colorado was easy because the terrain was flat, but due to the low population density it was not economically viable without additional measures. Since the state had great interest in further expanding the railway to the west, the Santa Fe Congress granted land grants for this since 1863 , which means that it made large areas on both sides of the railway lines the property of the railway company, which was also allowed to pass this land on. The Santa Fe established real estate offices and promoted the settlement in the country. Those interested in traveling west to explore the country received discounted tickets . After this settlement project in the prairie was successful, it ensured the economic basis to build the railroad further west over the Rocky Mountains .
Expansion over the Rocky Mountains
With the beginning of the silver discoveries in Leadville , the company was offered a rail connection into the mountains that promised advantages for the first time. Those responsible around William Barstow Strong recognized that the need of the mining locations in Colorado and northern New Mexico for food and capital goods generated a transport volume that made railway construction economical. The route should lead from Pueblo west along the Arkansas River and through the narrow Royal Gorge . From 1878, however, construction began again towards Santa Fe. The route branched off at La Junta from the one to Pueblo and led via Trinidad to the Raton Pass . This led to a partly armed competition with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad , which the ATSF won. She lost the simultaneous competition for the route through the Royal Gorge, but was awarded a compensation of 1.4 million dollars and route usage rights through an arbitration agreement of March 27, 1880 for the work previously done in the gorge. In 1880 Albuquerque was reached, but the city of Santa Fe was left out for topographical reasons. A main route from Dodge City further south through the Plains would have been cheaper. Hostile Indians and lack of water along the southern route as well as the coal fields near Trinidad and Raton favored the decision for the northern route of the Santa Fe Trail .
Transcontinental traffic
In 1881 the connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad , which came from El Paso to Los Angeles, took place in Deming (New Mexico) . The second transcontinental connection was thus established. Deming pushed ahead with the construction of the line via Benson (Arizona) to the Mexican border near Nogales , where there was a connection to the subsidiary Sonora Railway to the port city of Guaymas on the Gulf of California .
From 1880 the ATSF operated the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad together with the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway ( Frisco ) , which in 1883 made the connection to Needles on the Colorado River . There was another connection to the Southern Pacific, which had recently established a cross connection north of Los Angeles from its main line at Mojave . In 1885, the subsidiary California Southern established a line from San Diego via San Bernardino and the Cajon Pass to Barstow, and by the end of the decade, the connection from Los Angeles was complete, albeit under different ownership.
Consolidation
On March 3, 1886 , the ATSF merged with the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway (GCSF), which operated an extensive network in Texas and a branch line to Louisiana , expanding its operations to Dallas , Houston and Galveston on the Gulf Coast . For this purpose, a connection line from Purcell to the ATSF main line near Wichita was built. Both the GCSF and the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway , a subsidiary founded in 1886, whose network extended over northwest Texas and mainly connected Amarillo and Lubbock , were operated as independent railway companies until 1965, which also operated on their routes led. By 1908, the ATSF built a connection between Amarillo and the main line on the Rio Grande to avoid the slopes of the Raton Pass. The route called Belen Cutoff had its greatest gradient in Abo Canyon in the Manzano Mountains , west of Mountainair , New Mexico, where the depot for the route was located. Four years later, with the Coleman Cutoff , this route was connected with the north-south route to the Gulf of Mexico, which enabled train routes like Los Angeles – Houston.
In 1888 Chicago was linked from Kansas City and Denver from Pueblo. The company's problems extended to other skirmishes with rival railroads such as the Frog war between the California Southern and the Southern Pacific in September 1883 over the construction of the route beyond the Cajon Pass: The manager George C. Magoun, who had worked hard to become chairman of the board of directors , the problems in society paid for his health. In 1889, the stock market price , which publicly depended heavily on the success of management, fell from almost $ 140 to just $ 20 per share. In parallel to the stock market price, Magoun's health deteriorated further; he died on December 20, 1893. Three days later, due to the economic crisis of 1893, bankruptcy was declared. After a necessary reorganization of the company, the name of the company was changed in 1895 to "Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway". In the same year, the companies Frisco and Colorado Midland Railway , which had only been acquired in 1890, were sold again, but control of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was retained and confirmed by purchase in 1898. The desire to be able to drive exclusively on its own tracks from Chicago to the Pacific led to a trade with the Southern Pacific the year before, in which the Sonora Railway plus the Nogales – Benson line was exchanged for the Needles – Barstow – Mojave line. In order to get to Central California, route usage rights for the SP line were acquired over the Tehachapi Pass in 1899 and the recently completed San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad from Bakersfield to Stockton was acquired. In 1901, a branch line south to Phoenix was completed from what was now the ATSF main line at Ash Fork .
In 1907, the Santa Fe and the Southern Pacific founded the Northwestern Pacific Railroad , which took over various smaller lines and connected them with new lines to connect San Francisco with Eureka in Northern California. In 1928 the ATSF sold its stake to the Southern Pacific. In the same year she acquired the US-based part of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway to develop the oil fields in western Texas.
Final phase
Following the general trend in the railway industry , the holding company Santa Fe Industries was founded in 1968 and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway became a subsidiary alongside companies that were active in other economic sectors.
In 1983 the Santa Fe Industries merged with the Southern Pacific Company (holding of Southern Pacific Transportation ) to form the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation . The two railway companies should also merge accordingly. Both companies began to repaint their locomotives in red and yellow. Two years later, the Interstate Commerce Commission refused to merge and demanded the sale of one of the two rail companies. The new shortcuts SPSF was of jokers as S hould'nt P aint S o F ast ( "If you had just less quickly repainted") reinterpreted. After the failed merger, the Santa Fe was the smallest of the seven major US freight railways and focused on container and piggyback traffic between the Midwest and Southern California. In June 1994 the merger of Burlington Northern with Santa Fe was announced. The merger was completed on September 21, 1995.
Operational incidents
On January 22, 1956, six kilometers from Los Angeles Union Station, a diesel railcar derailed at 110 km / h in a curve that was only approved for 25 km / h. The cause was probably a blackout of the driver due to a previously undetected epilepsy . 30 people died.
On September 5, 1956 came in the turnout Robinson , New Mexico two long-distance trains, along the front. 20 people died.
Locomotives
The Santa Fe operated a large and diverse fleet of steam locomotives. The locomotive type "Santa Fe" describes locomotives with the axle formula 2-10-2 (1'E1 '), which appeared for the first time in 1903. With over 300 pieces, the railway company owned most of the units of this type. In addition, the Santa Fe maintained every conceivable type, including 4-4-2 Atlantics , 2-6-0 Moguls, 2-8-0 Consolidations, 2-8-2 Mikados (or "Mikes"), 2-10-0 Decapods, 2-6-2 Prairies , 4-8-4 Northern , 4-6-4 Hudsons , 4-6-2 Pacifics , 4-8-2 Mountains , 2-8-4 Berkshires, and 2-10-4 Texas ' . A number of articulated locomotives were also operated, including locomotives with the axle formulas 2-6-6-2, 2-8-8-0, 2-10-10-2, 2-8-8-2 and the rare mallet type 4-4-6-2.
The purchase of the Hudson type began in 1927 with the 3450 class and was completed ten years later with the 3460 class . Locomotive 3461 set a long-distance world record with 2227 miles between Chicago and Los Angeles in December 1937.
The Santa Fe was one of the first US railways to use diesel locomotives (1936/37), which eliminated the need for steam locomotives with water in the desert regions. The first diesel locomotives were used for the newly introduced Super Chief in 1936 . Electrification between Albuquerque / Belem and Bakersfield was even examined beforehand. With the 1974 oil crisis , the Santa Fe boardroom contemplated electrifying the entire main Chicago - Los Angeles line.
passenger traffic
The ATSF was known for its passenger traffic, which was maintained until 1971 and which was later transferred to Amtrak . The locomotives were used here in the “ Warbonnet ” design with a red front, red stripes drawn down on the side in an S-line and a yellow cross on the front bearing the ATSF's coat of arms and name.
The ATSF has been innovative in developing rolling stock and train systems. As early as 1956, she was using double-decker long-distance passenger coaches in the famous Super Chief overland train, as popularized by Amtrak in the late 1970s. To reach smaller cities, rail diesel cars were used and bus connections were offered via the Trailways Transportation System . The use of observation cars began in 1951 in the Super Chief under the name "Pleasure Domes".
Long-distance trains left Chicago at Dearborn Station and reached Los Angeles at La Grande Station by May 1939, then at Union Station . The most important long-distance trains on this route were next to the Super Chief and the Schwesterzug El Capitan ten years ago introduced and exclusively with Pullman cars formed Chief and the even older California Limited , which has been set, however, in 1954 and did not live thus the transition to Amtrak.
Web links
- Site of Burlington Northern Santa Fe
- Page about the vehicles of the ATSF from 1985 to 1995 (eng.)
- The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Santa Fe All The Way!
- Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company (AT & S.F.Ry.Co.) Collection Highlights
- Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company - Encyclopedia Britannica
- Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad
- Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company: An Inventory of Its Records, 1910-1986
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d George H. Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads . 2nd Edition. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha 1999, ISBN 0-89024-356-5 , pp. 24-27 .
- ^ The Birth of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, by Joseph W. Snell and Don W. Wilson, Summer 1968 . Kancoll.org. January 17, 1968. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved on October 28, 2012.
- ^ Peter WB Semmens: Catastrophes on rails. A worldwide documentation. Transpress, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-344-71030-3 , pp. 154-155.
- ↑ Santa Fe 4-6-4 "Hudson" Type Locomotives. (No longer available online.) In: Steam Locomotive dot com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012 ; Retrieved November 1, 2012 .