ATSF History

Few railroads, or companies of any kind, can boast as rich or interesting a heritage as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company. Born of the desire of one man, Cyrus K. Holliday, to link his adopted home of Kansas with the romantic reaches of the Southwest, Santa Fe blanketed the southwestern quadrant of the nation with more than 13,000 miles of main line. Famous for its now-vanished fleet of luxurious passenger trains, the railroad later capitalized on its fast-running plant to dominate the transportation of intermodal freight between Chicago, Texas and California.

The challenge PRN's editors issued to me was to reduce this history to a timeline enabling readers to trace the development and evolution of this remarkable company. To accomplish this, I culled significant dates from the corporate histories of the Santa Fe and books on facets of the railroad industry as a whole. Editorial license had to be exercised to prevent the chronology from approaching the length of these references. The explanations for some dates, such as those describing the conflict with the Rio Grande over the Royal Gorge, omit much interesting material, and those interested in more detail are referred to the books listed at the conclusion of the text.

In some cases the dates appearing in different references for the same event do not agree. I resolved conflicts, where possible, by reference to the line-by-line construction chronology published in Marshall's Santa Fe: The Railroad That Built an Empire, which evidently was prepared by Santa Fe's Engineering Department. Otherwise, I attempted to use precise language, recognizing that, for example, the date on which a particular line was physically completed may have differed slightly from the date on which trains began to run.

To tell the whole story, we need to go back to the days when the continent had been newly discovered by Europeans determined to colonize it . . .

1598

• Don Juan de Onate establishes La Ciudad de la Santa Fe de San Francisco (City of the Holy Faith of St. Francis), seat of government and business center of the Spanish territory of New Mexico
  

1821

• Mexico gains independence from Spain; Capt. William Becknell leads first American traders to Santa Fe over what would become the Santa Fe Trail
  

1826

• April 3: Cyrus K. Holliday born near Carlisle, Pa.
  

1846

• August 16: U.S. Army enters Santa Fe, reopening Santa Fe Trail trade after short Mexican embargo
  

1848

• February 2: Mexico cedes New Mexico to U.S. under Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
  

1850-1860

• Trade and travel over the Santa Fe Trail grow; many use it to move to California
  

1854

• Holliday moves to Kansas, begins development of Topeka and sees potential of railroad to the West
  

1859

• February 24: Chicago & Plainfield Railroad chartered (first predecessor of Santa Fe's Chicago line)
  

1860

• September 15-17: Holliday and others organize the Atchison & Topeka Railroad Company; Holliday named first president
  

1863

• March 3: President Lincoln signs legislation providing land grant for completion of railroad from Atchison to Topeka "to the western line of the State [of Kansas], in the direction of Fort Union and Santa Fe;" line must be completed in 10 years to get grant
  
• November 24: Company changes name to Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Company
  

1865-1868

• Holliday and others attempt to raise funds for construction of railroad with limited success
  

1868

• July 25: Congress authorizes AT&SF to purchase unallotted lands of Pottawatomie Indian Reservation near Topeka for $1 an acre; resales to farmers provide capital for construction
  
• October 30: Construction begins on Washington Street, between Fourth and Fifth, in Topeka
  

1869

• March 30: Bridge over Kaw River to connection with Kansas Pacific (now Union Pacific) opened
  
• April 26: Santa Fe's first locomotive, 4-4-0 Cyrus K. Holliday, pulls the railroad's first train, a two-car excursion, over seven miles of completed track. At Wakarusa, a picnic is held and Holliday makes his famous speech predicting that AT&SF will be built to Chicago, St. Louis, Galveston, San Francisco and Mexico City. Most of the predictions eventually come true.
  
• June 23: First timetable issued, covering service over 17 miles of line to Carbondale
  

1870

• First Mennonite immigrants from the Ukraine settle along Santa Fe line. They cultivate the hard red winter wheat that would become the staple crop of Kansas and traffic base of Santa Fe
  
• July 20: Line completed to Emporia, 62 miles from Topeka. Cattle drives from Texas provide new source of traffic
  

1871

• July: Line completed to Newton, 134 miles from Topeka
  

1872

• May 16: Line opened between Topeka and Atchison, giving Santa Fe more rail connections to the East
  
• May: Wichita & Southwestern affiliate completes line from Newton to Wichita
  
• December 28: Track laid to Kansas-Colorado border, securing three million acre land grant
  

1873

• January 6: Chicago, Pekin & South-Western Railroad (CP&SW, successor to Chicago & Plainfield) completes line between Pekin and Streator, Ill., 56 miles
  
• May 28: Galveston citizens incorporate the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway (GC&SF) to construct line bypassing Houston into the Texas interior toward Santa Fe. This company is not initially affiliated with AT&SF
  

1875

• October 1: AT&SF extends system from Topeka to Kansas City by leasing short lines (later acquired and merged)
  
• First recorded use of refrigerated equipment (to haul meat)
  

1876

• February 29: AT&SF subsidiary Pueblo & Arkansas Valley completes line from Kansas-Colorado border to Pueblo
  
• Fred Harvey, a Burlington Route employee, begins operating the Topeka lunchroom for Santa Fe
  

1877

• GC&SF completes 43 miles of line from Galveston to Arcola, Texas
  
• November 1: Board of Directors hires William Barstow Strong as General Manager; Strong, who would become president in 1881, plans vigorous expansion of the railroad
  

1878

• January 1: Fred Harvey contracts with Santa Fe to operate hotel and restaurant at Florence, Kansas-the first Harvey House
  
• February 26-27: Strong orders Chief Engineer A.A. Robinson to occupy and hold Raton Pass, the only practical rail route from Colorado to New Mexico. Robinson secures agreement with "Uncle Dick" Wootton to build railroad over pass and occupies the pass with his men, beating rival Denver & Rio Grande by mere hours
  
• March: AT&SF decides to build line from Pueblo through the Royal Gorge to the mining town of Leadville, Colo. Santa Fe workers seize Royal Gorge, but Supreme Court later rules Rio Grande had prior right to build this route, with use to be shared by both railroads
  
• December 7: First train enters New Mexico via switchback over Raton Pass
  
• December 14: Bondholders lease impoverished Rio Grande to Santa Fe over objection of D&RG management
  

1879

• January 10: Robinson recommends not building main line through Santa Fe due to difficult terrain. Santa Fe served by branch from Lamy completed Feb. 16, 1880.
  
• July 24: Rio Grande enters receivership
  
• December 31: Affiliates complete lines from Wichita to Wellington and Arkansas City, Kan.
  

1880

• January 31: AT&SF acquires one-half of Atlantic & Pacific Company (A&P) and agrees with St. Louis & San Francisco, owner of the other half, to construct Western Division of A&P from New Mexico to California. A&P is valuable because of its Congressional land grant
  
• February 2: "Treaty of Boston" concludes Royal Gorge contest; Rio Grande lease ends April 4, 1880, and Santa Fe drops Leadville extension
  
• April 15: Affiliate New Mexico & Southern Pacific (NM&SP) completes line from Colo.-N.M. state line to Albuquerque
  
• October 14: Strong signs agreement with Mexico Presidente Porfirio Diaz for construction of Sonora Railway from Pacific port of Guaymas, Mexico to Nogales, Ariz.
  
• October 16: California Southern Railroad organized to construct line from San Diego through San Bernardino to meet A&P
  
• December 16: AT&SF acquires Southern Kansas Railway, extending from Lawrence to Coffeyville and Chanute to Wellington to Harper, Kan.
  
• December 22: A&P completed from Isleta (junction with NM&SP) to Acoma, N.M., 75 miles
  

1881

• February: GC&SF completed to Temple, Texas, junction of proposed routes to North Texas and Santa Fe
  
• March 8: NM&SP and Rio Grande, Mexico & Pacific (another subsidiary) complete line from Albuquerque to SP connection at Deming, N.M., forming new transcontinental main line, but SP refuses to route traffic via Santa Fe
  
• July 1: RGM&P and Rio Grande & El Paso complete line from Rincon, N.M. to El Paso
  
• December 8: GC&SF completes line from Temple to Fort Worth
  

1882

• D&RG permits Santa Fe to lay a third (standard-gauge) rail, and operate trains, on its line between Pueblo and Denver
  
• June 1: Former Southern Kansas Olathe Branch connected to Kansas City-Topeka line at Holliday via new construction
  
• August 1: GC&SF affiliate Chicago, Texas & Mexican Central completes line from Cleburne to Dallas, Texas
  
• August 16: CS completes line from National City to Colton, Calif., through Temecula Canyon; secures court orders forcing SP to permit construction of crossing
  
• October 25: New Mexico & Arizona subsidiary completes line from SP connection at Benson, Ariz., to Nogales, meeting the Sonora. SP had granted trackage rights from Deming to Benson, permitting Santa Fe to claim it was the longest rail line in the world under one management (1,700 miles, Kansas City to Guaymas). Guaymas line, though, proves a commercial failure
  

1883

• May 1: GC&SF completes branch from Alvin to Houston, Texas
  
• August 3: A&P completes bridge across Colorado River near Needles, Calif., connecting with new SP line from Mojave to Needles. Again, SP refuses to develop traffic over this new connection
  

1884

• February 1: Opening of line between Ottawa Junction and N.R. Junction completes direct Kansas City-Emporia route bypassing Topeka
  
• July 4: Congress authorizes Southern Kansas to construct two lines across Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), one south and one southwest from Kansas; GC&SF also authorized to build north through Indian Territory
  
• October 1: A&P assumes control of SP line between Needles and Mojave and obtains trackage rights on SP from Mojave to San Francisco
  

1885

• September 11: Los Angeles & San Gabriel Valley completes line between Los Angeles and Pasadena
  
• November 9: CS completes line between San Bernardino and Barstow over Cajon Pass
  
• November 21: Chicago, Kansas & Western subsidiary incorporated to construct branches in Kansas; 903 miles constructed by end of 1887, including 84-mile "short cut" between Hutchinson and Kinsley
  
• December 21: Chicago & St. Louis (successor to CP&SW) completes line between Pekin and Chicago (23rd Street)
  

1886

• May 15: AT&SF acquires control of GC&SF, which had constructed 670 route miles (Galveston-Fort Worth, Cleburne-Dallas, Temple-Coleman), in order to complete Texas route
  
• December 3: Chicago, Santa Fe & California incorporated to build Chicago extension; CSF&C acquires Chicago & St. Louis on Dec. 15, 1886
  

1887

• April 26: Southern Kansas and GC&SF railheads meet at Purcell, I.T.
  
• May 20: San Bernardino & Los Angeles affiliate completes line from San Bernardino to Mud Springs (near San Dimas), Calif., meeting LA&SGV and completing Los Angeles-San Bernardino line via Pasadena
  
• October 1: Following construction of Missouri Pacific extension to Pueblo, giving Rio Grande new connection to the East (both roads were allied under Jay Gould), subsidiary Denver & Santa Fe Railway completes independent line from Pueblo to Denver
  

1888

• January 15: Southern Kansas opens line from Kiowa, Kan., to Panhandle, Texas over Curtis Hill
  
• April 29: CSF&C begins operation of Chicago-K.C. line after completion of Sibley Bridge over Missouri River; trains enter Chicago's Dearborn Station via Grand Trunk
  
• Fred Harvey begins operating the first Santa Fe dining cars between Kansas City and Chicago
  
• August 12: California Central affiliate completes line between Redondo Junction and Fallbrook Junction, Calif., creating direct route between Los Angeles and San Diego and permitting abandonment of flood-prone original line through Temecula Canyon
  
• August: Riverside, Santa Ana & Los Angeles affiliate completes Los Angeles-San Bernardino line via Orange and Fullerton
  

1889

• September 6: After Santa Fe's new lines fail to earn profits, Strong resigns as president under pressure from new board of directors and is succeeded by Allen Manvel
  

1890

• May 23: Santa Fe purchases Frisco through exchange of stock
  
• August 27: Pecos Valley Railway formed by James J. Hagerman to build rail line north through New Mexico from Texas & Pacific connection at Pecos, Texas
  
• September 5: Santa Fe purchases Colorado Midland Railway (Colorado Springs-Glenwood Springs, Colo.)
  

1891

• November 18: Line completed to Ft. Wayne Junction in Chicago, providing direct route to Dearborn Station
  

1892

• November 27: First run of the California Limited between Chicago and L.A.; this was Santa Fe's premier daily transcontinental train before the Chief
  

1893

• December 23: Santa Fe (and Frisco) placed in receivership after revenues dropped and capital dried up during 1893 depression
  

1895

• March 14: Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix opens line from Ash Fork to Phoenix
  
• July 22: Construction of San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad (SF&SJV) commences at Stockton
  
• December 12: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company is incorporated to purchase Santa Fe's assets out of receivership (purchase is completed Jan. 1, 1896). Unprofitable Frisco and CM not included in reorganization and become independent. E.P. Ripley becomes president
  

1897

• Santa Fe trades Sonora Railway and Benson-Nogales, Ariz., line to SP for Needles-Mojave trackage
  

1898

• May 27: SF&SJV completes line from Stockton to Bakersfield
  

1899

• January 16: Santa Fe signs first agreement with SP for trackage rights between Mojave and Kern Junction (Bakersfield), Calif., over Tehachapi Pass
  
• March 1: Hagerman's Pecos Valley & Northeastern and Santa Fe's Panhandle & Santa Fe complete line between Panhandle and Amarillo, Texas, and Clovis and Carlsbad, N.M.
  
• November 1: Santa Fe acquires SF&SJV
  

1900

• March 29: Cyrus K. Holliday dies
  
• May 1: First Santa Fe freight train arrives at Point Richmond, Calif., on San Francisco Bay
  
• July 6: Ferry service across San Francisco Bay commences after through passenger service begins July 1, 1900
  

1901

• Santa Fe purchases majority interest in Pecos Valley & Northeastern
  

1903

• Baldwin produces first 2-10-2 locomotives; wheel arrangement is named Santa Fe in AT&SF's honor
  

1904

• May 16: Oakland & East Side Railroad completes line from Richmond to Oakland, Calif.
  

1905

• May 1: Santa Fe's line to Tulsa opens
  
• July 9-11: Coyote Special of Walter "Death Valley Scotty" Scott runs from L.A. to Chicago in 44 hours 54 minutes at an average speed of 50.4 mph, helping establish Santa Fe's reputation as a fast railroad
  
• Union Oil Company and San Bernardino Shops successfully convert 4-4-0 steam locomotive 10 from coal to oil burning, leading to the conversion of much of the fleet. Santa Fe begins acquiring drilling rights in Kern County oil fields for fuel
  

1907

• January 8: Northwestern Pacific Railroad incorporated to operate Santa Fe and SP lines north and west of San Francisco; owned 50-50 by each party
  

1908

• July 1: Belen Cutoff from Texico to Belen to Dalies, N.M., opens, providing faster and more efficient freight route
  

1909

• First motor cars, two McKeen streamlined units, delivered for branch line service. Though these two were not successful, Santa Fe eventually acquired many more "doodlebugs" to cut the cost of providing branchline passenger service
  

1910

• January 9: P&SF completes line from Amarillo to Lubbock, Texas
  
• July 1: Arizona & California subsidiary opens line between Matthie, Ariz., and Cadiz, Calif., creating short line between Phoenix and California
  

1911

• Topeka Shops rebuilds ten 2-10-2 locomotives into 2-10-10-2 Mallets, but the conversion is not successful and the locos are changed back to 2-10-2s in 1915-1918.
  
• December 12: Santa Fe begins operating the DeLuxe, weekly extra fare train between Chicago and L.A., "limited to 60 people"
  

1912

• January 20: The Saint (northbound) and Angel (southbound) commence overnight operations between L.A. and Oakland (they were discontinued on Dec. 31, 1918)
  

1914

• March 1: Pecos & Northern Texas subsidiary completes line between Coleman, Lubbock and Clovis, creating direct through route between Houston/ Galveston and California
  

1919

• First 2-10-4 Texas type locomotive, the 3829, delivered
  

1920

• November: Santa Fe payroll reaches peak level of 82,059 under federal government control
  

1924

• May 5: Cutoff from Ellinor to El Dorado, Kan., 42 miles, through the Flint Hills placed in service, completing today's transcontinental freight main line
  

1926

• May 26: Line to L.A. Harbor completed
  
• November 14: First run of the Chief, extra fare Chicago-L.A. train
  

1927

• First 4-8-4 locomotive, 3751, delivered
  

1928

• June 26: Santa Fe board approves sale of half interest in NWP to SP
  
• October 19: Santa Fe purchases Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway, operating between Wichita, Kan., and Alpine, Texas
  

1929

• May 15: Santa Fe acquires Clinton & Oklahoma Western, operating between Clinton, Okla., and Pampa, Texas
  

1930

• 2-10-4 5000, the "Madame Queen," enters service; it is the first modern Texas-type engine on the roster
  
• August First mechanically air-conditioned diner enters service
  
• November 1: Former KCM&O line extended 137 miles from Alpine to Mexican border at Presidio, Texas
  

1931

• November 15: Elkhart & Santa Fe subsidiary completes track between Mount Dora and Farley, N.M., as part of proposed Colmor Cutoff between Dodge City and Colmor, N.M., to avoid Raton Pass. Cutoff is never completed and Farley Branch is abandoned September 6, 1942.
  
• Santa Fe system achieves peak route mileage of 13,568. For many years Santa Fe was the longest railroad in the United States. Depression and Dust Bowl depopulation of the plains soon force abandonment of more than 300 miles of marginal branches
  

1935

• February 4: First diesel locomotive, Alco HH600 switcher 2300, delivered
  
• August 30: First road diesels, Electro-Motive Corp. boxcabs 1A and 1B, delivered
  

1936

• May 12: First weekly run of Super Chief with 1A/1B and heavyweight equipment
  
• May 20: Santa Fe SC600 switcher 2301 is the first diesel locomotive built at EMC's McCook, Ill., facility
  

1937

• February 1: Trackage between Boise City, Okla., and Las Animas Junction, Colo., placed in service, creating direct Colorado-Texas route
  
• March 1: Santa Fe acquires Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railway from Frisco. This 215-mile line, running between Fort Worth, Brownwood and Menard, provides a more direct route between Dallas, Fort Worth and California
  
• May 18: First run of streamlined weekly Super Chief behind boxcabs
  
• June 4: The first Warbonnet-painted locomotives, E1A 2A and E1B 2B, are delivered by EMC
  

1938

• January 31: First run of streamlined equipment on the Chief
  
• February 22: First run of El Capitan on twice-weekly schedule; second Super Chief consist enters service, permitting twice-weekly operation of that train
  
• March 27: First run of San Diegans
  
• July 1: First run of Golden Gate rail-bus service between Oakland and L.A.
  

1940

• December: First FT freight diesels delivered. Santa Fe would acquire 320 FT A and B units through 1945, permitting dieselization of desert territory, where water for steam locomotives is scarce and of poor quality
  

1942

• Santa Fe abandons 247 miles of branch lines; the scrap aids war effort
  

1944

• Last new steam locomotives, 2-10-4s 5011-5035, delivered
  
• June 4: First experimental use of two-way radio for train crew communications
  

1945

• December 15: Santa Fe commences operations over SP to Port of Long Beach
  

1946

• July 1: Santa Fe Skyway begins air freight operations from Wichita, but federal regulators force it to quit in 1947
  

1948

• February 29: Super Chief and El Capitan begin daily operation
  
• April 3: First run of Texas Chief, first Santa Fe streamliner intended to operate without an observation car (round-end sleeper-lounge cars would be rebuilt with squared ends for more efficient operations)
  

1951

• January 28: Super Chief reequipped with new equipment, including Pleasure Dome lounges and Vista-series observations
  

1952

• First experiments with piggyback service
  

1954

• Regular piggyback service commences
  
• June 6: First run of San Francisco Chief
  

1955

• December 1: Dalton Junction-Zacha Junction, Texas, cutoff, 48 miles, completed, providing direct Chicago-Dallas route. Dallas section of Texas Chief begins
  

1956

• July 15: Hi-level El Capitan begins regular service
  

1957

• August 27: Last revenue steam operations: 2-10-4 5021 and 4-8-4 3780 in helper service at Belen, N.M.
  

1958

• January 12: Super Chief and El Capitan combined except during peak seasons
  

1960

• December 19: Williams Junction-Crookton, Ariz., line relocation completed, reducing grades and curvature
  

1962

• March: New line completed between Abra and Skull Valley, Ariz., improving profile of Phoenix route
  

1963

• First successful top-lift crane designed for piggyback placed in service at Corwith Yard, Chicago
  

1965

• January 27: ICC rejects competing Santa Fe and SP plans to merge with WP
  
• April 22: Santa Fe buys Oklahoma City-Ada-Atoka Railway, operating 105 miles between Oklahoma City, Ada and Tupelo, Okla.
  
• August 1: GC&SF and P&SF merged into AT&SF
  

1966

• September 28: York Canyon, N.M., branch placed in operation with unit coal train service to Kaiser Steel in California
  

1967

• October 6: U.S. Post Office withdraws Railway Post Office cars from Santa Fe routes. On October 4, Santa Fe president John S. Reed announces plan to discontinue all passenger trains except Super Chief, El Capitan, Texas Chief, San Francisco Chief and San Diegan service
  

1968

• January 17: Super C Chicago-L.A. freight service inaugurated with 34 hour 35 minute run, a record that still stands
  
• May 13: Last run of the Chief
  
• December 31: Fred Harvey operation of dining cars terminates
  

1970

• February 27: First CF7 road-switcher released by Cleburne Shops; it is the first of more than 1,200 locomotives rebuilt by Cleburne and San Bernardino shops during the 1970s and 1980s
  
• Santa Fe adopts program to abandon 815 miles of branch lines; proceedings consume most of following decade
  

1971

• May 2: Santa Fe passenger service ends with the arrival of the Grand Canyon at Dearborn Station. Amtrak assumes responsibility for Super Chief, El Capitan, Texas Chief and San Diegans
  

1972

• Blue/yellow version of Warbonnet paint scheme adopted for freight locomotives
  

1976

• Experimental "Six-Pack" articulated spine car built
  
• February: New Barstow yard opens
  
• May 4: Last regular run of Super C after Santa Fe loses mail contract
  

1978

• Topeka Shops build 11 "Fuel Foiler" articulated-10-unit spine cars for long-distance intermodal service
  

1979

• May 12: Last freight run on Richmond-Oakland line; Santa Fe trains shift to SP trackage rights
  

1980

• May 15: Santa Fe announces agreement to merge with SP as a response to Union Pacific-Missouri Pacific-Western Pacific merger. Merger discussions terminate in September
  

1982

• Santa Fe-led effort by states of Oklahoma and Arkansas to save, upgrade and operate Rock Island's line between Amarillo and Memphis fails
  

1983

• July 7: Last run on Pekin District (Ancona-Pekin, Ill.)
  
• September 27: Santa Fe announces new agreement to merge with SP
  
• December 23: Santa Fe and Southern Pacific holding companies merge, creating Santa Fe Southern Pacific; SP put in voting trust pending ICC decision on railroad merger
  

1984

• January 1: Toledo, Peoria & Western merged into Santa Fe
  
• May 4: Fire damages Ferry Point, Richmond dock; Santa Fe subsequently embargoes and abandons tug-and-barge service across San Francisco Bay
  

1985

• Santa Fe commences operation of doublestack equipment
  

1986

• July 24: ICC rejects Santa Fe-SP merger as anticompetitive
  

1987

• June 30: ICC denies petition for reconsideration of Santa Fe-SP merger despite grants of extensive trackage rights to UP and Rio Grande and public support
  
• July 28: Robert D. Krebs elected president and CEO of holding company; he becomes chairman in 1989
  

1988

• October 13: Southern Pacific sold to Rio Grande Industries
  

1989

• February 3: Former TP&W east-west main sold to new company with TP&W name as first major Santa Fe line sale
  
• July: New AT&SF president Mike Haverty restores red/silver Warbonnet paint scheme to FP45s 101 and 102; new power also ordered in these colors
  
• November 13: Santa Fe begins directed service from Kansas City to St. Louis and Springfield, Ill., over Chicago, Missouri & Western; Gateway Western assumes operations on January 9, 1990
  

1990

• J.B. Hunt and Santa Fe form Quantum marketing partnership, carrying truck traffic by rail
  

1991

• January 25: Santa Fe moves out of Railway Exchange Building in Chicago, its headquarters since 1904, to new office building in Schaumburg, Ill.
  
• Remaining former KCM&O trackage sold to two buyers
  
• May 9: Cadiz, Calif.-Matthie, Ariz., route sold to Arizona & California
  
• June: Haverty resigns; Krebs becomes president
  

1992

• Downtown Dallas segment of Dallas Subdivision sold to Dallas Area Rapid Transit; Kansas City Southern agrees to buy northern segment and part of the Garland Subdivision
  
• September 3: Santa Fe begins using trackage rights over UP between Fort Worth and Tecific (Sweetwater), Texas, shortening Dallas-California route
  
• December 16: First closing of sale of Southern California trackage to Southern California Regional Rail Authority; Santa Fe retains freight rights
  
• December 21: 158 miles of San Joaquin Valley branches sold to Tulare Valley Railway; most are later abandoned
  
• December 31: 887 miles of branch lines in Kansas and Oklahoma sold to Broe Corporation as Central Kansas Railway
  

1993

• June 3: Burlington Northern grants Santa Fe haulage rights from Avard, Okla., to Tulsa, Memphis and Birmingham
  
• July-August: Floods sever main lines in Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, disrupting operations
  
• September 20: Santa Fe completes centralization of dispatching, crew calling and other functions in Schaumburg, Topeka and Kansas City
  

1994

• January 30: Pasadena Subdivision severed; all L.A. trains operate via Fullerton
  
• March 31: First train arrives at new Alliance, Texas, yard
  
• May 20: Dublin Subdivision (former Fort Worth & Rio Grande main line) sold to Cen-Tex Rail Link
  
• June 30: Burlington Northern and Santa Fe announce agreement to merge
  
• August 8: First train arrives at new Willow Springs, Ill., intermodal facility
  

1995

• July 20: ICC approves BN-Santa Fe merger
  
• August 1: KCS completes purchase of north segment of Dallas Sub, gains trackage rights to Alliance Yard
  
• September 22: Santa Fe and BN holding companies merge; merger of railroad operations anticipated by Jan. 1, 1996
  

• Bryant, Keith L. Jr., History of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1974
  
• Waters, L.L., Steel Trails to Santa Fe, University of Kansas Press, 1950
  
• Marshall, James, Santa Fe: The Railroad That Built an Empire, Random House, Inc., 1945
  
• Bradley, Glenn D., The Story of the Santa Fe, The Gorham Press, 1920
  
• McCall, John B., The Doodlebugs, Kachina Press, 1977
  
• McCall, John B., Santa Fe's Early Diesel Daze, Kachina Press, 1980
  
• Zimmermann, Karl, Santa Fe Streamliners, Quadrant Press, Inc., 1987
  
• Worley, E.D., Iron Horses of The Santa Fe Trail, Southwest Railroad Historical Society, 1965
  
• Serpico, Philip C., Santa Fe Route to the Pacific, Omni Publications, 1988
  
• DeBoer, David J., Piggyback and Containers, Golden West Books, 1992
  
• Manual of The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company and Affiliated Companies (the "Red Book"), various dates
  
• Meade's History of the Santa Fe, unpublished, ca. 1917
  
• ICC reports
  

© 1995 Pentrex, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.