The ''Grand Canyon Limited'' was one of the named

passenger trains A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

of 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 largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

. It was train Nos. 23 & 24 between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

History

In 1901 the Santa Fe Railroad completed a 64-mile (103-km) branch from

Williams, Arizona Williams () is a city in Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County, Arizona, United States, located west of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff. Its population was 3,023 at the 2010 census. It lies on the routes of U.S. Route 66 in Arizona#Historic Ro ...

, to "Grand Canyon Village" at the South Rim of

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...

. The first scheduled train arrived from Williams on September 17 of that year; branch line trains and excursions from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, Chicago, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

could run directly to the Rim. On June 29, 1929, service commenced on the ''Grand Canyon Limited'', which became a celebrated vacation train. The westward train split at Barstow, one

section Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

running to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

(

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

) via the

Tehachapi Loop The Tehachapi Loop is a spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley ...

while the other continued to Los Angeles. In 1938 it began running via Amarillo instead of La Junta; in 1950 it became two trains west of Kansas City, one by each route. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the ''Limited'' often ran in two or three

sections Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

carrying troops. In later years the train lost passengers to the railroad's newer trains such as the ''

Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" b ...

'' with its

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

cars. The ''Grand Canyon'' train lost its name in early 1968 when the railway petitioned the ICC to drop service to

; the train would continue as Trains 23 and 24 until the May 1, 1971, handover of all passenger service to

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

. While the Santa Fe had been willing to continue operating its famed ''Chiefs'' and the '' San Diegan,'' the prospect of having to operate its less successful routes until at least 1976 led it to hand its passenger routes to Amtrak. The ''Grand Canyon'' had been an anachronism for some time. It remained a mostly

whistle stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...

train long after the automobile made such scheduling obsolete for passenger service. Despite this, the Santa Fe continued this scheduling model in order to more efficiently deliver mail parcels. However, when the Post Office abruptly pulled its mail contracts in 1967, the ''Grand Canyon'' became a particularly large albatross around the Santa Fe's neck, especially when the ICC turned down requests to withdraw the train.

Timeline

* September 17, 1901: The Santa Fe inaugurates service on 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 ...

, running between Williams, Arizona, and the South Rim of Grand Canyon. * January 1905: The Santa Fe-built

El Tovar Hotel The El Tovar Hotel, also known simply as El Tovar, is a former Fred Harvey Company, Harvey House hotel situated directly on the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States. The hotel was designed by Charl ...

opens its doors. The luxurious destination resort is situated just 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'' is rerouted over the

Belen Cutoff Belen, Belén or Beleń may refer to: Places * Belén, the Spanish name for Bethlehem Argentina * Belén, Catamarca Bolivia * Belén (Aroma), La Paz Department, Bolivia * Belén (Potosí), Bolivia Colombia * Belén, Boyacá * Belén ...

through

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

. Transit time is reduced to 60 hr 15 min westward and 58 hr 35 min eastward. * June 2, 1946: The ''Grand Canyon Limited'' begins running via Riverside- Fullerton) instead of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

. * June 8, 1947: The train receives its first diesel locomotives and

stainless-steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chr ...

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

passenger cars. The train is broken into two sections and the name is shortened to the ''Grand Canyon''; the schedule is reduced to 48 hours, 45 minutes. * July 1968: The Santa Fe discontinues all passenger service to the Grand Canyon National Park although the tracks are retained for freight service; the ''Grand Canyon'' train is stripped of its name becoming simply Trains 23 and 24. *May 1, 1971: Amtrak takes over passenger service from the Santa Fe; the ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

'' begins service over much of the route. * May 2, 1971: The final Train 24 that left

on April 30 arrives at

Dearborn Station Dearborn Station (also called, Polk Street Depot) was, beginning in the late 1800s, one of six intercity train stations serving downtown Chicago, Illinois. It remained in operation until May 1, 1971. Built in 1883, it is located at Dearbo ...

in Chicago, ending Santa Fe revenue passenger service. *1974: The Santa Fe abandons the Grand Canyon Railway. *September 17, 1989: Passenger service on the Grand Canyon Railway resumes after being purchased by private owners, independent from the Santa Fe in 1988. *2002: Santa Fe 3751, a preserved steam locomotive, runs on the line as part of the 2002 NRHS Convention. It briefly operated over the Grand Canyon Railway alongside the railroad's steam locomotives 18 and 4960. *May 16, 2012: As part of the State of Arizona's centennial celebration, a 5-day journey to the Grand Canyon took place on a special excursion train of the same name. Santa Fe 3751 and Grand Canyon Railway 4960 pulled the train with the help of an Amtrak heritage unit over the Grand Canyon Railway route.

Equipment used

A variety of steam- and diesel-powered locomotives pulled the ''Grand Canyon Limited''. The original rolling stock delivered for the second-class ''Grand Canyon Limited'' was

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

cars built by

Pullman-Standard The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

. * One

baggage Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, tr ...

-dormitory-buffet smoking car * Two "chair" cars (

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

) * One

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...

* Three compartment and drawing-room sleepers * One full open-end

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

parlor car A parlor car (or parlour car outside the U.S.) is a type of passenger car (rail), passenger coach that provides superior comforts and amenities compared to a standard coach. History Parlor cars came about on United States railroads to address ...

Train length varied; the train often ran in two or three sections during the summer months. Near the end of its career, in 1968, a typical consist from Chicago to Kansas City was: * Two

ALCO PA The ALCO PA was a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains. The locomotives were built in Schenectady, New York, in the United States, by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (G ...

s * One streamline baggage car * Two coaches

Notable incidents

* July 7, 1945: Combined train No. 2 ('' The Scout'') and No. 24, powered by locomotive #3733, strikes a "

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

" shovel. The locomotive's pilot, headlight, and cylinders are damaged. *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 is sideswiped by train No. 123 in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in 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 with five diesel locomotives and 16 cars hits a rockslide at near Doublea, Arizona, which derails the locomotives, ten baggage cars, and a passenger car.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * *

External links