Southwest Chief

The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff mostly on the BNSF's Southern Transcon, but branches off between Albuquerque and Kansas City via the Topeka, La Junta, Raton, and Glorieta Subdivision. Amtrak bills the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the Painted Desert and the Red Cliffs of Sedona, as well as the plains of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado.

During fiscal year 2023, the ''Southwest Chief'' carried 253,838 passengers, a 13.5% increase from FY2022. However, this is a 25% decrease from its pre-COVID-19 pandemic ridership of 338,180 passengers in FY2019. The route grossed in revenue during FY 2016, a 3.8% decrease from FY 2017.

History

The ''Southwest Chief'' is the successor to the '' Super Chief'', which was inaugurated in 1936 as the flagship train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. For most of its existence, it was "all- Pullman", carrying sleeping cars only. The Santa Fe merged the ''Super Chief'' with its all-coach counterpart, the '' El Capitan'', in 1958. The merged train was known as the ''Super Chief/El Capitan'', but retained the train numbers used by the ''Super Chief'', 17 westbound and 18 eastbound.

When Amtrak was created, ATSF initially had been more than willing to retain the famed ''Chiefs.'' However, any railroad that opted out of Amtrak would have been required to operate ''all'' of its passenger routes until at least 1976. This led to the 1 May 1971, Santa Fe turning over all of its main passenger services to Amtrak. Some services such as the '' San Francisco Chief'' which ran between Chicago and the Bay Area via Wichita, Amarillo, Belen Cutoff, Barstow and Bakersfield were discontinued by Santa Fe the day before the transfer of the ''Super Chief/El Capitan'' operations to Amtrak. The prospect of being left alone with the operation of its less successful routes soon led ATSF to definitively cease the services that still remained under its operations, withdrawing completely from the passenger trains business.

Initially Amtrak retained the ''Super Chief''/''El Capitan'' names with Santa Fe's permission. From June 11 to September 10, 1972, Amtrak operated the '' Chief'', a second Chicago–Los Angeles train along the same route, reviving the name of another notable Chicago–Los Angeles sleeper train operated by the Santa Fe. This was the only occasion on which Amtrak ran a second train to duplicate a long-distance service outside the New York–Florida corridor. Amtrak dropped the ''El Capitan'' designation on April 19, 1973, truncating only the name to ''Super Chief'', and on March 7, 1974, the Santa Fe directed Amtrak to stop using the ''Super Chief'' and '' Texas Chief'' (another notable service originally operated by Santa Fe and which between Chicago and Emporia, Kansas shared route with the ''Super Chief/El Capitan''. Amtrak also took over that service in 1971, although after complaints filed by Santa Fe, it was renamed ''Lone Star''.) names due to a perceived reduction in the quality of services, after the Amtrak takeover. In October 1980 the Limited began running with the new coaches Superliner I built by Pullman-Standard, being the fourth of Amtrak's western long-distance trains to be equipped with the new coaches (already running with such cars were the ''San Francisco Zephyr'', '' Desert Wind'' and ''Empire Builder''). On November 30, 1981, Amtrak replaced the ex-''Super Chief'' "Pleasure Dome" and " Hi-Level" cars on the ''Southwest Limited'' with new superliners, completing the replacement of the original old ''Super Chief'' cars with the new cars. The old Hi-Level coaches used on the ''El Capitan'' inspired the design for the Superliners. Santa Fe managers, impressed by the design of the new Superliners, permitted Amtrak to restore the name ''Chief'' to the train, and Amtrak renamed it the ''Southwest Chief'' on October 28, 1984. In September 1993, the ''Chief'' was the first of Amtrak's western long-distance trains to receive the new Superliner II sleeping coaches built by Bombardier Transportation.

In 1979, the ''Southwest Chief/Limited'' route between Kansas City and Emporia was shifted in order to maintain service to Topeka and Lawrence, which would otherwise have lost service when the '' Texas Chief/Lone Star'' was discontinued. Until the 1979 realignment via Topeka, service operated via the direct route between Kansas City and Emporia, via Olathe, Gardner and Ottawa.

1990s

The western portion of the Pasadena Subdivision was converted to the Gold Line in the 1990s, requiring the ''Southwest Chief'' to be rerouted to the San Bernardino Subdivision between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Eastbound service was rerouted on November 28, 1993, replacing the stops at and with . Westbound service was rerouted on January 15, 1994. An additional stop at was added on April 29, 2002.

Prior to 1996, the ''Southwest Chief'' operated in Illinois between Chicago and via the ATSF's Chillicothe Subdivision, stopping at , , and Chillicothe. Following the merger between Burlington Northern and Santa Fe that gave birth to BNSF in 1995, a connector track was built near Cameron, southwest of Galesburg, which would allow freight and passenger trains to transfer from the Chillicothe Subdivision to the BN Mendota Subdivision, the former Chicago and Aurora Railroad / Chicago, Burlington & Quincy - CB&Q tracks. The ''Chief'' was rerouted by the Mendota Subdivision through , , and to Galesburg, a route shared with the ''California Zephyr'' long distance service, and the Amtrak Midwest '' Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg'' services. ''Southwest Chief'' service to Joliet, Streator and Chillicothe was dropped as part of the realignment, although Joliet continues to see Amtrak service from other trains. The ''Chief'' realignment through the Cameron Connector to the Mendota Sub tracks caused Amtrak to concentrate all of its Galesburg operations in the present station, and the station building along the former Santa Fe line was closed and later demolished.

In January 1994, the ''Southwest Chief'' was rerouted between San Bernardino and Los Angeles onto the Santa Fe Third District via Fullerton and Riverside. Previously, it served Pasadena and Pomona via the Santa Fe Pasadena Subdivision, which was closed to all through traffic following damage to a bridge over the eastbound lanes of Interstate 210 in Arcadia during the Northridge Earthquake.

Between 1997 and 1998, Amtrak operated the ''Southwest Chief'' in conjunction with the Washington–Chicago '' Capitol Limited''. The two trains used the same Superliner equipment sets and passengers traveling on both trains could remain aboard during the layover in Chicago. Originally announced in 1996, Amtrak planned to call this through service ''National Chief'' and assign it its own numbers (15/16), but the name and numbers were never used. Amtrak dropped the practice with its May 1998 timetable.

2010s

The ''Southwest Chief'' was one of five routes studied for possible performance improvements by Amtrak in FY 2012.

The part of the ''Southwest Chief's'' route in western Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and northeastern New Mexico faced uncertainty throughout the 2010s.

In 2010, BNSF said that Amtrak would have to pay for all track maintenance on the portion of the ''Southwest Chief'' route between La Junta and Lamy (Raton and Glorieta Subdivisions), because BNSF does not run any freight trains over this segment. BNSF also said that they would be lowering the track class on the portion of the ''Southwest Chief's'' route between Hutchinson and La Junta from Class IV to Class III and decreasing the passenger train speed limit from to .

In return, BNSF proposed rerouting the ''Southwest Chief'' from the affected sections of track to its Southern Transcon via Wichita, Amarillo, and Clovis—the same route once used by the '' San Francisco Chief''. To avoid a reroute, Amtrak sought help from the affected states—Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico. The states eventually contributed money toward rebuilding and rehabilitating the tracks—much of it obtained from federal transportation grants—and the route was not changed.

However, this same part of the ''Southwest Chief's'' route was threatened again in 2018 when it became the focal point of a struggle to determine whether to continue Amtrak as a national network or to operate regional stand-alone networks.Joseph A. Boardman
"Where is the public input? Where is the transparency?"
Railway Age, May 10, 2018. The issue arose when Amtrak introduced new requirements for the third renewal grant and raised previously undiscussed technical issues. A letter dated May 31, 2018, co-signed by 11 Senators, condemned the action and urged providing the match. In an open letter, former Amtrak President and CEO Joseph H. Boardman said, "The ''Southwest Chief'' issue is the battleground whose outcome will determine the fate of American’s national interconnected rail passenger network".

In June 2018, Amtrak announced that it was considering the replacement of rail service along the Kansas portion of the ''Southwest Chief'' with Amtrak Thruway buses between Albuquerque and Dodge City, where train service east to Chicago would resume. Senators in the affected area succeeded in offering an amendment to a funding bill. Per a press release from the office of co-sponsor Senator Jerry Moran, "This amendment would provide resources for maintenance and safety improvements along the Southwest Chief route and would compel Amtrak to fulfill its promise of matching funding for the successful TIGER IX discretionary grant ... In addition, this amendment would effectively reverse Amtrak’s decision to substitute rail service with bus service over large segments of the route through FY2019".

2020s

In February 2020, USDOT granted $225,000 toward studying a ''Southwest Chief'' spur train service that would run to Colorado Springs, Colorado, via Pueblo. This follows prior plans to add service to Pueblo and connect with the proposed Front Range Passenger Rail service between Denver and Pueblo. It would have also run along former Colorado & Southern tracks through Walsenburg, reconnecting with its current alignment at Trinidad.

In May 2022, the Missouri General Assembly approved $1 million of state funds to establish a ''Southwest Chief'' infill station in Carrollton, between the Kansas City and La Plata stations. If approved by the governor, the state funds would have to be matched by local agencies.

Incidents

On October 2, 1979, the ''Southwest Limited'' derailed at Lawrence, Kansas. Of the 30 crew and 147 passengers on board, two were killed and 69 were injured. The cause was excessive speed on a curve. Underlying causes included the engineer's unfamiliarity with the route and speed restriction signage having been removed during track repairs.

On August 9, 1997, the eastbound ''Southwest Chief'' derailed about 5 miles northeast of Kingman, Arizona, when a bridge whose undergirding had been washed out by a flash flood and severe rains, collapsed under the weight of the train, which was traveling close to . While the lead locomotive stayed on the track, the three locomotives, nine passenger cars, and seven baggage and mail cars derailed. All stayed upright. One car straddled the gap of the washed out portion of the bridge. No one was killed out of the 325 passengers and crew aboard the train, though 154 were injured.

On October 16, 1999, the westbound ''Southwest Chief'' suffered a minor derailment near Ludlow, California, following the Hector Mine earthquake. All the cars stayed upright and four passengers were injured.

On March 15, 2000, at 2 in the morning, the “Southwest Chief” was rounding a curve outside of Chicago and left the tracks. Again, like 1997 and 1999 incidents, there were zero fatalities.

On March 14, 2016, the ''Southwest Chief'' derailed from Cimarron, Kansas. Of 14 crew and 128 passengers, 20 were injured. Investigators determined the train derailed after the tracks were knocked out of alignment by a runaway truck from a nearby farm operation that had rolled down a hill and struck the tracks after its owners failed to secure the parking brake.

On June 27, 2022, the eastbound ''Southwest Chief'' derailed after striking a dump truck at a level crossing near Mendon, Missouri. Of 12 crew and 275 passengers, 3 deaths and 150 injuries have been reported; the driver of the truck also died.

Operations

The ''Southwest Chief'' runs up to along a significant portion of its route, made possible by automatic train stop systems originally installed by the Santa Fe Railway. Of Amtrak's long-distance routes, only the '' Texas Eagle'' runs faster (with a maximum speed of through much of Illinois).

During the spring and summer, volunteer rangers with the Trails and Rails program from the National Park Service travel on board and provide a narrative between La Junta, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Beginning in May 2013, Trails and Rails volunteers also boarded to provide narration between Chicago and La Plata, Missouri.

From June through August, the ''Southwest Chief'' is used by Scouts traveling to and from Philmont Scout Ranch via the Raton station. During those months, Raton station is staffed by Amtrak employees and handles checked baggage.

Equipment

The ''Southwest Chief'' runs Superliner train sets. Trains typically consist of two P40 or P42 locomotives, a baggage car, three or four sleeper cars, a dining car, sightseer lounge and three coach cars. If demand warrants, a fourth coach is added between Chicago and Kansas City. Private cars or deadhead cars also sometimes ride along.

As is already happening on all its long-distance routes, Amtrak will replace the P42DCs with modern Siemens ALC-42 locomotives by 2027, and the Superliner cars with new long-distance cars by 2032.

Route

The westbound train is Amtrak number 3 (number 4 eastbound). Upon leaving Chicago Union Station, the train travels along the Metra BNSF Line and the Mendota Subdivision, with an intermediate stops in Naperville, Mendota and Galesburg, Illinois.

After leaving Galesburg, the train enters the Cameron Connector and then enters the Southern Transcon. Between Niota, Illinois and Fort Madison, Iowa, the train crosses the Mississippi River via the historic Santa Fe Swing Span Bridge before stopping at the historic Santa Fe station. Until 2021 the service stopped at the station located in the BNSF yard, west of Fort Madison downtown. After leaving Fort Madison, the train travels in a southwest direction, stopping at La Plata, before arriving shortly after 9 p.m. at Kansas City Union Station. Before reaching Kansas City, the train crosses the Missouri River via the Sibley Bridge.

After Kansas City, the train travels overnight through southern Kansas, with stops at Lawrence, Topeka, Newton, Hutchinson, Dodge City and Garden City, before stopping at Lamar, the service's first stop in Colorado, shortly before sunrise.

The portion of the route between La Junta and Albuquerque (Raton and Glorieta Subdivisions) is known for having some of the last active semaphores on a Class I railroad mainline, dating back to the ATSF era. Little and/or no freight traffic on those portions of the Chief's route is what caused the semaphores to last until the present day, although over time many were removed by both BNSF and NMDOT. whilst no longer in active use, they currently remain at their present location.

In August 2024, the last semaphores located on the NMDOT (former 4th Santa Fe District / Glorieta Subdivision) section of the line between WSS Lamy and the Waldo siding, near Los Cerrillos, were replaced, leaving only 11 surviving blades remaining currently in operation near Wagon Mound, Levy and Colmor, on BNSF's Raton Sub. From BNSF there is no timeline when the 11 last semaphores will be replaced.

Stations

Notes

References

External links

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{{Higher speed rail

1974 establishments in the United States
Amtrak routes
Higher-speed rail
Night trains of the United States
Passenger rail transportation in Illinois
Passenger rail transportation in Iowa
Passenger rail transportation in Missouri
Passenger rail transportation in Kansas
Passenger rail transportation in Colorado
Passenger rail transportation in New Mexico
Passenger rail transportation in Arizona
Passenger rail transportation in California
Long-distance Amtrak routes