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| Grand Canyon Limited | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Midwestern andSouthwestern United States |
| First service | June 29, 1929 |
| Last service | May 1, 1971 |
| Former operator | Santa Fe |
| Route | |
| Termini | Chicago Los Angeles |
| Average journey time | 51 hours, 10 minutes (westbound) 48 hours (eastbound) |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train numbers | 23 and 24 |
| Lines used | Grand Canyon Railway,Southern Transcon |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Chair cars Dormitory lounge car |
| Sleeping arrangements | Roomettes Double bedrooms |
| Catering facilities | Dining car |
| Baggage facilities | Baggage car |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Operating speed | 43.7 mph (70.3 km/h) (westbound) 46.6 mph (75.0 km/h) (eastbound) |
TheGrand Canyon Limited was one of thenamedpassenger trains of theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was train Nos. 23 & 24 betweenChicago,Illinois, andLos Angeles,California.
In 1901 the Santa Fe Railroad completed a 64-mile (103-km) branch fromWilliams, Arizona, to "Grand Canyon Village" at the South Rim ofGrand Canyon National Park. The first scheduled train arrived from Williams on September 17 of that year; branch line trains and excursions fromSouthern California, Chicago, andTexas could run directly to the Rim. On June 29, 1929, service commenced on theGrand Canyon Limited, which became a celebrated vacation train.
The westward train split atBarstow, onesection running toSan Francisco (Oakland-Richmond) via theTehachapi Loop 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.
DuringWorld War II theLimited often ran in two or threesections carrying troops. In later years the train lost passengers to the railroad's newer trains such as theSuper Chief with itsstreamlined cars.
TheGrand Canyon train lost its name in early 1968 when the railway petitioned theICC to drop service toGrand Canyon National Park;[1] the train would continue as Trains 23 and 24 until the May 1, 1971, handover of all passenger service toAmtrak.[2] While the Santa Fe had been willing to continue operating its famedChiefs and theSan Diegan, the prospect of having to operate its less successful routes until at least 1976 led it to hand its passenger routes to Amtrak. TheGrand Canyon had been an anachronism for some time. It remained a mostlywhistle stop 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, theGrand Canyon became a particularly large albatross around the Santa Fe's neck, especially when the ICC turned down requests to withdraw the train.[3]
A variety of steam- and diesel-powered locomotives pulled theGrand Canyon Limited.
The original rolling stock delivered for the second-classGrand Canyon Limited washeavyweight cars built byPullman-Standard.
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:
Passenger trains of theAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chiefs |  | |
| Other named trains | ||
| One-time specials | ||
| Rolling stock | ||
