Nostalgia & History > Last SF Chief

The last SF Chief left Chicago on April 30 1971---Amtrak took over the following day but the train had to finish the trip as #5941 has arrived in Richmond, CA on Sunday May 2, 1971. Instead of putting F7's on for the Barstow-Richmond leg, the ATSF ran 5941 all the way thru.

---

This is likely the last revenue passenger train to operate under ATSF ownership.

That's... Richmond...??? Dang, times have changed. Great pic!

Now that brings back some old memories. Rode that one from Hanford up to Richmond on it last trip.

I never could find that total moron painter who carelessly oversprayed the silver paint onto the warbonnet nose and carbodies of so many AT&SF passenger units. You think that John Reed himself would have hunted down this pseudo-craftsman and fired him on the spot (yes, I believe it was ONE guy, possibly working in Chicago). Bob

If you recall, the PA that was on the last run excursion in 1967 had the same sort of over spray. Always figured it was some guy with a spray can of paint who was inept or violating Rule G.

I took this image on 4/30/71 at Dearborn Station, Chicago, IL. From the shadow it appears to have been taken in mid-morning. Is this the last w/b AT&SF San Francisco Chief ? Did AT&SF swap power somewhere ? FP45 #5943 has the same overspray problem as #5941. Gerry

---

Interesting---for all these years I had assumed they worked all the way---I know it had been ATSF's policy to replace the F45's at Barstow with F7's up unti the end. The train that left Chicago on the 29th arrived Richmond with F45's also on Saturday (as I recall). Maybe as They did not need power for eastward trains anymore, they sent these North from Barstow.

The real reason that there was the silver overspray is that before the power was dispatched from the service point(Barstow because I saw it done and more than likely Chicago) was that the last thing done before releasing the power to the hostler, it had the running gear painted. At Barstow this was done from the lower level of the pit track and was done with no masking. That means that there was a natural upward directing of the spray gun to reach the higher points on the running gear. IIRC there was someonre in the Passenger Traffic Dept. that got so heated when it was not done prior to a departure he observed that it was to be done with out fail. Of course this became a very conveinent catch-all for any delays in getting the power out of the house. Andy

Thanks for the shot. I notice the heavy head end revenue baggage type of cars ahead of the passenger equipment. The mail contract went away years before so I wonder what was in those cars.Great train, I rode in the strike time in the mid 1960s and it had 21 cars. The ATSF really showed its desire to keep passenger trains running by adding this train to its roster so late in the game. I also think this was the last revenue train to be scheduled over the "loop" run to the San Joaquin Valley. Again, thanks for the photo.

First baggage car was a steam generator car

Until the last day of operation, there was a mail contract on trains 1 and 2 for "storage" mail. At Winslow, train 1 would unload several hundred sacks of mail every day which were trucked to Phoenix. Perhaps this mail contract lasted because it was the last passenger train the P.O. could use to get mail to Phoenix and to the Bay area, and their contract trucking operatrion was not well developed yet.

TIOGA PASS



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/02/11 12:05 by aronco.

I rode the last SF Chief from Flagstaff to Fresno. That May day was actually overcast in Fresno when we arrived. The last photo I took was of the rear car as it left the Fresno depot. I went to work for the AT&SF not long after that. I remember the excitement I felt when the San Joaquins first started...and we held it up, unfortunately,near Madera. Got in a lot of trouble...without demerits, I might add.

Phil1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the shot. I notice the heavy head end
> revenue baggage type of cars ahead of the
> passenger equipment. The mail contract went away
> years before so I wonder what was in those
> cars.Great train, I rode in the strike time in the
> mid 1960s and it had 21 cars. The ATSF really
> showed its desire to keep passenger trains running
> by adding this train to its roster so late in the
> game. I also think this was the last revenue train
> to be scheduled over the "loop" run to the San
> Joaquin Valley. Again, thanks for the photo.

As noted, there was storage mail on the train up to the end.  The mail contracts that went away in October, 1967, were the RPO contracts.  
Many trains hauled storage mail, in mail sacks and not worked enroute, up to Amtrak.  However, the dedicated mail trains were replaced
in some cases by piggyback trains although they genreally vanished altogether.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA