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Atchison
Topeka & Santa Fe
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With its union to the Burlington Northern forming BNSF, the ATSF has come to Lincoln, Nebraska.
Since the merger, the colorful variety of Sante Fe's motive power has become a common sight all across Nebraskan rails. In a single day, one may see anything from a rebuilt GP7 and a GP35, or a C36-7 to the C40-8 W powerhouse.
A Brief History
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway name remained virtually intact since 1863, with only a minor change from "railroad" to "railway" in December 1895. The ATSF owes its beginnings to Cyrus Kurtz Holliday, a transplanted Pennsylvanian born in 1826. Quite an entrepreneur, Holliday owned or promoted a variety of business ventures in land, coal and transportation. He was the founding father and mayor of Topeka, served in the Union army during the Civil War and dabbled in many other political and social ventures in Kansas. Holliday also guided the development of the Santa Fe Railway, from the creation of its charter in 1859 through construction that began in Topeka on a cool and blustery October 30, 1868. He lived to see the railroad reach the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico and California's Pacific shore, his vision from the start. Santa Fe's heritage is rich with people and milestones that would be the envy of most American corporations. It helped introduce hard red winter wheat to the Midwest, transporting the wheat itself and the eastern European immigrants who chose to settle in and farm this rich grain-producing region. Santa Fe played a key role in promoting the art and culture of the Southwest and Native Americans, creating a "romantic" vision of the Southwest and encouraging travel to the area. Santa Fe passenger service (which continued until 1971, when Amtrak took passenger service over from most railroads) set the standard for luxury and attention to detail, with famed trains like the California Limited, the Super Chief, the El Capitan, the Valley Flyer and the Texas Chief. In association with this legendary passenger service, Fred Harvey established a chain of restaurants, hotels, lunch counters and dining rooms to feed and accommodate millions of travelers between 1876 and the 1950s. Several of these establishments are still operating today.In addition to its role in influencing culture, Santa Fe played a key role in moving the transportation industry forward with innovation and creativity. Santa Fe developed the first land-bridge container train, linking Asia with Europe using Santa Fe and Penn Central (Conrail) lines. In the mid-1970s, Santa Fe people developed the first articulated intermodal railcar, featuring a skeleton design for lighter weight, a lower center of gravity and reduced fuel consumption. This "Six-Pack," which later became the "Ten-Pack Fuel Foiler," was the forerunner of today's articulated intermodal cars. Santa Fe is credited with industry-wide improvements to other types of railcars as well, including the development of the Super Hopper and the articulated autoveyor. In the late 1980s, Santa Fe developed improvements in locomotive cab design which later set the standard for the industry. About that same time, Santa Fe stunned the transportation industry with the announcement of its intermodal partnership with J.B. Hunt, the first such partnership between a railroad and a trucking firm. In 1993, a centralized Systems Operations Center in Schaumburg, Ill., became the world's largest fully distributed transportation management system. (source: BNSF)
Related Galleries:
The BNSF and BN also have their own galleries.
Click on the thumbnails to see a larger image
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Brand New Santa Fe SD70M 202 - at the SP Kirby Yard diesel shop in early 1996, before the merger. - Steve Rude Photo/Jay Glenewinkel Collection |
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Santa FE C44-9W #693 - at the BNSF Hoyt Street Diesel Facility in Portland, Oregon. - Steve Schuman Photo/Jay Glenewinkel Collection |
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ATSF 808 - The new kid in town, the merger of Sante Fe with Burlington Northern brings a flood of new color to Lincoln, Nebraska's BN mainline at 17th Street. 4/2/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 808 - 4/2/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 808 - a C40-8W, is Number One on the runway and waitng on the "all's clear" before takeoff. 4/2/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSG 820 - in action between Ashland and Lincoln, Nebraska - T. Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 840 - in action between Ashland and Lincoln, Nebraska - T. Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 893 - refueling at Lincoln, Nebraska - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 897 - as seen from the pedestrian overpass near NU's Memorial Stadium. - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 897 - nears 1st and J Streets, and huge Hobson Yard, Lincoln, Nebraska - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 935 - pulls out of Hobson Yard bound for Omaha. 6/21/97 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 2055 - a GP7, started showing up in Lincoln after the announcement of the BN/SF merger. 4/9/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 2228 - A pair of Santa Fe CF7s work a local at Tower 55 in Fort Worth, Texas in 1988 - Jay Glenewinkel Photo |
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ATSF 2824 - a GP35, parked at Lincoln Station in the Haymarket district. 5/16/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 2824 - with a what what appears to be a Sante Fe track geometry monitering car. 5/16/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF/BNSF 3173 - enters the western end of Hobson Yard. 3/3/01 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 5096 - an SD40-2. 2/22/97 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 5266 - with a completely enclosed body, heading south out of Lincoln 2/22/97 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 8135 - a C30-7, 11/18/95 - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 8135 - a C30-7, 11/18/95 - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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 ATSF 8135 - a C30-7, 11/18/95. - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 8137 - a clean shot at the beastie's rear. 2/24/96 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 8141 - C30-7 in the "Frito Lay" (a local colloquialism), better known as the "Kodachrome" -scheme 7/7/95 - Todd Greuter Photo · Please check out Jim Fuhrman's site for more on ATSF C30 units |
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ATSF passenger with an upper observation deck parked at Lincoln Station during the anuual Haymarket Heydays. The newly joined ATSF and BN were offering excursion rides to Omaha and back. 6/21/93 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 811 - Atchison RR Museum, Kansas 4/14/01 - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 167212 - at BNSF's Hobson Yard, Lincoln, Nebraska - Todd Greuter Photo |
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ATSF 999468 - Atchison RR Museum, Kansas 4/14/01 - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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ATSF 999952 - Atchison RR Museum, Kansas 4/14/01 - Todd Greuter Photo · |
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Related
Galleries: |
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Contributing Photographers: Jay Glenewinkel, Steve Rude, Steve Schuman Recommended Links: QStation - large BNSF, BN and ATSF resource |
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update: Wednesday, 5 January, 2005 |
