F3s of the Fast Mail showing the entire train consist. Close up of the "Chicken Wire" grills. John W. Barriger III collection.
Santa Fe Skyway was established as an air freight carrier sometime after WW-II. I think it had success, until Federal regulators stepped in and forced an end to its operations. At the time, railroads were not permitted to stray from their primary business by operating businesses in competing modes, unless the business supplemented delivery of rail freight, such as piggyback or tugboats, ferries, barges and lighters. Gosh, isn't that a beautiful aircraft?
Heck yes, and alot of these airframes had really long lives, especially in harsher climates-some still are flying!
View of the eastbound Santa Fe Railway passenger train "Grand Canyon" arriving at Lamy, New Mexico on May 26, 1961. Fred M. Springer Photo.
In 1979, on one of my trips to Toronto, there was a connecting flight, first, from Rochester to Minneapolis and it was a DC-3, still flying after those many years. It was noisy, however. Doug
GP30u's 2729 and 2719 with a work gondola and waycar 999808 round the superelevated curve while traveling east at Burr Ridge, IL. August 1990. Jerry Jackson photo.
On February 22, 1939, Otto Perry bundled up tight and went out to Ayers, Colorado to shoot those three newfangled streamliners, El Capitan, Chief and Super Chief.
Yes. They experimented with raising a conventional cab over the engine to create a C.O.E, but there wasn't enough visibility. So they cut a couple of holes in the firewall. Later they raised the cab they got from Diamond T to create the "Emeryville". It had a big enough windshield.
Opened on 04/27/1951, the Santa Fe's Arkansas City, KS depot was thoroughly modern. I'm not sure why, but I've an affinity for this kind of post-war architecture. Arkansas City, KS is located close to the Oklahoma border on a north/south line connecting Wichita, KS and Ft. Worth, TX. It appears that a shortened portion of the depot remains today in BNSF service. In 1945, it served the Kansas Cityan/Chicagoan, Ranger and additional nameless trains.
