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ATSF (now BNSF)
Unlike BN, 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.
The 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. In early 1988, Santa Fe began
relocating the headlights on its power from above the cab windows to the nose
in an attempt to reduce glare reflected into the cab during foggy or blizzard
conditions. This made the Mid Production Santa Fe SD40-2s (and their descendents
in the BNSF) different in form to their cousins. Over the years, other changes
were made, including the migration of the airhorn further away from the cab
and the installation of air condinioners to make the operation of their SD40-2s
a more pleasant experience for the crew.
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.*
*courtesy of BNSF.com
Locomotives
| Left |
Right |
Details |
Notes |
 |
 |
ATSF
GE B-40-8 "Blue Bonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
GE B-40-8 "Blue Bonnet" |
current
'BNSF' configuration, reflective frame striping; 3
examples left in "Blue Bonnet" scheme in BNSF system |
 |
 |
ATSF
GE B-40-8W "Warbonnet" |
- |
 |
|
ATSF
GE C-40-8W "Warbonnet" |
- |
| |
 |
ATSF
GE C-44-9W "Warbonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
GE C-44-9W "Warbonnet" |
current
'BNSF' configuration, small radome, reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-30 "Blue Bonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; white cab-roof AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; white cab-roof AC unit;
yellow horn |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; yellow cab-roof AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; yellow cab-roof AC unit;
yellow horn |
 |
|
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; orange cab-roof AC unit;
yellow horn |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38U "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; orange cab-roof AC unit;
yellow horn |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; ex-TPW; yellow cab-roof
AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; ex-TPW; orange cab-roof
AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-38-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; BNSF loco. no. 2380; ex-TPW;
black trucks; dark green cab-roof AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II;
yellow cab-roof AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II;
horn mounted on cab; |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; nose mounted headlight;
yellow horn; orange cab-roof AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; current
'BNSF' configuration, "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; current
'BNSF' configuration, "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-39-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II; current
'BNSF' configuration, "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-40X "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-40X "Blue Bonnet" |
painted
by Jack Prange; colors by Alfred Woolfolk II;
current 'BNSF' configuration, "BNSF"
patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-60 "Blue Bonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-39 "Blue Bonnet" |
BNSF
loco no. 1911; grey horn and AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-39 "Blue Bonnet" |
BNSF
loco no. 1915 |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-39 "Blue Bonnet" |
BNSF loco
no. 1921; nose-mount headlight; black trucks |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-39 "Blue Bonnet" |
BNSF loco
no. 1925; nose-mount headlight; low ditchlight placement |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
orange
AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
yellow
AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
black
trucks |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
current 'BNSF'
configuration, "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 Snoot Nose "Blue Bonnet" |
orange
AC unit |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 Snoot Nose "Blue Bonnet" |
black
trucks |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-40-2 Snoot Nose "Blue Bonnet" |
current 'BNSF'
configuration, "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-45-2 "Blue Bonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-45-2B "Blue Bonnet" |
rebuilt
from EMD SD-45-2 in 1987 |
 |
 |
ATSF EMD
SD-45-2B "Blue Bonnet" |
rebuilt from
EMD SD-45-2 in 1987; loco no. 7504 (BNSF); only example with original
dynamic brake loctaion |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-60M "Warbonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD GP-60M "Warbonnet" |
current 'BNSF'
configuration, small "BNSF" patch; reflective frame striping |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-75M "Warbonnet" |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
EMD SD-75M "Warbonnet" |
current
'BNSF' configuration; small "BNSF" patch; small radome; reflective
frame striping |
Rolling Stock
| Left |
Right
/ Universal |
Details |
Notes |
 |
 |
ATSF
Autorack |
after
Dan Learn |
 |
 |
ATSF
Tanker |
- |
- |
 |
ATSF Gondola |
weathered; current configuration
with BNSF |
- |
 |
ATSF Gondola |
weathered; current configuration
with BNSF |
 |
 |
ATSF Covered Hopper |
- |
 - |
 |
ATSF Covered
Hopper |
weathered |
 |
 |
ATSF
Covered Hopper |
- |
 |
 |
ATSF
Covered Hopper |
PS2;
ribbed |
 |
 |
ATSF
Covered Hopper |
"Santa
Fe"; PS2; ribbed |
 |
 |
ATSF
Covered Hopper |
"Santa Fe", PS2;
ribbed; current configuration with BNSF |
 |
 |
ATSF
Covered Hopper |
"Santa Fe", PS2;
ribbed; weathered; current configuration with BNSF |
 |
 |
ATSF
Coal Hopper |
loaded |
 |
 |
ATSF
Coal Hopper |
empty |
 |
 |
ATSF
Ballast Car |
loaded |
 |
 |
ATSF
Ballast Car |
empty |
© Content Provided by Alfred Woolfolk II unless noted.©
Atchinson,
Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF)