Search Railroad Sites For:

Revised 12/9/00

It was common to find foreign road cars on Santa Fe passenger trains. These cars fit into four categories:

• Express box and express cars. These were used to transport mail from coast to coast as well as such timely items as national magazines.
• Express reefers. These transport special perishables. Greg Martin reports that commodities with a refrigerated "shelf life" of less than 7 days include fish, green onions and strawberries and of course blood and pharmaceuticals. Less than 14 days, lettuce, tomatoes, sweet cherries, peaches/nectarines, green leafy vegetables, avocados, mangos, pineapples and papayas, cut flowers, mushrooms and meat products.
• Pool sleepers. Santa Fe had arrangements with other railroads so that a passenger could travel coast to coast in the same sleeper compartment as the car was transferred from one train and carrier to another.
• Tourist cars and special operators. These include convention specials (such as the Shriners) and tourist groups (such as those visiting the Grand Canyon).

The primary interchanges were at Chicago and Kansas City.

The information which follows comes from Fred Frailey’s Quarter Century and from conversations on the internet with Andy Sperandeo (MR), Michael Flick, Dennis Henry, Bob Burton, Richard Hendrickson, Tom Cockle, Jim Hurt, Jerry Pitts, Fritz Milhaupt, Dennis Rockwell, John Moore, and Wes Leatherock. See Quarter Century for your time period and specific trains.

#7/8, Fast Mail, is probably the most photographed train with foreign cars. Part of this is because the PA units were frequently in charge. It ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.

• NYC Express, Storage Mail, and Express Reefers from New York City, Buffalo, Detroit, and Springfield via Chicago to Kansas City, Wichita via Newton, or LA. This would have included NYC baggage-express cars and by 1953 also NYC troop sleeper conversions (see May 1991 Model Railroader, additional photo, drawing). In HO, Cannonball Car Shops (http://www.mrrwarehouse.com) makes plastic kits for the sleepers and express car conversions ($26.95). Central Hobby Supply (http://www.centralhobby.com) makes better-detailed etched-brass/resin kits for the NYC-style troop sleepers-turned-express cars ($45). Rumors say a new plastic model is on the way, possibley 2002. Precision makes some in O scale for $341 each.
  In late 1947 the Santa Fe had pool service agreements with the NYC for both baggage cars and express reefers, and these may have been current in 1953. The express reefers were half ATSF 4000-4040 series and half NYC wood sheathed cars with fishbelly side sills. (Santa Fe All the Way, Vol. 1, p.73, has a nice 1963 view at Kansas City of #7 Fast Mail with NYC Express from a troop sleeper, and REA Reefer. Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p. 108 shows #8 Fast Mail in 1965 with a REA reefer as its lead car. Santa Fe Trackside, p. 52-53, has three nice views from Holiday, KS, 1967, of #7, Fast Mail, and #3 with their variety of cars. #3 has a converted troop car in its consist.)

• PRR Express from Philadelphia to LA. Both PRR X29 express boxcars and various types of B60 baggage-express cars show up in photos of Santa Fe trains, also occasional PRR express reefers (R50?) - when not needed for refrigerator duties, express reefers often carried dry express shipments. See Mischler's article below for kitbashing an X29. Red Caboose has produced two series of X-29 express cars, RC 7028 and RC 7072. They were painted standard PRR box car red. Andy Cich says they were never washed, so weather them heavily. The 1953 OER lists numbers for 2000-2499, 49314-57641, 97949-103324, 566091-574090. Be careful as some Red Caboose cars don't match these numbers.

• PRR Horse Cars often appeared. PRR horse express cars were imported by NJ/Custom Brass, and there was an old Red Ball kit. Bethlehem Car Works is rummored to be putting one out.

• Erie Express from Jersey City to LA. This included Erie 70' 0" Class BE 534. (Stagner's Santa Fe in Color, Vol. 3, p. 62 has a quality photo of the Fast Mail led by 90L followed by Erie express box and two ATSF FE-24s including 4217 in green paint.)
• MoPac Express from Kansas City to LA & MoPac Storage Mail from NY, St. Louis, or Pittsburg via Kansas City to LA. Besides baggage-express cars, MP had 50-foot double door steel express boxes similar to Fe-24s but with a fishbelly underframe. They were covered in an article in the MP Historical Society magazine, The Eagle, some years ago, and Sperandeo modeled one with an Athearn 50-foot auto box and decals offered by the MP society. Life-Like's auto-box models can be kitbashed to represent them. Originally Pullman Green, by '53 these were painted in "Eagle" colors. Chuck Hitchcock reports that MP handled much of the PRR-Santa Fe express business through St. Louis and Kansas City. Oddballs Decals recently issued a set to letter these cars. (Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p.73, has a nice 1963 view at Kansas City of #7 Fast Mail with MP Mail Storage express 337)
• MILW storage mail also connected through Chicago to Kansas City in the 60s.
• REA Reefers. Branchline has announced such cars. (A 1962 shot of REA reefer 6686 former troop sleeper at Dearborn station appears in Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p.70. Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p.73, has a nice 1963 view at Kansas City of #7 Fast Mail with REA reefer. Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p. 108 shows #8 Fast Mail in 1965 with a REA reefer as its lead car)

The Second Quarter 1997 issue of The Warbonnet, was devoted to the Fast Mail Express. It is now out of print.

A 1967 photo on page 98 of Valley Divisions Vignettes shows a Richmond to Barstow #8 deadheading surplus equipment which includes PRR and what appears to be both regular and duplex sleepers in UP/MILW paint.

#3/4 California Limited in postwar years was a mop-up train for overflow traffic for the Fast Mail. Just about anything seen on #7/8 might show up on #3/4. In the 60s, Frailey indicates it carried a lot of MP traffic and even CRIP from Buffalo to Kansas City to Gallup.

#5/6 Ranger, ran from Chicago to Galveston.

• ATSF and REA express reefers were common. Branchline has announced REA cars for January, 2001.
• Photos show a NYC fishbelly express reefer and PRR R50s on this train.
• MKT express cars operated from Chicago to Kansas City in the mid 50s. See the notes on the Kansas City Chief below for details.

#9/10, Kansas City Chief, included:

• Box express car from MKT. The Santa Fe - Katy handoff at Kansas City extended from 1937 to 1963. The Katy had 39 passenger-equipped box express cars, class BX. Those in the 45001-45085 series were numbered 45051-054, 45056, and 45058-45070. These were postwar 40' 40 ton double door cars built in 1945-'46 with notched side sills, improved Dreadnaught ends, 14'6" early style Youngstown corrugated double doors, rectangular panel roofs, and steel grid running boards (drawing). According to MKT Lines in Color, some prewar 40' double door box cars from the 60001-60100 series were also used in express service. These cars, built in 1937, had straight side sills with long, shallow reinforcing panels below the doors, square-cornered early 5-5 Dreadnaught ends,12'6" prewar Youngstown corrugated doors, rectangular panel roofs, and wood running boards.
  Originally, the express cars were painted Sloan yellow with black lettering, but by 1949, the first 18 from the group of 39 were repainted dark (Pullman) green with gold lettering, thus better matching other head-end heavyweight baggage and mail cars of the day.
  The postwar cars could be modeled with a somewhat modified and upgraded C&BT Shops kit, or you could wait until Branchline issues a much better kit which is currently in the pipeline for production some time next year or the year after. In the mid 60s Tyco offered an (inaccurate) HO model in the yellow scheme and carrying the number 45090. A model of the MKT 45054 was available in the tiny Z-scale from the Micro-Trains Line Co.
  MKT Lines in Color, Katy Power, and Katy Southwest have photos of these cars. Repainting was going on in 1948, at which time cars in both color schemes could be seen. Katy Southwest p. 75 shows ATSF fishbelly storage mail in 1937 on the Katy Ltd and 1963 shots in MKT in Color show the Katy Flyer with Santa Fe express boxes.

• KCS Express box car, from Chicago to Kansas City. KCS had express boxcars in extremely dark green (looks black) with red and yellow sill stripes like the passenger cars, but that was in the '60s. They also purchased 6 Santa Fe's 1820 series baggage cars in 1964.
• NYC storage mail occasionally appeared in the late 50s.

After 1960, the head end load added:

• CMSP&P storage mail from Milwaukee via Chicago to Kansas City.
• PRR express from Philadelphia via Chicago to Kansas City.
• Erie storage mail from Hoboken via Chicago to Kansas City was listed in 1967.

#11/12 (111/112), Kansas Cityan / Chicagoan. Frailey does not document any foreign cars on these trains but photos indicate their presence. (Santa Fe Trackside, p. 45, shows #12, the Chicagoan, in Topeka, KS, 1964, with and MP passenger car in the consist. Another car appears to be UP or CNW paint. A nice view of two REA reefers appears on page 51 of Santa Fe Trackside on #11, Kansas Cityan, near Topeka, KS, in 1967.)

#17/18, Super Chief, was a crack sleeper train interchanging sleepers with other roads in the 50s. Coast to coast sleeping cars on this train were protected by Santa Fe's stainless steel cars. Only rarely (Frailey says once or twice a month) would sleepers from eastern connections be seen in place of Regal or Pine cars. These sleeper pools were:

• (Pine Leaf, Gem, Creek, Pass, Ring, Beach) B&O 10-6 from Washington (Capital Ltd.) via Chicago to San Diego.
• (Pine Arroyo, Brook, Dale, Island, Cove, Fern) NYC 10-6 from New York (20^th Century Ltd.) via Chicago to LA.
• (Regal Gate, Gulf, Arms, Creek, Town, Court) NYC 4-4-2 from New York (20^th Century Ltd.) via Chicago to LA.
• (Regal Ruby, River, Spa, City, Inn, Ring) PRR 4-4-2 from New York (Broadway Ltd.) via Chicago to LA.

#19/20, The Chief was also a sleeper carrying coast to coast cars.

• B&O 6-6-4 from Washington via Chicago to San Diego. Santa Fe cars smooth-side Valley cars covered this connection and B&O cars appeared only in exceptional situations. "Shadow-lined" cars were used at times, of course, during the short period (1948-1953) when "Shadow-lined" "Valley" cars existed. In the fall of 1951, this changed to a 10-6 with Pine series assigned. If the B&O 10-6 sleeper was their P-S Plan 4167 (B&O 7040-49) series, that is Brass Car Sides 173-41.

• NYC 4-4-2 from New York via Chicago to LA. Eastern Car Works kit 1206 is correct for the 4-4-2 sleeper of NYC.

• NYC 10-6 from New York via Chicago to LA were added in 1949. The Rivarossi (AHM) smooth side 10-6 sleeper can be used for the 10-6 NYC sleeper. (Santa Fe All the Way Vol. 1, p. 36, shows the ATSF switching in NYC Pullman Tri Borough Bridge in Chicago, 1954. It will end up on The Chief. Paint is TTG (two tone gray) with divider strip. NYC cars used a "reversed" TTG (lighter gray window band on darker gray body) as well as the "Tribe" version. Early Diesel Daze also shows cars in New Mexico October '46; October '47, and at an unstated lalte 40s date with a shadow-lined Valley.

• PRR 4-4-2 from New York via Broadway Ltd to Chicago to LA. As of 1950, these were Imperial Pass, Imperial Park, and Imperial Point. From the 3/46 to 1953 these would have been TTG paint. They had a dark window band on a light body, with black roofs, silver trucks and silver grey striping and lettering. The second gray scheme was Pullman painting drawing D5223 and differed from the first with its black trucks and small PRR at either end of the letterboard. Eastern Car Works kit 1206 is correct for the 4-4-2 sleeper of PRR. Brass Car Sides 173-16 is the pre-war P-S 4-4-2 Plan 4069 smooth side Imperial series. In 1950, the Santa Fe run through cars were Naslini, Polacca, Mohave, and Tchirege.

After January 15, 1954, the sleepers were shifted to the Super Chief and protected by ATSF stainless cars.

#1/2, San Francisco Chief began in 1954 as Santa Fe's crack train between Chicago and Oakland. Frailey does not document any foreign cars on this train, however photos show exceptions. (Stagner's Santa Fe in Color Vol. 3, p. 10, has a 1956 photo of #1 San Francisco Chief at Belen with three smoothside tuscan PRR sleepers as cars 3-5 of the consist. Santa Fe Trackside p. 123 contains a 1968 photo of #2 San Francisco Chief at Topeka with three tuscan PRR sleepers on the end, including Imperial Loch.)

#23/24 (123/124) Grand Canyon often carried foreign road sleepers in chartered tour service. Frailey listing the 1953 consist includes 5 cars assigned to Vanderbilt tour, two to Cook tour, and one to Pullman. Express baggage cars from the East were also included.

• PRR X29 express box cars were seen on this train. A 1950 photo on Cajon Pass is shown in Mischler's article below.
• NYC express from New York, Buffalo, and Springfield ran from Chicago to LA from 1957.
• MP storage mail from Pittsburg or Philadelphia on the Kansas City to LA end from 1957.
• PRR Tuscan Red cars appear, and also other roads' cars. There's one photo showing a SAL ventilated express box on a section of the westbound "Grand Canyon." A 1952 Kistler photo has a HWT PRR sleeper in tow (Early Diesel Daze).
• Rio Grande and Illinois Central sleepers are shown on the end in a 1967 photo printed on p. 105 of Santa Fe Streamliners.

#75/76 California Special/Texas Ran from Houston to Clovis. It's consist included:

• T&P storage mail. Martin Lofton wrote a kitbashing article on modeling a T&P 40-foot express boxcar in the May 1994 MR.
• MP 6-6-4 from New Orleans. This 6-6-4 sleeper ran from N. O. to Houston on MP, from Houston to Clovis on the California Special, from Clovis to Bakersfield on the Grand Canyon, and from Bakersfield to Oakland on the Golden Gate. For that reason, MP cars could be seen in Oakland and ATSF "Valley" cars in New Orleans. MP 6-6-4s were similar to "Valleys" but had porthole lounge windows and moldings above and below the windows. In 1953 they wore conventional MP Eagle colors: blue and gray with silver and yellow stripes. Brass Car Sides 173-9 pre-war P-S 6-6-4 "American" and "Eagle" Plan 4099 sides match MP. Eastern Car Works also has a plastic version.
• A list of selected consists in Lubbock, TX, (Warbonnet) includes: (1956) T&P HW 1116; (1956) PRR 9153 HW baggage; (1957) NYC 8605 HW baggage; (1957) MP 2557 HW baggage; (1957) MP 4169 HW baggage; (1958) PRR 5084, 6069, 6096 HW baggage and MP 4270 HW baggage. The article mentions mail storage cars from MP, T&P, PRR, and NYC.

Others: Aside from cars supplied on a regular basis under the various pool service agreements, as noted above, foreign road head end cars turned up all the time on single trips. Hendrickson has photos of a Rock Island baggage car, a Pennsy theatrical scenery car (baggage with end door), a GN express reefer, and an NRC express reefer on Santa Fe rails, and has seen photographic evidence of numerous others. Railway Express Agency express reefers were common, including the post-WW-II welded steel cars (HO models just coming out from Branchline) and the reefers converted from wartime troop sleepers. The weekly newsmagazines (Time, Newsweek) were printed on the east coast and rushed to California in box express cars every week, usually Pennsy X29s.

George, Raymond B. MKT Lines in Color. Morning Sun Books, 1994.

Return to Home Page

Free Web Hosting Since 1996. Join & Become Part of the TrainWeb's Railroad Community.