Touring the Santa Fe Railroad

The tour of Gary Hoover’s Sante Fe model railroad with narration by Allen Keller begins at Dearborn Station, Chicago. Here the final call is made for the Super Chief to Los Angeles. The semaphore goes up as Train 17 leaves Dearborn, powered by a series of F3s. This is the Santa Fe’s premier passenger train. The line runs through an area under construction and the Super Chief runs over Turna Viaduct and past the Wooton Ranch, which is just north of Rutone Pass.

At Frost, the F units ease under Rainbow Bridge and through a pass known as the Narrows. The passengers get a chance to see how the lines split before the upgrade route to Summit with the downgrade route below. Summit is the highest point on Cajon Pass. A group of Santa Fe maintenance buildings parallel the mainline. The Y for turning helpers is off to the right. At the cut west of Summit, the line begins a 1.6% downgrade.

Sullivan’s Curve is on approach to Cajon. Cajon is home to more buildings for track workers and signal maintainers. F-3 Number 32 leads the Super Chief past Fifth Street Tower into San Bernardino. Train 17 moves past the locomotive shops and in back is the massive multi-stall roundhouse. After a brief stop at San Bernardino Station, Number 32 heads out under Mount Vernon viaduct. The Super Chief now goes to Los Angeles Staging. For more Allen Keller videos, visit the Model Railroad Academy archives.