Santa Fe's 1954-56 Chief Train & Connecting Tracks into the Main Staging Yard

This time we'll cover the Santa Fe's Chief passenger train in Victorville during 1954-1956 (the final years of my time period), and then we'll look at several weeks of work on connecting turnouts and flextracks to form the two throats of the 10-track A Yard in staging.

For this 3rd report on the Chief passenger train, I'll be using slides and photos again from my 2010 clinic about the Postwar Chief.  Here's an opening image, showing a famous ad for the Chief train:

Here are the important changes that happened to the Chief in early 1954:

Here is the train's general consist from early 1954 through 1956:

Here's an undated photo of the eastbound Chief climbing Cajon Pass behind F7 #39:

 
Here are the changes to the Chief later in 1954:

Here are the details of the consist from early 1954 into April of 1955, along with some HO models as of 2010:

 

Here's an undated photo of the Chief at Fox, NM, behind F3 #28:

 

In 1955 there were more changes to the Chief:

Here we see the detailed Chief consist from April of 1955 until July of 1956, along with some HO models:

Here we see the eastbound and westbound Chiefs meeting in Raton Pass, NM, in 1956 (note the Big Dome lounge, recently acquired from the El Capitan):

Here are the additional changes to the Chief in July of 1956:

Now let's look at the detailed consist of the Chief in the six months after July of 1956, and some HO models:

Here's a photo of one of the Big Dome Lounges that joined the train in 1956:

Here's one of the chair-observation cars that also came from the El Capitan:

This observation is #3197 (for which Con-Cor made an HO styrene model).

Finally, here are some changes to the Chief that happened after 1956:

Here we see the Chief about to leave Dearborn Station in Chicago in 1957, behind F3 #29:
 

Here's a nice shot of the eastbound Chief behind F-units on Sullivan's Curve in 1965:

 

Here's another view of the 1960s Chief on Sullivan's Curve, this time from above:

As for motive power on the 1954-1956 Chief, it was all F3s and F7s, except that PA units pulled the train westbound from Barstow to LA only.

I like to report on the times of day when the train traveled through Victorville (without stopping), so here are the times during 1954 through 1956:  A radical schedule change came on Jan. 10, 1954, when Train 19 changed from 5:10 a.m. to 7:25 p.m. and Train 20 changed from 3:41 p.m. to 6:53 p.m. in Victorville.

These times stayed the same until April 24, 1955, when Train 19 changed to 7:29 p.m. and Train 20 changed to 5:53 p.m.  Then on Sep. 25, 1955, Train 20 returned to 6:53 p.m.  On Oct. 30, 1955, Train 20 had a big change to 12:54 a.m. in Victorville.

On July 22, 1956, Train 19 changed slightly to 7:31 p.m., and on Sep. 30, 1956 it changed to 7:50 p.m., and on Nov. 25, 1956, it changed to 8:10 p.m., while Train 20 changed to 12:03 a.m.  These times stayed the same through the end of 1956.

I will want to model this train in HO, so I will check the spreadsheet data given above for the available models.  Robert Rogers informs me that two HO models for this train added since 2010 are the Walthers 8-2-2 without skirts (but they can be added) and the Walthers Budd diner.

In 2016 Walthers made four new HO model cars for the 1954 El Capitan, and three of them can be used in the 1956 Chief:

the 3246-3248 Chair-Observation cars;

the 1566-1577 Lunch Counter Diners; 

the "Big Dome" Bar Lounge cars, #506-513.

My next topic today will be two more bi-weekly layout progress reports, as usual.  On Jan. 11, 2026, I wrote this report:

OK, it's a new year, and I resolve to make better progress on my layout than last year.  My goal is still to complete the lower deck trackage by the end of this year, so that I can then jump ahead to my main goal of adding the upper deck, with all of its Victorville buildings, scenery, and tracks.  The lower deck control panels and the helix to the upper deck can wait until later.

Looking back a year, I see that I was just starting to lay the six stub tracks of the C Yard, where diesel loco sets would be stored.  When I finished the C Yard, including all the feeder wires to all the blocks, I got bogged down with the A and B yards.

I tried laying out the 10 through tracks of the A Yard and the 8 adjacent stub tracks of the B Yard, but I found that I couldn't place all the turnouts in the throats of those yards the way my pencil track plan had indicated, because the Atlas table-top switch motors got in the way of many adjacent tracks.  I tried a parallel track spacing of 2 1/8", but I went back to my normal 2 1/4" spacing and had to drop Track B8 from the plan.

The new plan for the A and B Yard throats led to the idea of moving the crossover between the main lines farther to the right, so the old crossover could be removed, along with the double-slip switch that was on the inner main.  I recently completed that new mainline crossover, partly on a curve, and I added the ties under the rail joiners and shot a photo (it's at the lower right in this photo):

 

 

 

The next step was to remove the old crossover between the two mainlines.  Here we see it before it was removed, along the left edge of this photo:

 

I used my Dremel tool to cut both turnouts loose from the adjacent mainline tracks, and then I pried them up from the dried caulk.  Here's a photo showing the blank roadbed spots on the left, where the crossover turnouts were, including the double-slip switch that was on the inner main as part of the crossover:

 

I filled in the outer main with a section of flextrack cut to size, glued down, and connected with rail joiners at each end.  Then I cut out sections of the inner main to allow me to fit in two #8 turnouts that would lead into the A and B staging yard throats.  (I could have used #6 turnouts, but I had some extra #8s to use up.)  Here we see the blank areas of the inner main roadbed where the two #8 turnouts will go:

 

I used some cork pieces to fill in the holes and painted them to match the surrounding roadbed.  Then I worked to get the rail joiners in place before gluing down the non-moving parts of the two #8 turnouts.  Here's the result of all my work, as photographed today (Jan. 11):

I still need to add the ties under the rail joiners, and probably straighten those wiggles in the inner main.  Then I can dive into the complex work of adding all the turnouts needed for the yard throats.  Yikes!

Meanwhile, Craig Wisch is still doing some final work on his cardstock model of the Union Oil bulk dealer.  And Bill Messecar has been working on some craftsman structure kits for his own enjoyment while he waited for some final drawings of the Victorville sand house that was inside the Victorville wye.  My architect friend Jim Coady has now completed those drawings after one round of revisions, so I'll share them here.

First, here's the main photo we used to help us with the drawings:

 

 

Here's the cover sheet of the drawings made by Jim Coady:

 

 

Here are his perspective views of the building and its sand bin:

 

Here are the side views:

 

And here are the end views:

Finally, here are the top (floor plan) views:

 

Many thanks to Jim Coady for these beautiful drawings!  In the weeks since these were completed, we've decided to lower the posts and walls of the sand bin a bit, and to lower the top of the doorway from the sand house into the bin.

 

Here is my next progress report, from Jan. 26:

 

In the last two weeks I've been working on getting the turnouts into the A Yard tracks located and connected with one or two sections of flextrack for each of the ten yard tracks, A1 through A10.  But watching the Seahawks' playoff victories over the 49ers and then the Rams has taken up some of my time.

In the last week I took my friend Tim Fisher's suggestion to keep a log of how much time I spend working on the layout each day (about an hour), and that has kept me moving ahead better than before.

When we left off, I had inserted two #8 Atlas turnouts into the inner mainline track -- one for entering yard Tracks A1-A5, and the other for entering yard tracks A6-A10.  When I had connected the ladder turnouts into some flextracks for A1-A5, using rail joiners but not yet gluing them down. I shot this photo of the new yard throat:

 

 

Then I worked from the other mainline turnout (to the right of the A1-A5 turnout), connecting turnouts and flextracks for Tracks A6-A10.  I was happy with that until I discovered that there was not enough room for the lead into the B Yard to pass between the A and C Yard tracks.  So I had to start over, rearranging the turnouts into A6-A10 so that lead into the B Yard will be able to get through.

Here's a shot of the current arrangement, with A1-A5 in the distance on the left, and A6-A10 in the foreground in the middle:

 

I've only begun to locate the turnouts into the B Yard (Tracks B1-B7) on the right.  Part of the goal is to allow space for the powered switch machines to attach beside the turnouts.  I had to send for more Atlas left-hand powered switch machines, so I'm waiting for those.

The biggest struggle has been trying to get the rails into the too-tight rail joiners, after I snip off two of the ties at each end of each flextrack.  I use my handy track-spacer tool to keep the tracks on 2 1/4" inch centers.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, I got to attend another operating session at Bill Messecar's wonderful Santa Fe layout.  There were just four of us this time.  Here we see Don Hubbard (recently recovered from a hip replacement) working with Bill to switch Train 43 (a local freight from San Bernardino to LA) at Corona:

 

 

I worked with Colin Kikawa to assemble the Fast Mail and then run it behind a sound-equipped Santa Fe 4-8-4 from San Bernardino through to LA (lots of fun!).  Our final job was to switch the reefer Precooler tracks in the San Bernardino yard, and here we see Colin working on that:

 

Meanwhile in Victorville, my friend Craig Wisch has been completing his cardstock model of the Union Oil dealer building and adjacent oil storage tanks.  He sent me this photo:

 

Later he sent me this view of the opposite side (the track side, so ignore the location of the tanks, which should be in the foreground):

 

Let me know if you can help me with trackwork or wiring or building models of other Victorville buildings.  I'm on a roll with the trackwork now.

 

 

 
 

 

Santa Fe's 1949-54 Chief Train & A New Crossover into Staging Yards

 

This time we'll cover the Santa Fe's Chief passenger train in Victorville during 1949-1954, and then we'll look at several weeks of slow work on adding a new mainline crossover into the staging yards, plus a visit to the annual Model Train Festival in Tacoma.

For this 2nd report on the Chief passenger train, I'll be using slides and photos again from my 2010 clinic about the Postwar Chief.  Here's an opening image, showing the rear drumhead emblem for the Chief train:

 

Here we see the Chief departing Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in March, 1949, behind a set of passenger FTs, with a rare steam helper (4-8-4 #2928) on the point, thanks to H.L. Kelso:

Here's a photo of the eastbound Chief rounding the curve into Summit behind a set of F3s in 1949:

Here's a table of the train's consist at this time, along with the HO models available as of 2010:

Here we see a Stan Kistler photo of Alco PAs with the Chief, climbing the westbound grade at Frost (just outside Victorville) in June of 1950:

Here's a slide listing the changes to the Chief's consist during 1950:

 

Here we see the Chief pulled by a set of Alco PAs, climbing the eastward Cajon Pass grade toward Sullivan's Curve in 1950, thanks to Thomas Hotchkiss:

 

Here's a color photo of the eastbound Chief coming into Summit behind PAs in 1950:

Here's a table of the train's consist during late 1950 and early 1951:

Thomas Hotchkiss shot this photo showing the rear of the Chief climbing eastbound past Cajon station in 1950:

 

Here are the changes to the Chief's consist during 1951:

Here now is a table of the Chief's consist during 1951-1952:

 

Here we see a color photo of the rear part of the eastbound Chief entering the first Alray tunnel on Cajon Pass:

And here is the train's consist from late 1952 up to early 1954:

I always report on the times of day when the train traveled through Victorville (without stopping), so here are the times during 1949 to early 1954:  In 1949 Train 19's time was 5:10 a.m. and Train 20's time was 3:48 p.m.  On April 2, 1950, Train 20's time changed to 3:44 p.m.  On Jan. 28, 1951, Train 20's time changed again to 3:41 p.m.  There were no more changes until a radical change on Jan. 10, 1954, when Train 19 changed to 7:25 p.m. and Train 20 changed to 6:53 p.m. in Victorville.

I will want to model this train in HO, so I will check the spreadsheet data given above for the available models.  Robert Rogers informs me that the only two HO models for this train added since 2010 are the Walthers 8-2-2 without skirts (but they can be added) and the Walthers Budd diner.

I will continue with this report on the Chief in my next blog entry here, which will cover 1954 and later.

My next topic today will be two more bi-weekly layout progress reports, as usual.  On Dec. 4, 2025, I wrote this report:

With various family events and preparations for the holidays, I didn't get much done since my last report on Nov. 30.

When I left off last time, I was connecting two turnouts to become the new crossover between the two mainline tracks leading into the A and B staging yards, replacing the previous double-slip switch.  To make way for the new crossover, I had to use my Dremel tool to cut the rails of the mainlines in several spots, and then I had to use a putty knife to dig through the caulk that held the old track in place.

Here's a photo I shot when the old tracks had been removed -- note the bare roadbed, and the new crossover tracks sitting on the white papers:

 

Then I worked on fitting the new crossover into place, which included removing ties to make room for new rail joiners.  Here's a view looking in the other direction, with the crossover in place but not yet entirely connected with rail joiners:

 

 

I'll keep working on this as I find time.  Then there will be more track cutting and replacing on the next part of the mainlines.  No fun.

Last time I mentioned that I was hoping to get Craig Wisch interested in modeling the Union Oil dealer's facility that was along a spur track on the far side of the wye in Victorville.  Good news -- he did get interested and has been working on a cardstock model of the building and its connected truck garage!

What did the trick was sending him the beautiful scale drawings that my architect friend Jim Coady had drawn for me way back in 2018.  Here's the first page of his drawings, with perspective views and part of a rare old photo I had found:

 

 

Here are the elevation drawings of the long sides:

 

Finally, here are the end drawings and the plan view from the top: 

 

Thanks to these drawings, Craig Wisch has made great progress on his cardstock model, but it is not yet complete.  Here are the four views of his model that he sent me today.  This one shows the track side, with the loading dock on the right end:

 

Here is the street side, with the loading dock on the left:

This view shows the truck garage on the left end of the track side:

And here we see the truck garage on the right end of the street side:

Craig is doing beautiful work on this model!

The other thing I can report on is the op session I attended at Bill Messecar's big Santa Fe HO layout on Wednesday, Dec. 3.  Here's a photo of Bill James and me switching the Riverside Turn:

 

 

In another aisle, Dave Peck and Colin Kikawa were switching the Placentia Turn:

 

And here we see Bill Messecar switching the Corona Turn:

 

We all had fun that morning, and then we all went to lunch together at the local IHOP.

The next big event for me will be running trains at the annual model railroad show in Tacoma during the weeks before and after Christmas.

Bill Messecar is planning to build the Victorville sand house and bin as soon as Jim Coady finds time to prepare some drawings.  If you can also help with my layout, either in person or by building models for Victorville, please let me know. 

 

My next layout report went out on Dec. 28, 2025.  It was sent out in three parts, because of AOL's limit on message sizes, but I will present it here as one message:

 

With all of the holiday events going on, I didn't get much done on my layout, except for completing the track connections in the new curving crossover between the mainlines.  It took a lot of work to cut the tracks to size and to get all the rail joiners into all the new track connections, but that annoying work is done now.  Here's a view of the new curving crossover (on the left):

 

As you can see, I still need to insert loose ties under the rail joiners and glue them all down.  Here's a view looking in the other direction, from above the new crossover, toward the new turnout that will lead to the helix in the right distance:

 

Meanwhile, my helper in Victorville, Craig Wisch, has been adding more details and some oil storage tanks to the Union Oil dealer model he showed us last time.  Here's one view, showing the street side, with the new storage tanks in the background:

 

And here's a track side view, with the new tanks in the foreground:

On Monday and Friday mornings of this past week I made the long drive to Tacoma to help the Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club keep the trains running on their portable modules for the public at the annual Model Train Festival..  Friday (the day after Christmas) was a very busy day for the show!

On both days I was working with Jay Biederman to run the two trains on the double-track rectangular loop:

 

Here's a view as the trains meet on the opposite side of the rectangle:

 

I also visited all the other model train layouts on display at the show.  Here's a view from behind the main roundhouse at the very large permanent HO layout of the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers (PSMRE):

 

And a view of a train as it curves past the roundhouse:

 

 

They have a large, detailed HO model of Tacoma Union Station, as seen here from the left side:

 

 

Across the aisle I could see a Milwaukee Road Hiawatha train being pulled by a Bi-Polar loco:

 

 There is also a scene featuring the NP roundhouse that was in Auburn:

 

 

Here's an HO modular layout I hadn't seen before, run by the European Train Enthusiasts:

 

 

Here we see another fast train passing that depot in the other direction:

 

On another day there I got a shot of a European steam train in action:

 

 

Adjacent to that layout was the HO modular layout of the 4th Division NMRA group:

 

 

In another part of that layout was a scene with a modern diesel shop:

 

On the nearby 4th Division N-Trak modules, two trains were curving past their Turntable Mall scene:

 

 

And some Milwaukee Road F-Units were entering a bridge on the same layout:

One floor down from these was the large Mount Rainier N-Scale modular layout.  Here's their module with a carfloat scene (and note the UP steam train in the distance):

 

And here we see a N&W 2-8-8-2 passing their Circa-1944 US Army Base scene (my favorite scene):

 Adjacent to there was their circa-1970 US Army Base scene:

On another part of their modules I shot their N&W 2-8-8-2 crossing a bridge:

 

And here it passes their large Darigold plant:

 

And here it passes their amazing carfloat scene:

By the entry on the 3rd floor is the modular layout of the Pierce County Lionel Train Club, where the trains run fast.  Here's a view from the 4th Floor overlook:

 

I was pleased to see a big O-scale Santa Fe 2-10-4 in action on the Lionel layout:

 

Here are some Western Pacific F-units in action on the same layout: 

Here we see their Lionel NYC steam train racing around a curve:

I also got to see their huge UP Big Boy crossing a bridge:

 

Down on the 2nd Floor, I found the modules of the NW Pacific Z Scalers:

Near there the very large locos of the Kitsap Live Steamers were on display, such as this one:

 

 

On Monday, Dec.29,  I worked the morning shift again at the Boeing Employees Model Railroad Club modules.  My partner this time was a new, young member of the club, Ryan Schmierer ("shmeer"), as seen here beside me (photo shot by Jim Billington, who's been there for every shift this year):

 

 

Once again, there were lots of families visiting us, with wide-eyed children, as seen here:

 

 

As always, it was fun to run the trains and to see all the other layouts in action.

If you can help me with my layout in any way, in person or by building models remotely, please let me know.

John