Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Santa Fe system (shown in blue) at the time of the BNSF merger | |
ATSF #5051, an EMD SD40-2, leads a train through Marceline, Missouri, in August 1983. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois Kansas City, Missouri Los Angeles, California |
| Reporting mark | ATSF |
| Locale | |
| Founder | Cyrus K. Holliday |
| Dates of operation | 1859–1996 |
| Successor | BNSF Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 13,115 miles (21,107 km) |
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996.
The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at various times, it operated an airline, the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway, and the Santa Fe Railroad tugboats. Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean. The AT&SF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written for the film The Harvey Girls (1946).
The railroad officially ceased independent operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.