This 1950s Santa Fe Railroad promotional film produced by the Santa Fe Safety Department applauds the railroad company for its efforts in modernizing machinery while not cutting corners in its safety record. The film opens at Santa Fe’s Centennial Celebration of 1950 with railroad president Fred G. Gurley in Atchison, Kansas. The celebration marks the end of the steam era and welcomes diesel locomotives; however this film is primarily about progress, efficiency, and the development of the railroad, as well as safety. Throughout the film there are many examples of preventable accidents as well as safety guidelines and features that work to keep Santa Fe employees safe. The film features steam-era locomotives like the Locomotive No. 1, aka Cyrus K. Holiday, a 2-8-0, and 2-10-4 Texas type No. 5034 while diesel locomotives Warbonnet F-units, E-units, and Alco PAs, and a section of the film is devoted to the Santa Fe Railroad Tugboats.
Opening credits (0:09). Cyrus K. Holliday steam locomotive train (0:26). Press conference with Santa Fe Railroad President Gurley in Atchison, Kansas to celebrate its centennial since the company founding (0:53). Unveiling of the new Atchison Santa Fe Depot (1:18). Santa Fe Warbonnet F7 beside the Cyrus K. Holliday steam locomotive train (1:30). F7A Santa Fe Cigar Band (1:44). Santa Fe 5034 steam engine retires (2:00). Upgrading and laying new flash-butt welded rails (2:24). CTC (centralized traffic control) command (4:20). Improvement to railway coupling method (5:39). New machinery to replace railroad ties (7:15). Employee operates a motor car in Jim Crow Texas – sign for “colored waiting room” in background (10:46). Another employee in California prepares to operate a motor car (11:09). Fairmont motor car and train collision (12:15). Employee demonstrates how to safely climb the train car ladder and stand on the roof of the train car (13:14). Barge transports Santa Fe train cars in the San Francisco Bay under the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge (14:11). Repair of diesel train car and new repairmen safety measures (16:05). Modernized specialized repair machinery (18:48). Wheel lathe (20:06). New machine for wheel truing (10:10). Diesel engine (20:44). Mechanical temperature control (21:00). Emergency response planning (21:30). Metallurgical microscope to identify equipment flaws (22:36). Chemical lab (24:06). Safety signs (24:32). Interior of dining car (26:32). Santa Fe shipping containers (26:36). Santa Fe Warbonnet F7 comes towards the camera and cuts to the closing scene (26:51).
Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was a capitalist and railroad builder who established the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
One of the developments cited in the film is the new butt welded rails being installed along the ATSF: “the Santa Fe of yesterday has been rebuilt from the ground up. The days of fifty and sixty pound rail are long gone, and even the heavier rail which replaced it is now itself being replaced by rails a hundred and thirty pounds or more…” (2:30). The film also cites CTC, the centralized traffic control form of railway signalling, better, automatic coupling systems,
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2K. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
