HOW IT ALL BEGAN - All Aboard: The Complete North American Train Travel Guide - page 19

available, not even to the merely wealthy. Then, in the fall of
1911, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway—aka Santa
Fe—began offering once-a-week service between Chicago and
Los Angeles with a train appropriately called the de Luxe. And
indeed it was. Passengers slept in real brass beds. There were
maids, a manicurist for female passengers, and a barber for
the men. The latest books and magazines could be found in an
onboard library. Newspapers and the latest stock reports were
put aboard at regular stops en route. In promoting the de Luxe,
the railroad boasted that passengers would stay comfortable
regardless of the outside temperature, thanks to a technological
breakthrough the company described as an “air washing device”
(a primitive form of air conditioning).
As the years passed and passenger demand grew, Santa Fe
added more luxury trains to its popular Chicago-Los Angeles
route. The Chief made its debut in 1926 and soon became the
choice of movie stars traveling between coasts, a fact the railroad
promoted relentlessly with publicity photos of the stars waving
from the observation platform on the rear car. There was a bar-
ber, a hairdresser, a manicurist, and a hostess in the lounge car.
In the Chief's dining car, the menu offered a dizzying variety of
dishes, expertly prepared and served with a flourish. There was
even a private dining room where Hollywood moguls could dine
and make their blockbuster deals in private.
The Chief proved very popular, so to meet the additional
demand and broaden its passenger base, Santa Fe added other
new trains to the route. The Scout wasn't as fancy as the Chief,
but it catered to middle-income families traveling on a budget and
helped bring long-distance train travel to a whole new market.
The El Capitan was an all-coach train, and the California Limited
served only first-class passengers. Finally, in 1936, Santa Fe intro-
duced the Super Chief, which soon became a standard in its own
right. Gradually the traditional Pullman cars gave way to gleaming