Santa Fe "southern main" & the Chief

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by passengerfan
The train you see on the southern main was the SAN FRANCISCO CHIEF. GRAND CANYON operated as one train between Chicago and KC then became two trains one operating along the Northern Main the other along the Southern Main.

Yes, excellent. So now I am on a quest to find pictures and information of passenger trains going through Kiowa Kansas. From this information Kiowa would have had at least the 4 transcons a day. Do you know anything about other passenger trains that may have been through Kiowa. This is where the branch to Enid Oklahoma connected to the main.

[passengerfan]

The CHIEF never beame a southern main train. The train you see on the southern main and the only Chief to operate on the southern main was the SAN FRANCISCO CHIEF. The SUPER CHIEF, CHIEF and EL CAPITAN all operated on the Northern Main and GRAND CANYON operated as one train between Chicago and KC then became two trains one operating along the Northern Main the other along the Southern Main. Hope this helps answer your question.

[Texas Zepher]

I know most of the Santa Fe passenger transcontenentals used the northern main line through Raton. I also have many pictures (e.g. "Santa Fe Early Diesel Daze" book) that show the Chief on points along the southern main though Texas & Oklahoma. All the www on-line references I can find concerning the Chief show its route as being the "northern main".

I would guess that the Chief was rerouted to the southern main when the Superchief became a daily train. Can anyone confirm or refute my guess? When did the Chief become a "southern" train?