Santa Fe 2013 (1 of 1)

I grew up near San Diego, California and the closest railroad to us was the Sante Fe (ATSF) which had the line between San Diego and Los Angeles (the surfline that the @pacificsurfliner still uses (with more frequency today) and also a few branches.

The blue & yellow warbonnet scheme became my favorite with the beautiful station in San Diego, which were so colorful to me compared to the Grey/Scarlett SPs and the Yellow UP locos we'd also see on trips around Southern California.

As I grew older and started learning more about railroads, I learned more about the history of Santa Fe's passenger service (which ended a week before I was born with @amtrak) highlighted by the San Diegans, Super Chief, and all the other Chief trains.

I was lucky in that my parents supported my growing interest in trains by taking me to places like Cajon Pass on trips and also regularly to the @the_la_mesa_model_railroad and the other layouts in Balboa Park.

Once I moved from California east to Arkansas it became a rare treat to see a Santa Fe locomotive in a train consist and I always enjoyed seeing their freight cars as they passed.

After the merger with the BN which created today's @bnsfrailway in the first few years, more Santa Fe units found their way into my area, but slowly they were repainted into the new unified schemes which honored both railroads heritage.

I was pleasantly suprised back in 2013 when @patricemchristian and I travelled over to Birmingham AL to see the #630 steam engine working on the @norfolksouthern steam excursions to also find an old survivor in the Santa Fe paint scheme still doing its job for the BNSF there. Head on you couldn't even see the small remarking under the cab.

Memories like this are why I'm still a huge fan of the old ATSF and why I enjoy learning more about it still to this day.