Navajo
The Navajo was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The all-coach train began daily service between Chicago-Los Angeles-San Francisco as Train No. 9 (eastbound) and Train No. 2 (westbound) on October 1, 1915, as a replacement for the railroad's Tourist Flyer. In 1936, the westbound train was renumbered from Train No. 2 to Train No. 10. The Navajo was discontinued on January 14, 1940.
In Summer 1926, Train No. 9 was scheduled to leave Chicago at 9:45 a.m. on day one, arriving in Los Angeles on the third day at 7:30 a.m. It ran via Topeka, St. John, and Pasadena and carried no diner west of Kansas City - making three meal stops a day.
In November 1939, Train No. 9 left Chicago at 1:35 a.m. on day one, arriving in Los Angeles on the third day at 11:40 a.m. - 60 hours using the same route except via Great Bend. (For several years earlier in the 1930s, westward Train No. 2 shifted to the “Southern” route via Amarillo and Belen, then both trains ran via Amarillo for a year or two before returning to the “Northern” route via “Raton Pass”.)
The Navajo name was also carried by a Santa Fe sleeper-lounge-observation cars built by the Budd Company in 1937 for the Super Chief. The car is on display at the Colorado Railroad Museum.
A map depicting the "Grand Canyon Route" of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway circa 1901,
and it pre-dates the construction of the “Southern” route (via Belen and Amarillo), which started in 1908.
(Denver Public Library, via Wikimedia Commons)
Navajo Overview
First service: October 1, 1915
Last service: January 14, 1940
Former operator: Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Route Termini: Chicago / San Francisco
Train numbers: 9/10