The Chicago Cubs & Route 66: America's Team and Americas Road

Admittedly neither the Cubs Wrigley Field, the White Sox US Cellular Field or the Bears Soldier Field are on Route 66, although the latter is pretty darn close. Chicago is and has been for a long time known as a big sports town, and that is an absolute truth. Not only are Chicagoan's sports lovers, but they are known for their team loyalty, and downright bleed their teams colors.

No case is this more true then with the Chicago Cubs, who on the night of Wednesday November 2, 2016 clinched their first World Series win in 108 years. This 108 year ultimate title drought, is the longest any major sports team (and I mean in any sport) has gone between major victories, and in essence has become part of the enduring nature of who the Chicago Cubs are, and what it means to be a true fan, and bleed "Cubby Blue". To actually win the World Series, and break that 108 year stalemate is simultaneously a victory of the soul and heart of the average Chicago sports fan, and cause to pause and reflect on finding new definition for ourselves in the world of major sports.

You see coming up against the Cleveland Indians in this World Series, I myself was given food for thought on what a Cubs victory would mean, as well as what I had as a Chicago sports fan. You see until June of 2016 with the Cleveland Cavilers NBA Championship, Cleveland hadn't won any major sports victories since the Browns won the Super Bowl in 1964. This fact made me take stock of my Chicago sports fandom, as I began to realize that in the past 30 years we here in Chicago haven't actually had it that bad. My way of looking at it is that the Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series win is a culmination of a 30 year cycle in Chicago sports championships, one that started with the Bears winning the Super Bowl in early 1986. In this 30 year period every one of our major sports teams has claimed at least one major championship. Five years after the Bear's Super Bowl victory the Chicago Bulls would claim the first of three NBA championships between 1991 and 1993, and would repeat their "three-peat" title runs again between 1996 and 1998, making the Chicago Bulls one of the greatest teams in NBA history. Seven years later in 2005 the Chicago White Sox, who nearly rivaled the Cubs in time since World Series wins, would claim their first World Series win since 1917. Only five years after that the Chicago Blackhawks would start their near dynastic playoff runs claiming the NHL's famed Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015 with things looking good for 2017 as well. You see even though it's been 108 since the Cubs last World Series victory we definitely have not had a 52 year dry spell between major sports wins here in Chicago.

If your not a Chicagoan then your next question probably is; how do the Chicago Cubs play into the psyche of the average Chicago sports fan and their outlook on major sports? To be honest I have no idea why the Cubs represent the heart and soul of the average Chicago sports fan. The Cubs are, and always have been a very special baseball team, perhaps because there is something lovable and identifiable about being the under-dog. I think that's really the true spirit of it all, and in a way why the team itself is identifiable to many outside of Chicago earning the name "Americas Team".

As Spring training has kicked off this year many of us are keeping our fingers crossed that the Cub's repeat their World Series run, and perhaps change that 108 year drought into small dynasty building on last years win. As to whether or not my, or the hearts of many other Chicagoans can take it again, I don't know, but what I do know is I will be wishing them luck in 2017.

If your heading to Chicago for a Route 66 trip keep in mind that Cub's tickets are at a premium now, and you want to buy them as soon as possible to get decent seating. Please also keep in mind seats are going for a lot more than they use to as well, and even a few years ago seats weren't cheap to begin with. Last but not least Wrigley Field is actually pretty far North about 7 miles, of where Route 66 begins in Chicago's downtown however, if your staying downtown there are many public and even private transportation options for getting to Wrigley Field, and trust me ditching the car to travel down there is actually a pretty good idea since parking is at a premium.           

Are We There Yet? Part 1 - The Journey Begins?

We here in Northern Illinois are in what is unofficially early summer or a close approximation of it. We're finally begining to see a lot of sun, and occasionally some really warm and dare I say it even hot days. Of course this time of year always brings a feeling of optimism and with it a case of the summer fever. It first strikes you as a need to get out of your house, and then begins to strike you as a need to hit the road and wonder blue skies, and new terrain.

For me the need to hit the road has been haunting me all day in the form of sudden memory flashes from places I have been, and many of them are places on Route 66. These memories and the urge to move have even made me grab a few moments of internet time from my within my busy day to peek at some of the places I've been to and want to see again. 

What it all reminds me of though is the fact that if I or let's say you "want to take that California trip" to qoute the song, now is the time to plan and plan well. 

You see for me nothing says summer vacation more then a good old fashion family road trip, and there can't be any place in the world better to road trip on then Route 66. 

Now, I'm guessing your no neophyte to family travel, and that although you may have not traveled Route 66, you do know what's out there and on it. With that said though I know you maybe feeling a bit overwhelmed, there is so much to see and so little time. So I'm going to give you some step by step instructions that can help you plan the type of trip you want. 

Step 1 - Get a Guide

Jerry McClanahan's EZ66, and Route 66 Magazines Complete Guidebook and Atlas of Route 66 are two very good ones. I wrote an article covering both last year just see my older postings to find the one right for you. You will want one to help you plan, and to keep in the car along the way.

Step 2 - Get a Wishbook

Remember getting the Sears or Penny's Wishbooks near Christmas as a kid? Do you remember going through the toy section and circling what you wanted so your folks would know what to get you. If your planning on traveling the route you may want to repeat this old custom as an adult. There are lot of great Route 66 books out there with some great insight into the Route and that cover the many landmarks with great story's and photos. 

One of my favorites is Route 66 by Nick Freeth. This book goes state by state and covers a lot of great attractions. You need a book like this where you can mentally circle what you want to see and go plan it from there. If you don't want to buy this book you might be able to get it or some great books like it through your local library. Also if you need any suggestions just go ahead and contact me. 

Step 3 - Read My Blog

http://route66forfamily.blogspot.com/?m=1

Shameless self promotion? Well, maybe a little, but I also have tons of great tips, and history's on my blog that are great for planning. I even have my Route 66 Kids Picks articles about authentically kid approved sites along Route 66, and my Family Travel Must Haves a great series about the road trip items every family must have to make life on the road easier. 

Step  4 - Get A Notebook

 

This is simultaneously a fun and hard part. The first thing you want to do is plan your dream trip. Put down all the places you want to see and the amount of time you want to invest into each one. Want to see the Grand Canyon via the Grand Canyon Railway add two or three days in. Want to catch a Cubs game in Chicago, and do some shopping add a day or two there, and so on. 

Why plan a dream trip first?

The goal is to purge your system of everything you want to see and do on a Route 66 trip, then pear it down to fit reality. That may seem a bit depressing, but it's not as depressing as missing something you really wanted to see on the route becuase it wasn't planned in. We'll talk about doing a reality check in a later step. 

The goal here is to give yourself a written idea of what you want to see and do that has no constraints, and where you can cross stuff off and/or pencil other items in with very little effort. If you review your guides or Wishbook ahead of time it's also a great place to jot down notes about potential detours, other alignments, and off the beaten path landmarks. 

Well this is where I'm going to end Part 1, becuase you probably busy getting together all these items. Watch for Part 2 coming out soon.

Experiencing the Dining Car as It Use To Be

Train travel in the United States today is a far cry from what it once was. Only the long distance passenger trains have dining cars, and although the food is good and passengers are presented with a menu to choose from breakfast, lunch, and dinner much of the food comes semi-prepared. Dining on Amtrak is still a treat, and well worth experiencing both for its coolness factor and historical connection. Dining by rail though was once something completely different from what it is now. 

Back before the disintegration of the great passenger trains, dining by rail was something that helped distinguish one railway from another. Some railways even became famous for particular items on their dining car menus. Food on the dining car wasn't just sustenance to eat while the train sped along for many miles but instead it had become a gourmet dining experience that was on par with some of the larger cities finest gourmet eating establishments.

It wasn't always this way though dining cars really didn't come into fully functional service until around the time of World War I. Before then various food service  cars had been experimented with, railways tried everything from lunch cars to buffet cars to café cars, all of which came with varying results. Most of these experiments started back around the time of the transcontinental railway and lasted all the way through the late 19th century into the very early 20th century. For the most part though if passengers wanted to eat along the way in this time period it required passengers to deboard trains at towns where the locomotive was forced to stop to take on coal and water. One can only imagine the inconvenience of having to do such a thing especially with having to worry about weather or the possibility of missing ones train and/or meal. 

It was during this same period time that the Santa Fe Railway entered into an agreement with the Fred Harvey Company. The Fred Harvey Company would provide eating establishments at larger whistle stops for the Santa Fe and the Santa Fe would agree to extend the time it took take on coal and water for their trains so that customers could have a leisurely meal at one of Harvey's restaurants. These restaurants became known as Harvey Houses, and I will take a deeper look at some Harvey Houses in postings to come. But Harvey Houses did something else they gave passengers a quality meal that was stress-free since Harvey Houses were located close to the Santa Fe tracks, the food was prepared in conjunction with trains that where stopped over, and managers would often wonder the Harvey House dining rooms notifying passengers of departing trains.

As a decades wore on locomotive's became more technically advanced which required them to stop less for coal and water. Eventually locomotives only had to make longer stops at larger cities meaning many of the whistle stops where they had previously allowed passengers to the leave the train in order get a meal where now totally bypassed as the train passed through them at high speed. For the railways it was time to finally have onboard dining facilities. By the 1910's advancements in onboard cooking, and refrigeration finally gave the railways the chance to produce effective dining cars. By the 1930s dining cars were at their peak, and so to was each railways need to brag that it had the best food. To say the least the battle between the railways for the best dining car would carry-on for 30 more years finally culminating in the 1960s with the Santa Fe Super Chiefs Turquoise Room, a special five-star dining room located in the Super Chiefs dining car and known for attracting the glitz and glamour of movie stars and other famous people of the era. 

By the 1970s the railways, specifically the passenger lines would go into to decline and many of them would disappear from memory. However memories of the wonderful food on their dining cars still remain and some have dedicated themselves to maintaining the memory of this food.

The books above James D Porterfield's Dining By Rail, and George H Foster and Peter C Weiglen's The Harvey House Cookbook are two great books commemorating the railway dining experience.

Dining By Rail functions as both a great history book and cookbook. Porterfield gets in-depth with the evolution of dining cars on various railways and then also manages to get in depth with how the various railways came about designing some other most famous menu options. Porterfield carefully brings together some brief histories and recipes from over 40 different railways. One of my favorite parts of this book is when Porterfield mentions the great French Toast Battle in which the Northern Pacific, Soo Line, Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Pennsylvania railways try to compete for the best French Toast recipe, and you can find the French Toast recipe for each of these railways right here in this book.  There are hundreds of other excellent recipes from the railway dining cars listed in this book as well as a lot of great insight into life in the dining car. It's well worth the read in these recipes are definitely worth trying at home if you want to get a taste of how high-quality the food was I many of these dining cars.

The Harvey House Cookbook is another fantastic book to add to the overall experience of dining by rail. The book is dedicated to Harvey Houses, but is intermixed with recipes from various Santa Fe passenger trains. This is another fantastic book for gaining both historical insight into the operations of Harvey Houses and Santa Fe passenger trains and for just getting overall taste of what it must been like to actually have eaten at these places during their heyday. The book covers some of Fred Harvey's most notable resorts like the La Posada in Winslow, AZ, and the La Fonda in Santa Fe, NM, as well as some of it's other operations like Los Angeles, and Chicago Union Stations, and Chicago's Midway Airport. This book has a fantastic layout in which the historical text is in between the recipe sections which are themselves laid out by meal segments. All though this book isn't as in depth with Harvey House history as some other books it is a fantastic and should I say hands on or taste buds on introduction to Harvey House's which is extremely unique for any book on this subject. The book also allows us to see how dining cars where developed by giving us a peek into the period in which rail travel dining transferred from Harvey Houses to actual dining cars since some recipes in this book come from the California Limited, Santa Fe's precursor to the Chief and Super Chief, and the first of their trains to present onboard dining in a first class manor.

I must own 2 dozen books on the Santa Fe, but of all of them these two are the only ones that give me a real feel for what it must have been like to have been there, and put this piece of history in such human terms through a connection to food.

A Year in Review

Believe it or not I started this blog nearly three years ago in 2011. I was only able to write four posts that first year, and could just never find the time to sit down and get more post out even though I was unemployed at the time. What's ironic about this is that since June of this year I have written nearly 63 posts, and on top of that I have a very demanding full time job. But, I digress I know I should be talking about this year.

What I have enjoyed the most about writing this blog, is watching the way it has evolved this year, and also the way in which my own thought processes have evolved too, as I learn more about Route 66 and its history. It has always been my goal to see Route 66 in a different light then what is traditionally been put out there, and that for me has been something I have been able to see and do with far greater clarity then ever before this year.

One thing I've come to realize this year is that perhaps my point of view's and need to connect events historically are a bit swayed by my identity as a Chicagian. I don't mean to say that I scoff at the myriad of small towns on Route 66 regarding them as podunks filled with hicks, but rather I see it as part of the many rail, highway, water, and air routes that sprung forth from the crossroads that make Chicago what it is. In a way the Sears (Willis) Tower seems to stand as a symbol of Chicago the symbol of the western most of the great eastern cities, a bastion district set out on the prairie representing the old and new United States. But what I find interesting is the location of the Willis sits between Adams and Jackson, west and eastbound 66 respectively. In a way the westward looking face of the Willis looks almost like a person, it's shoulders erect, it's left arm resting, and high up accentuated by "The Ledge" one can't help but detect and almost stoic looking face that gazes westward as the tower and city itself look out if the lands it's railroads, roads, and catalog houses created in 19th and 20th century's. Most importantly it's looking west down Route 66. 

I've also come to realize this year that there are places that just get burned into your memory on Route 66. For me Winslow, AZ and its La Posade Hotel and Turquoise Room drift into my memories a lot. As does the Mesalands Dinosuar Museum and Wigwan Curios in Tucumcari, NM. I also think a lot about the friendly folks out in Needles, CA. But there are a lot of great places out there and by no means am I intentionally leaving those folks out. 

This year has also made me realize that if Route 66 is to survive, a new generation must take the wheel even if the previous one isn't willing to give it up. Don't get me wrong the previous generation of baby-boomers who traveled the Route as kids and as young adults have left us a legacy, and have been careful to document the Route as they remember it. Times are changing though, and years are passing and the Gen Xer's and older Gen Y's are ready to take on that legacy. Perhaps we don't remember it as it was, perhaps our first trip out west was on an inter-state, and perhaps we never saw Bob's dinner on Route 66 in Hometown USA when it was open, but none the less history cannot stay alive unless the culture that bares it, keeps it alive and hands it on to the next generation. Yes, some of the sentimentality will be lost, but for the most part it will be the unimportant parts that really serve no one but those exact few remembering. 

For Route 66 to stay alive as the older generation wishes they need to realize the uniquely American nature of Route 66. That Route 66 is America, it's our point if view, our culture, and our society on a 2500 mile stretch of highway. When visitors from foreign countries come to visit Route 66 they come to visit it becuase of how American it is, not becuase if it's international appeal. International visitors are welcome to visit as much as they like, but if the routes appeal and history is to survive then its time for the next generation of Americans to take over and keep it that way. 

Last but not least, and not to blow my own horn, I've realized how important a blog like this is. Having been exploring and researching Route 66 for years, I know how much information is it there. I also no how much of it is junk, and how very little help there is out there for someone looking to travel Route 66 as a family. 

So I would like to thank all of you who follow me directly or on Google Plus, and for reading my articles when you can. For now I wish you a Happy New Year, and I look forward to writing more in 2014.

Christmas Life Along the Route

It was early December of 2004 and I had just gotten my son to bed. I decided to sit down at my desk and read the December issue of Arizona Highways. I had a few hours to kill till my wife got home from class, so I was able to get lost in that issue. It wasn't the usual Arizona Highways fair of stunning photos and little story's and history's from Arizona's many wonders but a collection of Christmas memory's about life in Arizona. Their where wonderful stories from all over the state, from Bisbee, Tucson, Yuma, and of course stories from along Route 66. 

There was a story from about life before Christmas vacation at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, another story about a Navajo women making her way from Gallup to fight deep snow on the Navajo reservation to be with her family over the holiday break, and another about a women remembering a bitter-sweet bus trip from Kingman during World War 2. It was a fantastic read that put me in a Christmas state of mind, and really made me think about life elsewhere over Christmas. 

Chicago sky scrapers adorned with red and green lights for the holiday. 

At the same time though I have to believe that there are folks dreaming about life on my end of the route too. Dreaming about the glitz and glamour of Chicago during Christmas. Suddenly understanding the full meaning of the lyrics to Silver Bells. Growing up in someplace like Elk City, Oklahoma, or Needles, California the lights of State Street, the rush of the shoppers, and the dressed up windows of Marshell Fields (yes I know its Macys), and other stores would seem almost intoxicating and fill one with Christmas joy especially when you never even imagined anything like it before. 

You see as I always say that's the thing about Route 66, there is so much territory and so many different ways of life, yet one road links everyone. For Christmas unlike Thanksgiving though each region, and it's cultures and beliefs have their own traditions and takes, on the holiday. 

Throughout the Southwest for instance the the festival of the La Posada takes place, a nine day festival celebrating the coming of Christmas, and culminating on Christmas Eve with the La Posada reinactment in which a young couple wonders from house to house looking for shelter the same way Mary and Joseph did before Christ birth. This is followed by midnight Mass and then Tamales and Posola into the wee small hours of Christmas. 

In the Midwest on the other hand we jump into Christmas on Black Friday. From there on in the small towns along the route have weekends filled with parades, craft shows, Christmas pageants, breakfasts with Santa, and cookie exchanges. In suburbia houses are decorated to the hilt with lights to help break the darkness of Decembers long cold nights. Midwesterners also turn the oven up to give the house a little extra heat, and to bake batch after batch of cookies shaped like Christmas icons. While midnight masses here are only followed by coffee or hot chocolate and folks get it bed right after so Santa can deliver his goods in the wee small hours. 

Town squares across country combine small town life and down home Christmas spirit. 

In the miles of desert that Route 66 covers through California,  Christmas is often marked by folks making special trips to towns far away to do the Christmas shopping since there own towns are too small for much of anything. This gives shopping day a special feel of  excitement as one must manage to hide gifts, while trying to peak at what was just bought for them all when traveling in the same vehicle. But although snow is an uncommon visitor to these areas the nights do get cold, and the winds get bad. While on the coast Christmas and beach life mingle to create the odd images of Santa on a surf board. Considering that many of the areas in California along 66 have been settled by Midwestern transplants it's not uncommon to see the same traditions of baking and Christmas light insanity pop up in the usually snowless warmer terrain. 

The terrain, the cultures, the history, and the miles all play a role in how Christmas is celebrated on Route 66. There are many traditions and many other celebrations I missed here. But I have no doubt one could fill a book with such Christmas time legacys, by just traveling from town to town. 

So no matter where you are take a few minutes to lose yourself along Route 66, and imagine how Christmas in celebrated from Chicago to LA, and all points in between. 

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and in case I don't get another article out between one and then I wish you a Happy New Year too! 

Steaming Through Christmas Cards

Well it looks like we are getting into that time of the holiday season when we have to waste a night at a desk or table scribbling out Christmas cards till our hands are soar. It’s not one of my favorite tasks, which is probably why we always end up doing it at last minute in my house. 

In a way it is nice to send Christmas cards out though since its this connection to the past when folks would once communicate via actual letters, and actual mail, and when seeing words written to you in ink meant something. That and I guess I do enjoy getting cards to because it’s a meter of what friends you have gained and lost over the year, which is food for thought as the new year approaches. But, my absolute favorite part about Christmas cards is the images on them, pictures of everything from the Holy Family and Nativity, to cartoon characters, to landscapes, but by far though my favorite Christmas card images are those of trains in the winter. 

I don’t know what it is that makes trains and winter pair so well. It seems as if artist, both in the painted and photographic mediums have had an obsession with it for a long time though. I think in the steam era it was the contrast of the jet black engine against the white snow, or in those night time shots the way the light and snow, and steam all played off of each other to present an air of mystery and power. So it only seems right that such images would appear on Christmas cards, at a time of year that already conjures up imagery of snow, and trains separately. 

Outside of images I have seen depicting trains waiting in various yards around Chicago to make their outbound trips into the snowbound land, I have also found a few of the Super Chief, and other Santa Fe passenger trains I love passing through the snow covered lands of the Southwest. As awesome as the contrast is between a black steam engine and the white snow there is nothing as unique and dare I say it cozy looking as one of the Santa Fe’s polished aluminum engines float through the snow surrounded by snow topped red cliffs. There is a sense of coming home in these images that just makes those viewing them delve into it for a while and live there filled with holiday cheer, as the mind visits Gallup and Flagstaff. 

Here are some links to look at these images for yourself an maybe buy a few cards if you like them. Keep in mind I’m not affiliated with any of these vendors so in now way and I endorsing there product or selling it. 

http://www.leanintree.com/christmas-card-santa-fe-chief-in-winter-71639.html

http://www.leanintree.com/christmas-card-santa-fre-superchief-raton-pass-70189.html

 

Thanksgiving on Route 66

It’s the day before Thanksgiving can you feel the excitement? The day before Thanksgiving has always been one of the busiest travel days of the year and has been by tradition for the number of years. When you look up in the sky tonight look for the lines of lights in the sky of airplanes in the landing patterns. Around O’Hare we can almost read by these lights. Or if you choose to look at the train stations for any larger city and see the crowds fighting their way off trains, and you will see this travel holiday is very much alive. Of course the highways are also loaded to the brim as well. 

It’s a fair guess that Route 66 will see some traffic in many spots today too, but probably no where near what it use to see. 

When it comes to Thanksgiving I have always had a love for the holiday. Not because of Turkey and all that even though that helps, but because of the day before the holiday and all the energy the need to travel generates that in essence kicks off the holiday season. It’s also one of those times of year when you find yourself able to get into the spirit of things, and even begin to feel the way things use to be. I think it has a lot to do with Thanksgivings traditions, and maybe the fact that I have traveled portions of the route on this holiday as well. 

Thinking back on my own memories of following the route from Chicago to Rolla as a kid on the way to Mountain Home, AR to see my grandparents, I can channel the feelings so of what must have been. I can imagine folks traveling home to here and there to towns on the route or relatively not that far from it. In my minds eye I can see the fall foliage which in the milder climate around Missouri all the way to Texas clings on the trees a little later then it does in Chicago. I can only imagine driving the route in each era, and being homeward bound. Fighting the traffic and rolling through small town after small town, anxiously waiting to see home and everyone I love again. 

There’s a sense of people all experiencing the holiday in their own ways, and with foods that are traditional to them. I can see tables with foods made from local ingredients, honeys, peppers, avocados, mutton, beef and etc. I see pies off all types made with local flare, and wines and beers of all types. The holiday is about sharing and giving thanks and people up and down the route all do that but in their own way that is all still uniquely American. 

Lets not also forget many of the little towns along the way too, many of which probably have traditions of there own for Thanksgiving. Look at Winslow, AZ for example which has a Thanksgiving parade dating back to the 1940's. How many other town have there own little things they do, such as community Turkey dinners, and adopt a serviceman programs, or even goofy odd little things that are just fun traditions. 

The thing is when we think Route 66 we are often filled with images of Summer, and station wagons, Disneyland, California Beaches, and Cubs games. We never see the route that exist outside of Summer, that year round home for people who live with the route daily 365. There is something really splendid about seeing the route at a different time of year, and I think Thanksgiving on into Christmas is probably the best times to see Route 66 outside of its pop culture box.  

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving, and if you are traveling be safe!

Thanksgiving Memories of Rail Travel

For me there is no single holiday that is so quintessentially American and synonymous with travel as Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving or should I say the day before Thanksgiving has long been held as one of the busiest travel holidays of the year for decades, well back to the golden age of railway travel. 

 

If you have never traveled by train cross country then you don’t know the sense of community you get on such a trip. There is something really unique about traveling a long distance in the limited yet communal space of a train. You eat with your fellow passengers in the dining car, relax with them in the lounge car, and hop off the train with them to get some fresh air, and maybe hunt for souvenirs at those exaggerated stops here and there. It’s a unique experience that makes you feel like a human in our modern world of social media and disconnection. You see its not like car travel where your off in your own compact little world, and its also not like airline travel where it’s pointless to talk to your fellow passengers because you will only be with them for a few hours and likely never see them again. With train travel though, you will see your fellow train passengers over and over again possibly for a few days based on your destination.

 

My reason for talking about the joys of train travel not only has to do with the fact that this is a train travel related blog, but because I want to talk about my own experiences traveling on the Southwest Chief the day before Thanksgiving.

 

The year was 2000 and I was on my way back home on the Southwest Chief. I had traveled from Chicago to Barstow, CA about a week and a half earlier to see my girlfriend (now Wife). It was the second time in my life I had traveled cross country by train, the first time was also on the Southwest Chief but I only went as far as Flagstaff, AZ. This time in 2000 would mark the first time I would travel by first class though, an experience I would suggest to anyone.

 

My story starts on November 20, 2000. The Southwest Chief rolled into Barstow about two hours late. After a long teary goodbye with my future wife in an almost classic movie style, I climbed onboard the train and was taken to the transition car at the front of the train. Here the conductors tried to sort out my printed first class reservation with Amtrak, compared to their passenger listings that showed me as coach. Luckily this didn’t take to long and by the time I got to my room it was set up for the night, and considering it was shy of 12AM that was a good thing. I feel asleep talking with my future wife via a still new technology called “texting”, making sure she made it from Barstow 30 miles back to her hometown.

 

The next day was a Tuesday and I began to meet some of my fellow passengers at breakfast. It was at this point I could begin to feel the excitement of the oncoming holiday. That Wednesday though November 22, 2000 is when everything really came alive on the train. Breakfast and lunch conversation from all over the dining car where about Thanksgiving, people talking about who they were going to see, and how much more traveling they had to do to get there. With the train running late there was concern that some people wouldn’t make connections in Chicago with other trains. I remember having breakfast with one couple who where going to have Thanksgiving with family in Pennsylvania and they where a little concerned we would get in too late for them to hop the next train to Pennsylvania. For the most part though there was just this joy and light I saw in everyone something I hadn’t seen in people as an adult.

 

As the train rolled on one of the most entertaining things to hear where announcements from the conductor about goings on at back of the train in coach. Apparently the coach seating was beginning to fill with college students, some of who in their excitement to get home where beginning to become a bit mischievous. Announcements came warning passengers at the back of the train to “Not play with the PA system, or they will be put off the train at the next stop!”, this was followed up about an hour and a half later with “Use of alcohol by minors is strictly prohibited on trains, anyone under the age of 21 caught drinking will be put off at the next stop and turned over to the local Sheriff”. Don’t worry it gets better, about an hour later we hear “Smoking and controlled substances are both prohibited on trains, any passenger caught smoking on board, or having just left a bathroom that is filled with smoke will be put off the train at the next stop, and turned over to the local Sheriff”. I later choose to ask my porter what was going on in back of the train, and thats when he explained the glut of college students picked up here and there and the sudden party atmosphere that had broken out. I was half inclined to join them.

 

The train sadly rolled into Union Station Chicago 3 hours late and yes some of the nice folks I had met on board did miss their connections. Union Station itself was a madhouse just from Amtrak passengers alone, remember back then the economy was good and folks traveled more. I was sad to step off the Southwest Chief in a way that night, since I found the excitement of my fellow travelers about going anywhere to celebrate Thanksgiving intoxicating. But on the long car ride home I realized something, in a way I celebrated a special Thanksgiving with a different kind of family in a more communal sense. Living, talking and eating with my fellow passengers I got to learn about what they give thanks for, and what was important to them and it wasn’t all that different from what was important to me. So if you want to experience Thanksgiving in a different sense try a train trip one day.

I wish you a happy a joyous Thankgiving!!

Route 66 and the Big Chain Restaurant

There's this general consensus among Route 66 devotees that chain restaurants, motels, and stores where part of what killed Route 66. The basic theory behind that thought is that Route 66 equals Mom & Pop joints, and "chain joints" equal the interstates and super slabs. 

In a way that thought process isn't all that wrong. Chain business's are near many interstate exits, and passers by are more inclined to stop at one of these places, like Walmart, McDonalds, or Comfort Inns, then they are to head deeper into town for that Mom & Pop place. In many circumstances the Mom & Pop places, places that fronted on Route 66, have succumbed to these chain influences. 

What I think a lot of old time Route 66er's don't think about is that one of those chain monsters is actually a Route 66 child. That's right McDonalds was originally founded by the McDonald Brothers in San Bernadino, CA. The original restaurant at North E St, and West 14th stands only about a mile or so East of Route 66. One could only imagine that Route 66 travelers would probably take the side trip down 14th to visit the unusual burger joint locals guided them to.

But that's not the whole story. It was a Chicago businessman (that's right Chicago another Route 66 town) Ray Kroc who saw the potential of the burger joint and encouraged the McDonald Brothers to expand, while investing his own money to make it happen and becoming the first franchisee. 

In 1955 Kroc opened the first of the franchise stores in Des Plains, IL. The town of Des Plains, is a suburb of Chicago in Northwestern Cook County, the same county as Chicago. Des Plains itself is not on Route 66 but it's less then 20 miles from it, making it still relatively close. 

Both the first McDonalds Brothers, and Ray Kroc stores are museums now. You can visit them on either end of Route 66 to see how far the restaurant has come since being a little burger joint in San Bernardino, CA. 

The thing is though that "McDonalds" is probably considered to be the king of franchise/chain restaurants. That's right McD's is suppose to be this faceless corporation dishing out homogenous food coast to coast along interstates, and killing Mom & Pop diners. Yet this faceless corporation has its roots in Route 66, and started as a Mom & Pop, or should I say Brother & Brother itself in San Bernardino, CA. 

So the next time you read or hear someone criticizing "Big Chains" on Route 66, don't forget to think that Route 66 itself gave birth to one of them. That says something about 66 itself helping the US grow in the post-war 1940's. 

Don't Worry I'm Still Here

Ok, I know I disappeared for a week, but sometimes life has other plans for you then writing blogs. My past week has been like this, emotionally draining and just needing a break from everything even blogging. 

The thing is though that day by day fall grows closer, not just on the calendar but in the true sense of the season. Earlier this week we got some very chilly mornings here in Chicago. I froze my butt off Monday morning when I walked out into a morning that felt more like late October the mid-September. Tuesday was cold all day, and yesterday started off cold and ended hot and humid. But what does all this mean to you? Well it means when you feel Fall coming, you start to get into a Fall frame of mind. You slow down, and you begin to notice the world slowing down too. It's a good time to get in that frame of mind. 

Up and down Route 66 the world is slowing down too. The foreign tourists are starting to trickle down, we families are in school mode, and the nostalgia folks are accumulating in the warmer climates. But in places like Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma the leaves are starting to turn. Soon on the weekends the smell of burning leaves, and the gentle smog of its smoke fill little valleys here and there. Roadside stands will sell squash, apples and apple cider, and little farms will open up for pumpkin picking. 

It's a good and unique time of year to travel the route. 

Making a Movie on Route 66

The day is September 12, 2013 and since the wee small hours on the morning movie company trucks have been parked tightly front to back all the way up Clinton between Adams, and Jackson. 

The workers are very tight lipped about what is being filmed here. For those of us keenly aware of Chicago happenings we can only suspect that Transfomers 4 is going to be claiming Adams and Jackson tonight and possibly Union Station. 

These portions of Route 66 are no strangers to film production. One of 2013's summer blockbusters Man of Steel would be filmed here with the movies final brawl taking place inside Union Station. We can only assume the one of 2014's summer blockbusters will is being filmed here today and perhaps over the weekend. 

To say the least it's interesting to watch prop trucks, special effects trucks, and roving band of reporters roaming the area. Of course one of the more unique sights was watching breakfast being cooked for this army of workers in the middle of Clinton by a film crew catering company. 

Sadly though I haven't spotted any movie stars. 

Route 66 - The Song and Introducing Your Kids to 66

Ok, I know it's cliche but apparently at one time or another anyone writing about Route 66 has to mention the song. Now I love the song, but what I'm about to say may be sacrilege, "I can't stand Bobby Troops voice". Route 66 is a great song but I am so glad it's been remade over and over. 

My two favorite versions are by Nat King Cole, and the Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters version both versions made shortly after the song was written. Both versions have that 40's wartime feel but sung in 1946 they also have that great feel of post-war optimism. But there have been some other great versions of the song made and still being made. Visit Wikipedia or Route 66 Magazine for a list of the artist and bands that have remade the song. 

If you don't know the story behind the song here it is. The War (WWII) was over and Bobby Troop and his wife where traveling west. They came from Pennsylvania to Chicago to catch Route 66. To say the least they where enjoying Route 66 so much Bobby decided he wanted to write a song about it to get people to drive the route and have the same great experiences. The only problem was he just couldn't get the song put together in his head. He knew he wanted city names in the song, but the chorus was killing him. Finally as legend has it they where outside of Tucumcari, NM when his wife blurted out the phrase "Get you kicks of Route 66!". To say the least the song came together at that point, and by the time they got to LA the song was written. Inspired by and born on Route 66. 

Driving down Route 66 now its hard to not want to pop the song on. It's also hard to not see the song eluded to just about everywhere you go down the route. 

Traveling with your family you may find the song is great for introducing your kids to the route, and teaching them a little bit of geography too. The song can help them learn cities and even states along the route. Give your kids a map and they may be able to show you the way down Route 66 just by singing along and pointing out the town the song names. 

The National Old Trail

Before Route 66, there was the Santa Fe Railway, and before the Santa Fe Railway was the National Old Trails Road. 

You see as you study the history of our nation, you will find that over and over again their are very few routes cut direct from the wilderness, and most tend to be built and rebuilt on, or near each other over and over. The National Old Trails Road itself essentially followed pre-existing trails from the pioneer era such as the Santa Fe Trail, and the National Road. 

The Santa Fe Railway does not follow the National Old Trail directly, since its main routes like those of the California Limited and later the Super Chief started their westward trek in Chicago. These trains would finally catch up with the National Old Trail near Kansas City, MO and follow it closely to Los Angeles. 

Route 66 travels the National Old Trail in a both direct and indirect way. Route 66 like the Santa Fe's premier passenger liners started its westward trip in Chicago. For the most part Route 66 and  the Santa Fe crisscross each other between Cicero and Joliet, IL, when the finally go their separate directions meeting up again in Las Vegas, NM or Albuquerque, NM depending on the alignment of Route 66 at the time. 

Route 66 catches up with the National

Old Trail in St. Louis, MO. However, a Route 66 breaks southwest after St. Louis, as to where the National Old Trail continues west. Route 66 meets up again with the National Old Trail in either   Las Vegas, NM or Albuquerque, NM, the the latter indicating one of the later alignments of Route 66 in which Las Vegas, and Santa Fe, NM where bypassed. 

The National Old Trail and Santa Fe Trail basically served as templates for both the Santa Fe Railway, and Route 66. Part of the reason is because this southern route allows travel from the Easts last big city to the west coast through terrain that is devoid of the mountainous terrain found further north, terrain that was taxing on locomotives, cars, and particularly travelers. 

If you study old trails you will find this type of planning common. Look at the way the Mormon Trail, Oregon Trail,Transcontinental  Railway route, Lincoln Highway, US 30, and now modern I-80 all follow along the same basic path and terrain. This is a perfect example of how terrain and primitive trails can dictate travel, and interstate commerce, as is what we see with the routes predating Route 66, and Santa Fe.   

Finding the Descendent's of the Super Chief, under Route 66

The time is 8:06 AM on a balmy late August day in Chicago's West Loop. The sun is out and the sky's are blue, but the humid overnight heat bought Lake Michigan inland in the form of fog, enshrouding anything above the 35th floor of the Willis Tower. Looking down on Jackson Blvd one can see hundreds of people moving like ants over the bridge rushing to get to work by 8:30. 

Odds are that most of those rushing down Jackson and over the bridge have no concept of the historical significance of the street they are walking down let alone, what lies below street level on the West Loop side of the bridge. In 1926 Jackson Blvd was Route 66, both eastbound and westbound until 1955 when it became one way from Michigan Ave to Ogden Ave. The foot bound commuters are traveling on the first few miles of the the famous route, with no realization that that it had westbound lanes leading all the way to Santa Monica, CA. 

Eastbound Jackson Blvd (left), and Union Station southbound train sheds (right).

Below this portion of Jackson Blvd from Canal to the river bank lay the tracks of Metra and Amtrak feeding into Union Station. The only parts that are visible to street bound travelers are the train sheds, large greenhouse looking corridors, that cover the southbound track. Historic survivors in themselves witnesses to the Alton Limited, and Pennsylvania's T-1, somehow spared the air rights glut of the 70's and 80's. Under these sheds Metra operates two lines with significant connection to the Santa Fe passenger operations that once where. 

The most important of these is a line that runs from Union Station to Aurora. For you see this mere 40+ miles of track is the home to Santa Fe's now BNSF's last surviving passenger trains. 

View from inside the locomotive, notice the BNSF lettering above the passenger car door, reminiscent of the Santa Fe lettering on silver cars indicative of Santa Fe's Super Chief, and other passenger trains. 

BNSF operates these passenger trains for Metra, meaning you won't see any Warbonnet F40PHM's pulling these trains. Instead you will see Metra locomotives pulling them.

I had the privilege of riding in the cab of this locomotive from Chicago to Aurora and back. Metra F40PHM-2. 

These passenger trains are the last operating with any direct connection and lineage to Santa Fe. BNSF takes pride in this as you can see since the lettering on the passenger cars gives a close resemblance to what we would have been seen on both Santa Fe and CB&Q passenger cars of the past. Looking at these passenger cars one is reminded of the high-liners Santa Fe operated on such trains as the El Capitan, but inside they are standard commuter cars like those on the rest of the Metra system. 

Metra also operates one other line of significant lineage as well, that is its Heritage Corridor. This line is entirely operated by Metra but leaves from the same southbound tracks as the BNSF operated trains. The Heritage Corridor is aptly named and travels down the same tracks as the famous Santa Fe streamlines did, and also crosses paths with Route 66 a few times. The line runs to the Route 66 town of Joliet. 

Historically speaking Santa Fe's trains would leave southbound out of Dearborn Station, which is actually across the Chicago River a mile to the southwest of Union Station, there are no tracks going to Dearborn Station now. Riding on and experiencing these trains is something any fan of Santa Fe's trains need to do, to have some final connection the past. 

The Mausoleum of Luxury and Glamour

The 1970's where a hard time in Chicago. The railways that once populated the city, and made it the nations hub where vanishing and assumed to be near extinction. Land developers looking to make a grab for the valuable downtown property occupied by tracks grabbed whatever they could. Many made a grab for the air rights over the rails, too anxious to wait and see if the railways would meet their demise. The terminal building across Canal from Union Stations Great Hall would be ripped from the Earth, and a massive office building constructed above the tracks, a story that would happen all above the Northbound tracks of the old Milwaukee Road. 

In to the 1980's such practices where common but the results always the same, air rights granted and bought but the tracks remained. But their where a few exceptions, one of which was Dearborn Station. Dearborn Station itself still stands and is currently in use, but its tracks where taken out and land used for residential property quickly.

The yards that connected to the stations South end. These are long gone replaced with residential properties. 

Amtrak had possession on Santa Fe's rights to Dearborn station only two days before they would close its doors. At that point it's fate seemed to be sealed. Other stations in Chicago no longer serving trains like Central, and Grand Central stations where ripped down almost immediately after train service stopped. 

Somehow though through a twist of fate and a need to save such historic building Dearborn station itself managed to be spared the wrecking ball, its train shed and tracks wouldn't be that lucky. In 1976 an urban renewal project spearheaded by the City of Chicago would take place and the track and train shed would be removed to make way for housing in a new neighborhood aptly named Dearborn Park. 

The station itself would sit almost abandoned all the way through the 1980's with rumors still abounding that the building would meet its fate by the wrecking ball. Finally in 1986 with an 11th hour decision was made to save the station as a historical landmark. But the station facility was to large to maintain in its original form. Sadly although the building would be saved the station interior would be almost completely remodeled to for use as professional offices and retail space. 

Entering Dearborn Station today reminds me of entering a lot of other historic train stations around the country long abandoned by train service. There is little sign trains ever came here as dentist offices and jewelry stores now occupy spaces where passenger waiting rooms, newspaper stands, and ticket booths once use to sit. You can no longer feel the excitement a train travel, or the sense of poshness that once was felt here in the days of the Super Chief. 

So in 2013 Dearborn Station stands like any other mausoleum, with only a few to 

remember what once use to occupy the 

inside.

Helpful Websites: #1- TakeMyTrip.com

Researching a trip down Route 66 can lead you to a lot of websites, some helpful, some not. You will come across sites that chronicle trips, talk about landmarks, advertise hotels and so on. Each gives you a piece of the trip, but what if there is a website that let you virtually take the trip with video footage, photos and great narratives. 

That's what TakeMyTrip.com is all about. Creator, traveler, and website owner Daniel Woodrum has created probably the internets most unique travel website. Woodrum not only travels Route 66, but all over the nation. Using a dashboard camera and awesome narratives, Woodrum allows us to ride in his passenger seat and take his trip with him. 

Woodrum posts the trips in bit size portions, with the video time lapsed, and/or photos and commentary. Meaning a potential traveler can view an entire trip in a matter of minutes, and take away some great notes on his or her destination. 

Woodrum's coverage of 66 will take you from St. Louis to Santa Fe, NM. Woodrum separated out the Chicago, Arizona and California portions for other trips he made, but rest assured he covers it all. 

So if you want to get an idea about where your traveling or what you going to see, or you just want to take some time to dream about traveling I would suggest visiting his website.

It can be found at:

http://www.takemytrip.com/index.htm

Also here is the link to the sections pertaining to Route 66:

http://www.takemytrip.com/statemap_us66.htm

The Super Chief & Route 66: Icons of American Transportation - 2 Rivals, 1 Shared Death

The Train of the Stars

The Santa Fe Super Chief was the epitome of luxury travel in its heyday. It was surpassed only by the "Orient Express" in lavishness and worldwide fame. It was the way to travel in the golden era, a moving 4-Star hotel and restaurant inhabited by movie stars, musicians, politicians, and other notables of that long past era of glamour and class. 

But, sadly the Super Chief was born into an era that had already foreseen the benefits of alternative forms of travel. In many ways the Super Chief was conceived much in the same way a child is to parents trying to save a marriage, as a last ditch effort to fight an inevitable end.

 In 1937 Santa Fe hoped that the first class service, glamour, and opulence of the train would attract passengers who might travel by the as of yet, fledgling and uncomfortable airlines, or across country by automobile or bus. The strategy did work, but passenger railway service continued to erode, even as Santa Fe introduced additional trains in the Super Chiefs shadow, and other railways developed luxury trains of their own. 

America's Mainstreet

One of the biggest detractors from Santa Fe passenger service was Route 66. The route which also traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles, meets up with the Santa Fe Super Chief tracks in New Mexico, and follows it very closely all the way to Los Angeles. Introduced as part of the US Route highways system in 1926. Route 66 was one of many paved cross country routes being built by the government to encourage commerce and cross country travel. 

By 1926 and in the years to come automobiles where becoming more and more advanced, and Americans had a wide variety of vehicles to choose from. Matched with paved roads automobiles of the late 20's and early 30's could travel long distances easily and at higher rates of speed covering the 2000 miles from Chicago to LA in 3 days to a week. 

Route 66 quickly became a favorite of drivers because the route left Chicago and the Midwest and headed Southwest to milder climates, through relatively flat terrain. This meant that Route 66 was for the most part, a year round East-West route. Meaning the route also attracted trucks, and buses as well. Route 66 coupled with the more modern cars of the era quickly became a competitor of the Santa Fe Railway. Automobile travel after all allowed people to travel at their own pace, stay where they want, and see things they want to. It also allowed them to do this in the comfort of there own automobiles, and considerably cheaper then train tickets. 

Another option that Route 66 gave cross country travelers was bus. In the 1930's and 1940's bus travel didn't have the negative implications it does now. Look at movies like "It Happened One Night", and the song "We Fell in Love on a Grayhound Bus", as examples of the eras view of cross country bus travel. Bus travel was significantly cheaper then train travel, and gave passengers access to more towns along the way. 

Airborne Revalution 

The future of both Route 66 and the Super Chief would soon be intertwined. By 1935 two years before the Super Chiefs development, and 9 years after US 66's development Douglas Aircraft would come out with the DC-3. The twin engine airliner wasn't the worlds first airliner, but it was the first to offer an airframe sturdy enough to fly longer, and in adverse conditions within reason, while keeping passengers comfortable. The sturdy airframe also gave that airlines more utility since the DC-3 could take on some of the more primitive runways at the time, allowing the airlines access to medium and small cities, and giving passengers more options. 

By World War II the DC-3's legacy had spread into the next generation of four engine airliners. Douglas, as well as Boeing, Convair, Lockheed, and others where all building long range transport aircraft, not only to hopefully snag lucrative government contracts, but to help claim market share with the airlines after the war ended. By the late 1940's air travel became more prevalent then ever, and the airlines of that era became synanomous with the aircraft they used, TWA had is Constellations, and United its Stratoliners, and Pan Am its DC-6's.  

But the railways lucked out breifly due to the fact that in the minds of most Americans air travel was either still unsafe  and/or meant only for overseas travel. Trains like the Super Chief also benefited from the fact that domestic airline traffic was considered to lack the glamour and comfort of rail travel. In the film "North by Northwest", there id a scene that takes place on New York Centrals luxury liner the 20th Century Limited, in which Eva Marie Saints character Eve Kendall, mentions that she discussed rail versus air travel this with Cary Grant's character Roger Thornhill when she is questioned by police about her meeting with him in the dining car. Meaning such opinions about rail and air travel permiated pop culture even into the late 50's.

Super Slab

As challenging as the 1940's would be on railroad passenger operations, and to a lesser extent Route 66, the 50's would prove to be even harder on both. Aviation and a new Federal Highway act would both deal hard blows to the legendary pair before the decade was out. 

In 1956 the Federal Aid Highway Act was passed, as part of the Eisenhower Interstate Commerce System. Eisenhower was a participant of General Pershings Army expidetion down the Lincoln Highway in 1919 and became aware of the value of paved roads in increasing military mobility. Not to mention President Eisenhower was as many returning vets where, impressed with the Autobahn system they saw in Germany and elsewhere in Europe during World War II. The large flat and straight sections of highway, without stops, and toll booths would in Eisenhowers mind as a former general, be of strategic military value in moving men and equipment accross country quickly. It also had the benefit of increasing interstate commerce with trucks, and moving people quickly and safely in buses and cars. 

The Interstates where far superior to the US highway system in place already. Route 66 was getting a reputation for being dangerous as "Bloody 66" for accidents, and for being a bottle neck through some towns. Planned interstates such as I-40 wouldn't enter towns, and being flat and four lanes would greatly reduce accidents. One of the first sections of Interstate to be constructed would be I-44 in Missouri a section of interstate built to replace Route 66 in Missouri, and later Eastern Oklahoma all the way to Oklahoma City. For Route 66 it's future was becoming clear.

For Santa Fe and the Super Chief it meant road travel would cut even deeper into passenger operations. The super slab interstates where fast and could delivery cars and trucks anywhere in the nation quickly. Trucking in the world of interstates posed a major danger to Santa Fe's frieght operations. With the government awarding mail contracts to trucking companies, railways across the country began to panic, and it would soon be time to cut losses.

Supersonic Dreams

In 1958 passenger aviation was revolutionized once again when Boeing introduced the 707. The 707 ushered in a new era of commercial aviation, that is still with us to this day. The 707 replaced prop driven and first generation jet airliners that took 8 or more hours to go from Chicago to LA, with a trip of 4 or less hours at high altitude above turbulence, and near the speed of sound. Passenger aviation was now more comfortable and quicker then it had ever been. 

The 707 was also able to sway public opinion on aviation thanks in part to pop culture embracing the "Jet Age" at that time. An era in which even cars where being made to look like jet fighters and spaceships, and Americans became obsessed with space flight, technology, and science fiction. People began to connect glamour with the "Jet Set", and train travel became outdated and slow in public opinion. 

With only two weeks of vacation a year why would a family want to spend days of it on a train when they could reach there designation in a few hours? This also applied to the concept if driving across country, why waste 3 days driving down Route 66 when you could be there in 4 hours, and rent a car at the airport? 

The 707 and its Lockheed, and Douglas clones soon to come, spelled certain doom for both Route 66 and the Super Chief. 

2 Rivals, 1 Death

The 1960's bought more jet liners and more completed interstates. The railroads realizing they had to save themselves began to cut passenger operations, and/or merge with other railways. For Santa Fe the all sleeper Super Chief, would be combined with the all coach El Capitan. The combined train would operate as the Super Chief but its glamour days where gone. Movie stars traveled first class on commercial airlines or in first generation private jets. The glitz of places like Dearborn and Union Stations had been replaced with O'Hare, and LAX. 

Initially the 60's where easy on Route 66 and bought very little change since the interstates where still under construction, but traffic slowly but surely began to decline. By the late 60's and early 70's this would change competely. I-44 would see sections completed in both Missouri and Oklahoma but the early to late 60's both detracting from, and even eating up sections of Route 66. I-40 would see construction starting in Oklahoma as early as 1959, and Texas as early as 1962. Sections completed in New Mexico by 1960, and many in Arizona by 1968, and various sections completed in California during the same time frame. In Illinois I-55 would eat up many parts of Route 66, by 1970. 

The 70's saw the death of both Route 66 and the Super Chief. The jet age and interstates had taken their final toll on the geographically intermingled pair, and passengers dried up on the Santa Fe's passenger services, and traffic dried up through Route 66 towns. 

On May 1st, 1971 Santa Fe turned the train over to Amtrak, ending the railways operation of the famous passenger train. By 1974 Santa Fe pulled the Super Chief name from Amtrak, placing the final nail in the coffin of what was once the epitome of style, glamour, and class known as The Super Chief, and ending an era. It would be 1984 before a Chief or Amtraks Southwest Chief would ride the rails again, having been known as the Southwest Limited between 1974 and 84. But the Super Chief and all of Santa Fe's famous passenger trains where now gone. 

In the late 70's Santa Fe and many other railroads would struggle to survive and make thier freight operations competitive against interstate trucking. Santa Fe would survive and blossom with a "if you can't beat them, join them" philosophy. The railway would introduce a train known as the Super C, an all TOFC or Trailer on Flatcar train that rain between Chicago and LA. This train would be the first of the intermodal transports that would become highly lucrative in years to come. 

But as 1984 saw the mere spark of the Chief's return the rails under Amtrak, it also saw the final end to Route 66. The last sections of the old Route would be decommissioned near Williams, Arizona. Decertifing Route 66 as a US Highway. In effect Route 66's death certificate had been signed. 

1984 was a year of finality for US Route 66 and the Santa Fe Super Chief. Even though both would leave legacy's that to this day are remembered, commemorated, and loved that year would be that final goodbye for both.