Navajo (train)

Navajo was a named passenger train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe) between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. Introduced in 1936, it provided an overnight service designed to complement the more luxurious and faster Super Chief and Chief trains on the same route.

The Navajo catered to passengers seeking a more economical option than the Santa Fe's premier trains. It offered sleeping car accommodations, dining car service, and coach seating. While not as lavishly appointed as the Super Chief, it still provided a comfortable and reliable transcontinental journey.

The train's name derived from the Navajo Nation, a large Native American tribe whose ancestral lands encompass parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. This reflected the Santa Fe's long history of naming trains after Native American tribes and cultures along its routes.

The Navajo typically operated on a slightly longer schedule than the Chief, making more stops along the way. This allowed it to serve smaller communities and provide a vital transportation link for those areas.

The train's consist varied over the years, but generally included sleeping cars, coaches, a dining car, and baggage cars. Power was usually provided by diesel locomotives, as steam power was phased out on the Santa Fe in the mid-20th century.

The Navajo was eventually discontinued in the late 1960s as passenger rail travel declined in the face of increasing automobile and airline competition.