The Failure of Santa Fe Skyway
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- Shortly after World War II, the Santa Fe Railroad announced their entry into the air cargo business. This short documentary explains the immense business opportunities offered by this airline, but also the reasons it was grounded after a year and a half of operation.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
2:07 - Getting Started
4:40 - Taking Flight
7:24 - Routes & Fleet
10:27 - Turbulence
13:13 - Descent
16:16 - Epilogue & Credits
This video is for educational purposes and is distributed for non-commercial use. It is not monetized or sponsored. All video footage, images and audio recordings are the property of their original owners and are used in accordance with Fair Use principles.
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Music:
“Snooty Fox” by Ritchie Everett
• Snooty Fox
“One More for the Road” by Golden Age Radio
• One More for the Road
“Snap Happy” by Ritchie Everett
• Snap Happy
“Just Got Eyes for You” by Ivy-Rose Lyon
• Just Got Eyes for You
“Waddaya Know” by Ivy-Rose Lyon
• Waddaya Know
“Vintage Dream” by Mathilda June
• Vintage Dream (Instrum...
“The Very Best Day” by Niklas Gabrielsson with Martin Landström & His Orchestra
• The Very Best Day (Ins...
"On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe" by Kenny Baker and His All Star Orchestra
archive.org/details/78_on-the...
It's super interesting to look back on how government tried to keep companies from being vertically integrated, while now a days we have Amazon that controls literally every aspect of the company. Amazon has their own airline, planes, trucks, delivery vehicle and people, warehouses, cargo containers, and even rents out whole ships. Only thing they don't own is a railroad.
yet!
Don't forget they own most cloud computing too.
@@krozareq
Actually, cloud computing is Amazon's major source of revenue at the moment and the foreseeable future.
Personally, I find it extremely disturbing that the Pentagon came EXTREMELY close to awarding this mammoth conglomerate a contract for cloud services.
More disturbing is that the modern tech giants like Amazon and Google do not even consider themselves "American" companies and will gladly do business with horrible overseas regimes for enough money. In their day companies like Santa Fe were staffed with patriotic war vets or their relatives, companies like Amazon are staffed by tech geeks brainwashed at college to abstain from military service and to believe that America is racist and backwards, while their bosses are hideously rich and powerful.
@@RCAvhstape What bit of racist and backwards is wrong , have you seen your cities poor areas ! unless its a sneaky ironic post !
This guy is a true CZcams historian. Content is the gold bar, narration doesn't put me to sleep, visuals are better than history or discovery channel. Just a great channel. Wishing you many subs
How his channel doesn’t have at least a million subscribers is mind boggling
@@copper7136 For me this is a little like Technology Connections. I'm sure people will come if somebody pushes this channel to them a little :)
Much appreciated!
he is underrated because mostly unknown as we like this channel we need to share its fabulous content to suscitate more views in order to satisfy the algorithm and gave the guy behind it and the people who help him the recognition they deserve
absolutely agree!
I work in the air freight Industry. I can only imagine what my Industry would like today had the ATSF been allowed to continue air freight service.
Some extra historical context from the cutting room floor… In January of 1946, about half a year before the airline was launched, MGM released their musical film “The Harvey Girls” starring Judy Garland. This prominently featured the Fred Harvey restaurants and the Santa Fe Railroad, helping solidify their place in popular culture. The hit song, “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” was written in advance of the film’s release, and versions by Bing Crosby and others were already topping the radio charts by 1945. It eventually went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. (A version of the song is played during this video’s credits.) These details are inconsequential to Skyway’s story, but they help drive home the point that the airline was launched at a time when Santa Fe was in the cultural spotlight.
Love that song! Thanks for all the awesome content, and all the great info!
In the late’40s, if you were enjoying the post war glow of a Fred Harvey after dinner coffee, you would have thought that it will always be like this.
Kinda weird seeing someone else have your last name😳
man I read “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” right as it was sung, how even
I remember hearing the song in TV commercials for the ATSF when I was kid in L.A. but never knew that it was Bing Crosby until now.
Its really interesting how railroads were turned down so frequently to join the air industry. I think Santa Fe Skyway could have become a big player in the air freight industry if they were allowed to become common carriers.
I know CN and CP tried to enter the Airline business, do you know other example?
I wonder if the ATB was right, in the end. That line at the end about how the ATSF was worth more than the entire air freight industry was spooky, not the least of which because railroads are notorious for trying to bury competition once they get a hold on things. In an alternate reality, this would be the tipping point where home-grown common carriers went extinct, to be subducted by railroad-backed giants.
@@sirmetaladon Maybe, but then again, Santa Fe had nearly 100 years of experience. So it isnt that hard to see why they made more money.
My Dad worked for the Post Office for 40 years. He said: "There were many ways to save money at the United States Postal Service, but the USPS always chose the politically correct solution over the better and cheaper one."
They may have become the forerunner to FedEx. Over night service between LA and SF, and CHI and NYC. We'll never know.
It’s interesting to note that in Canada, both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific had their own airlines (Trans-Canada Airlines → Air Canada & Canadian Pacific Airlines → CP Air).
And during the 1960’s, Penn Central got nailed by the ICC for illegally operating an executive private jet charter service…
Absolutely wonderful how the maps featured show the Santa-Fe Railroad Network beneath all the routes and flights shown to highlight their overlay.
I've tried watching _other_ documentaries on youtube. I swear the longest clip on some of them is no more than two seconds, with most 1 to 1.5. There's no time to LOOK at anything without constantly pausing and breaking up the audio. The frenetic pacing they use can be very frustrating.
I have never felt that frustration watching your videos, and I think that's one reason I enjoy them so much.
Thank you for not treating us like sugar-buzzed three-year-olds.
😄 Thank you, Jeff! That sort of editing can drive me crazy too.
@@peterdibble People do all sorts of stuff that's an Editing 101 no-no. Overlays with spelling and punctuation mistakes, or are not up long enough to actually read (the rule is, the average reader should be able to read it TWICE. yup.). Nice to see well researched and edited material here.
Worst are most military documentaries, which show MANY clips that are short because otherwise you'd recognize that it is the wrong plane, tank or whatever in the clip or completely unrelated battle footage and you see clips repeated MULTIPLE times. The BEST war documentaries available are by Montemayor, who uses simple animations and authentic clips to give you a CLEAR understanding of important battles. Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea and 3 part Midway give clarity to these major events in history.
I knew Santa Fe had tug boats and train ferries but I never knew they tried to get into the airline industry.
Very informative video.
I totally agree with Santa Fe on this one, they should've been allowed to fly. It really feels like the government introducing the law that said that applicants under review could operate as common carriers except if they're already a railroad was the final nail in their coffin. They were singled-out, and it really felt like the US Government overstepped their bounds here. Imagine the innovation that we could've had if their plans had come to be... They seemed so forward thinking and willing to expand in a good way.
Yup. Today, we see DHL, UPS, FedEx all operating airplanes and trucks... Why not combine with rail for a seamless and less expensive service.
The Federal government had been hostile to the railroad industry since the Wilson administration.
FedEx’s launch in 1973 was made possible by changing the relevant air carrier legislation, without that the business could not have been launched, they also would have been consigned to essentially air taxi operations
lots of cargo does ship on rails, just no generally anything you ship, because no, it would not be economical, or rather, it might be if that rail was not be put to better use transporting things that you generally don't want to be transported on busy roads. The split is almost firm or logical, but its exists.
that said, I know amtrack (etc.) does some regular shipping, but mostly your packages are truck with a side of air.
@@larrybrennan1463 And the top bureaucrats at the time of denying Santa Fe were under the Truman administration, which was a continuation of the FDR administration, which was a reincarnation of the Wilson administration...
Looking back with historical perspective, it was a long shot gamble by Santa Fe to try to get CAA licensing to operate...
"Flying over two million miles, without a single incident" - wow.
Thanks for a great upload.. Subbed...
At 2 minutes in, that setup has me feeling like they attempted a way too early version of Amazon's shipping operation.
ha ha ...Amazon does not have a railroad
Another great one. Imagine this level of anti-monopolistic oversight from the federal government today.
I don't really think it was anti-monopolistic, more so lobbyist power.
The real problem with regulation was it was a lot easier to stop something then to start. When the transportation industry was (at least partially) deregulated, transport companies really took off.
All about lobbyists greasing palms
@@iannarita9816 Stop something then to start?
Isn't everything stopped and then you start?
Excellent video, shining the spotlight on a little-known piece of Santa Fe history. As it happens, Santa Fe was not the only North American railroad to go into the airline business. Canadian Pacific formed Canadian Pacific Airlines (which carried freight and passengers) in 1942 and operated until 1987 when it was merged into Canadian Airlines until that airline was absorbed into Air Canada in 2001. CP Air, as it came to be called, joined the railroad, CP Ships and CP Hotels as a comprehensive transportation company. While the Canadian government did not deny CP a license as the US did ATSF, it did limit which routes CP Air could fly, protecting Trans-Canada Air (ancestor of Air Canada) on the most lucrative routes. CP then pioneered routes from Vancouver to Asia and the Pacific as well as cities in Europe not served by TCA. In the US, CP served major cities on the West Coast from their operations center in Vancouver.
Fun fact Canadian National controlled TCA and up to 1978 successor Air Canada, when in that year AC became a full fledge crown corp which was privatized in 1987
I bet Santa Fe would have become quite an airline! I never knew this before, great story!
It's incredible how the country post WWII turned its back on railroads. While policies can and have changed in many sectors - simple evolution - if FedEx wanted to buy/start a railroad, I bet they'd be allowed. Or if BNSF - Santa Fe's successor, wanted to start an airline, I bet they'd be allowed, too.
THE ELITE ARE WEIRD.
AND EVIL
ha ha .. Buffet does not like airline stocks .. the odds of him starting his own airline is almost zero
Burlington Northern did
It's funny how Pan AM went the opposite direction (Well known Airline to Railroad) and lasted longer than a well known Railroad becoming an Airline.
Absolutely one of the most interesting videos I have seen in a long time. Especially since I previously had no idea about Santa Fe Skyway, and it's many innovations. Top notch reporting and content. Thank you!
Your videos are some of the best on CZcams. Both in content selection and production quality. I greatly enjoy your work and thank you for that.
Great video. A huge corporation at the time like Santa Fe started what could easily be a substantial air freight carrier and augmented by one of the largest railroad companies is a strategic stroke of genius that indeed would do the public at large a huge service at reasonable cost and efficiency. What an incredible shame that the US government would destroy this.
You've put a lot of effort into these excellent videos Peter, well done.
Thanks you for a presentation on Santa Fe Skyway, I had seen various short articles about this over the years but nothing in-depth like yours.
In April of 1995 after a 22 year career with Hewlett-Packard came to an end I had the great privilege of working for the Santa Fe Railway as a telecommunications technician before that dark day five and a half months later in September of that same year when we merged with that patchwork of a railroad the Burlington Northern to become the BNSF which is currently owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Holdings. We Santa Fe people often referred to the new organization as the Big Nothing So Far of the Butt Nugget Santa Fe.
And now we seem to be moving in the opposite direction (sort of). After Pan Am went bankrupt, Guildford Rail (Maine and New Hampshire) bought the Pan Am name, logo, and other property. We now have a rail line sporting the historic Pan Am livery (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Systems)
I believe it was not nearly as common to challenge the government back then as it is today. I believe they had a good case.. one probably worthy of taking all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. On the flip side what if they were allowed in that market space. What would they be today? Would they have turned into some version of our current tech giants that short of complete abstinence individuals can not escape?
They may be SFSP or SFSPBN(Santa Fe Southern Pacific Burlington Northern). Probably just the "winner" of the countless mergers of the 1970s and 1980s of railroads, owned by Bershire Hathaway today.
These are the sort of questions that were going through my head as I put this together. There were strong arguments for letting Santa Fe move forward, but it's also not hard to imagine them growing into an Amazon situation.
This question also has a converse that was highlighted by one of the forward-thinking executives in this video: during the 70s, many railroads were going bankrupt due to much of their customer base switching from rail to trucking for transportation instead. It's not unfounded to think that if Santa Fe -- or other railroads for that matter -- had managed to operate a successful air freight business, that those funds couldn't have helped prop up their existing rail operations, potentially saving many from bankruptcy. In such a scenario, it's possible that the railroads might have been able to continue passenger rail service despite declining public interest due to car and air travel alternatives. Many people now lament the lack of any real passenger rail outside of Amtrak, so it's interesting to think what the effect on society could have been if passenger rail service was as plentiful as it had been before the invention of the automobile.
Canadian Pacific Railway had an airline too, and so did other railroads.
@@peterdibble ..Today the International tech giants use their intense influence over media, to elect powerful lawmakers, even manipulate the entire Washington DC control agenda.
All done to ensure their continuance toward their goals. Stock portfolios, connected with future gains insider information, are obviously unenforced. Political affiliation loyalties are far stronger today, than at the higher morals time of 'Santa Fe Air Freight'. ;[
Very interesting story, this reminds me of how Pan Am was once a "BIG" top airliner back in the day but now it's being used for rail freight service.
how is that possible when they CEASED operations in 1991 ????
@@rhuephus A small New England rail company bought the brand name, and slapped it on their railroad.
What a great history lesson this long-time USAF Logistician wasn't aware of. The politics of BIG government and MONEY. Thank you.
At that time a company having common carriage over routes and then serving those routes or that area with more than one method was considered to be an anti trust law violation. Same as Matson Airlines to Honolulu.
Hi Peter! This was very interesting for me as a train buff, and especially as a Santa Fe enthusiast. I would really encourage you to write a book about this subject (as well as the combined cross-country train and airline passenger service they had). I'm sure it would be a big hit among both air transport and railroad afficianados.
Excellent video. It was very interesting. Thanks!
I just discovered this channel today and I gotta say I'm really impressed. The production value is great but the topics are well researched and accurate which is the most important factor for me. Excellent work! I look forward to exploring your library.
Well, Peter, you did it again. You don't upload often but, when you do, it's always been worth the wait. Obviously, your emphasis is on quality rather then quantity. Would that more CZcamsrs followed your example.
It seems like only when other airlines complained (Juan Tripp?!) just 10 days later, after over a year of consideration, they were turned down. Hmm... Perhaps if the name had been different and there had not been such an obvious connection to Santa Fe, they might have been allowed an honest go of it? Not sure how real the fear of monopoly was. It wasn't until the '80's Ma Bell was broken up. And as a trucker, I'd have to argue that deregulation was a disaster generally speaking... a race to the bottom. As for innovation, who has refrigerated air service today? These guys really were thinking ahead! Well done, thank you for this video.
Truly excellent in all respects -- story structure and details, graphics, appropriate video clips, and even the section titles.
You do a wonderful job! This is a very interesting story that i would have never known about. I really enjoy what you do, and how you visually show what is happening. Also i would add that i especially appreciate the train content! Any further train videos would be awesome!
Thanks a lot! I like to mix up the subject matter, but there are always more railroad history topics to explore. :)
This channel deserves more attention. Fantastic video, as always
Winslow Arizona was also the location of one of the Santa Fe's Fred Harvey hotels, The La Posada. The hotel is still open and has been restored to its original greatness.
Your channel's quality is simply astounding, a true hidden gem amongst the riffraff and rubbish on CZcams! This quality is near unparalleled and that thumbnail is great too! I'm so glad I found it!!!
The paint job on the aircraft on your thumbnail looks very similar, if not identical, to the paint job on the aircraft that went down in the original "Flight of the Phoenix". Is that a coincidence?
Classy editing, a variety of topics across all your videos, informative narration, very nicely done overall I must say. Seeing as this is the first time I can recall seeing your content, I must say I'm rather impressed and I look forward to checking out more. You've earned my sub, along with many others today I'm sure.
Thank you and welcome aboard!
Very good. I never knew Santa Fe formed an airline...absolutely fascinating! Thank you for your very informative video. It's greatly appreciated!
I thought this was going to be about the planes that substituted the Super Chief so the passengers could take the plane by day and the train at night but this was even more interesting than I anticipated. Great work!
What a find this channel is. Great narrator as well as great content!
Wow!
Never knew of this, or heard anything about it.
Thanks for info and visuals.
Just goes to show you; "preferential treatment" can be a deterent to innovation and progress!
Thank You Mr. Dibble...nice work.
Another high quality video, great job!
Excellent documentary! Thank you!
Fantastic video! I love all the content that you're creating. Please keep it up!!
This is a really well made video keep up the great work!
Amazing video Peter, I enjoyed it!
Great quality documentary! Excellent use of maps and beautiful vintage color footage at appropriate times, detailed research with well selected quotations, and upbeat period music too!
I give this a hearty A+ all around! 😎
Great vlog. This was new to me. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Norway!
A fascinating and very well presented video Peter. Thank you.
Well-researched and interesting with relevant visuals. Great job. Thanks.
Great content, please keep it up, really enjoy your videos!
Amazing quality and exceptionally interesting video!
I love your looks at little known history tidbits!
Another masterpiece Peter! I need MORE!!!
Your content and design sense are amazing!
"Santa Fe has been operating DC-3s and DC-4s between LA, Chicago and NY with such regularity as to constitute a common carrier operation"
I am like yeah? So? With contract based operations you have a fixed term contracts, if the shipments are few but many, then yeah, you're going to have regular planes flying in and out of those airplanes at regular intervals.
That's like business 101.
I always love to watch your videos when they come out. Some very highly quality content about some amazing subjects
First of your videos I've seen... well done.
Subscribed.
It’s always a good day when you post
This was an entertaining and informative video. I will look at your other work. Thanks.
I love that fitting, and period correct music! Great job, I’m glad I subscribed to your channel.
I love your work. This is the best channel content since the history guy.
Just discovered your channel. Really enjoyed this story. Superb production values too. Keep up the good work.
Excellent program and I learned something!! :-) Thank you, Andy K
Excellent documentaries.
Never heard of this channel and I frequent like channels...
Subbed, happily.
Great presentation, and obvious time went into the research behind the subject.
Thank you!
I enjoyed the video, it is a very interesting bit of history that I was unaware of. Thanks for sharing.
More great work by Peter!
Excellent video and very interesting piece of missed opportunity history.
I enjoyed this video every bit as much as your "Failure of the SPSF Rail Merger". Excellent Job!!
Great documentary. I had a feeling government bureaucracy was the hurtle in this case. Can't let business win or fail on its own.
Peter, an absolutely stellar production!
I'm a huge fan of what was the best railroad in existence IMO, but I never even knew about Skyway. Thank you for making this wonderful documentary. Instant subscriber! People need to know about your channel so as to grow your subscriber count!
Thanks a lot!
Thanks for making another Amazing Video!
Very impressively done.
And I knew nothing of this subject.
An interesting topic.
Thank you.
☮
Real history is so fascinating, thank you for such a wonderful channel Sir!!!🙏👍📖🤔
I read about this years ago. Thanks for making a video on it.
There was another similar Airline by the name of Zantop that operated under c a b Authority started at about the same time. I was a pilot for them back in the seventies. They started operating originally with c-46 condors. I would like to see a historical documentary about zantop. Thanks for that fine documentary on Santa Fe. I really enjoyed it
The Zipper!!!
Love your videos!
So interesting and well-done.
I USE TO WALK TO TOWN AND WATCH TRAINS. THE SANTA FE SYMBOL WAS A FAVORITE.
your work is fantastic
Very interesting story of one venture within the rail industry of which I was previously unaware, thank you for presenting it. Reminds me of when the Pennsylvania Railroad attempted to get into the PASSENGER airline business. If I recall correctly, the same cry of "Monopoly!" was used to helped put an end to that venture.
Letting our railroads go to hell was a big mistake. Given a choice of flying or by rail, I'll take the rail.
Excellent documentary on a little known history of the AT&SF, now BNSF. Their safety record screams of the care and concern Santa Fe exercised as an organization. Balancing overregulation with under regulation continues to challenge governing bodies today, as well.
There is a Dibble Avenue in Seattle named after a mysterious F D Dibble.
Thanks you for a presentation on Santa Fe Airways
Excellent video! 👍
Peter this was excellent!
Nice documentary to explain all of this
I wonder if it was just one of those 'robust conversations' that were had between lobbyist and the certification agencies behind closed doors. Or was it just some dumb incompetence, robbing us of 20 years of progress, before the likes of dhl or fedex. Thanks for the great banger of a video
I know a lot about this period of aviation and yet never heard of this cargo carrier. Good work!
The soundtrack is delightful! 🎼🙏
Nicely done.
Very interesting. Thanks!
Good work, sir.
Well done • Cheers from the Detroit & Mackinac Railway 🚂
AWESOME video.
At one time the Santa Fe airway carried passengers on transcontinental hops I believe before World War 2. Also the Penn Central planned something similar, they had plans to buy 6 Lockheed C5 Galaxies to haul freight. The CAB turned them down also.
not likely ... the airline did NOT startup unitl AFTER WW2 ... obviously you didn't watch the video