[[Image:ATSF Scott Special 1905.jpg|thumb|300px|The cover of a booklet released by the railway to commemorate the ''Scott Special''.]] The '''''Scott Special''''', also known as the '''''Coyote Special''''', the '''''Death Valley Coyote''''' or the '''''Death Valley Scotty Special''''', was a [[passenger train]] operated for one trip from [[Los Angeles, California]], to [[Chicago, Illinois]], by the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] (Santa Fe) at the request of [[Death Valley Scotty]]. At the time of its transit in 1905, the ''Scott Special'' made the trip between the two cities at the fastest speed recorded to date. The ''Scott Special'' made the trip in 44 hours and 54 minutesSignor, p 24 breaking the previous records, set in 1900 by the ''[[Peacock Special]]'', by 13 hours and 2 minutes,Signor, p 18 and in 1903 by the ''[[Lowe Special]]'', by 7 hours and 55 minutes.Waters, p 389 Santa Fe's regular passenger service from Los Angeles to Chicago at the time was handled on a 2½-day schedule by the ''[[California Limited]]''. It wasn't until the 1937 introduction of the ''[[Super Chief]]'' that Santa Fe trains would regularly exceed the speeds seen on the ''Scott Special''. == Background == [[Image:Walter Scott and train, 1926.jpg|thumb|left|Walter Scott, aka "Death Valley Scotty" and a train in Chicago in 1926. Photo from the Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0003451. Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society.]] Death Valley Scotty (born [[September 20]] [[1872]], Walter Edward Scott) had used some ore samples he collected near [[Cripple Creek, Colorado]], as a ruse to convince some bankers in 1902 that he had a claim on a high-grade ore mine in [[Death Valley, California]]. By 1905 he had conned the banks out of nearly [[United States dollar|$]]10,000. Another con he ran in 1905 earned Scott an additional $4,000. It was then that he met E. Burdon Gaylord, the owner of the Big Bell mine. Gaylord needed a flashy way to promote his mine and Scott sought the money behind the mine; the two formed a partnership where Gaylord would finance Scott and Scott would promote the mine like no other. After a few high-priced and newsworthy train trips around the [[Southwestern United States|southwest]], Scott met with the Santa Fe's General Passenger Agent, J. J. Byrne at the railroad's office in Los Angeles on [[July 8]] [[1905]]. Once Scott got in to talk to Byrne, the arrangements were made, thanks to a deposit from Scott of $5,500 in cash. The two agreed on a 46-hour schedule from Los Angeles to Chicago that would begin the following day.Signor, p 17-18Waters, p 390 The passenger list for the train was a mere three people: Scott himself, his wife F. N. Holman, and C. E. Van Loon, a publicist for the Santa Fe. The schedule involved operating a three [[passenger car|car]] train across the system, led by no less than 19 different locomotives (and the train was double-headed through some of the mountain passes). The engineers of these locomotives came to be known as the "Nervy Nineteen".Waters, p 390
== Equipment used == [[Image:ATSF 1000, 1901 Baldwin.jpg|thumb|300px|Builder's photo of Santa Fe 1000, which was used on the Winslow-Gallup section of the ''Scott Special''.]] The special train consisted of three [[passenger car]]s pulled by one locomotive. The three cars used were [[baggage car]] number 210, [[dining car]] number 1407 and [[Pullman car|Pullman]] ''Muskegon''. Altogether, the three cars weighed a total of 170 tons.Signor, p 19 While the three cars remained constant throughout the run of the ''Scott Special'', the locomotive did not. In order to prevent delays on the trip as the train would need to stop for water and fuel, nineteen locomotives were prepared along the route so that as one reached the end of its supplies, it would relay the three cars off to the next fully fueled and ready locomotive to continue the run. For the more strenuous grades over [[Cajon Pass]] in California and [[Raton Pass]] in New Mexico and Colorado, helpers were added to get the train up and over the summits. At various points throughout the run, problems such as [[hot box|hotboxes]] did occur, but in each case, the train's crew was able to get the train to the next relay point, and they usually arrived ahead of schedule. {| class="wikitable" ! colspan="8" | Locomotives and crews for the ''Scott Special''Signor, p 25Baldwin |- ! Section ! Distance ! Average speed ! Time ! Locomotive number ! Wheel arrangement
([[Whyte notation]]) ! Engineer ! [[Boiler-man|Fireman]] |- | Los Angeles - Barstow | 141.1 mi ({{MileToKilometre|141.1}} km) | 48.5 mph (78 km\h) | 2 h 55 m | 442 | [[4-6-0]] | John Finlay | C. B. Ashbaugh |- | Barstow - Needles | 169.3 mi ({{MileToKilometre|169.3}} km) | 51 mph (82.1 km/h) | 3 h 19 m | 1005 | [[2-6-2]] | Thomas E. Gallagher | E. D. Nettleton |- | Needles - Seligman | 148.9 mi ({{MileToKilometre|148.9}} km) | 42.4 mph (68.2 km/h) | 3 h 31 m | [[Santa Fe 1010|1010]] | 2-6-2 | Fred W. Jackson | H. Nelson |- | Seligman - Williams | 50.8 mi ({{MileToKilometre|50.8}} km) | 34.4 mph (55.4 km/h) | 1 h 29 m | 1016 | 2-6-2 | Charles Wood | R. Edgar |- | Williams - Winslow | 92.2 mi ({{MileToKilometre|92.2}} km) | 42.1 mph (67.8 km/h) | 2 h 11 m | 485 | 4-6-0 | D. A. Lenhart | W. P. Sugurue |- | Winslow - Gallup | 128 mi ({{MileToKilometre|128}} km) | 49.4 mph (79.5 km/h) | 2 h 35 m | 1000 | 2-6-2 | John F. Briscoe | B. F. Chambers |- | Gallup - Albuquerque | 157.8 mi ({{MileToKilometre|157.8}} km) | 49.4 mph (79.5 km/h) | 3 h 12 m | 478 | 4-6-0 | Henry J. Rehder | F. Brown |- | Albuquerque - Las Vegas | 132.2 mi ({{MileToKilometre|132.2}} km) | 44 mph (70.8 km/h) | 3 h | 1211 | [[4-6-2]] | Edward Sears | G. A. Bryan |} == Route and schedule == [[Image:Scott Special route.png|thumb|600px|center|Route of the ''Scott Special'' from [[Los Angeles, California]], to [[Chicago, Illinois]].Signor, p 20-21]] The special departed from Santa Fe's [[La Grande Station]] in Los Angeles at 1:00 PM Pacific Time on [[July 9]] [[1905]]. The locomotive and three cars left the station and the cheering crowds, estimated at 20,000 people,Waters, p 390 and began its run eastward. The first locomotive and crew change point occurred in [[Barstow, California|Barstow]] after the train had passed through [[Cajon Pass]]. At one point after passing Cajon summit, the train was clocked at 96 [[miles per hour|mph]] (155 [[kilometre per hour|km/h]]). The locomotive and crew were again changed successively at [[Needles, California|Needles]], [[Seligman, Arizona|Seligman]], [[Williams, Arizona|Williams]], [[Winslow, Arizona|Winslow]] and [[Gallup, New Mexico|Gallup]] before the train arrived in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]] at 9:30 AM on [[July 10]]. To cross [[Raton Pass]], locomotives and crews were changed at [[Las Vegas, New Mexico|Las Vegas]], [[Raton, New Mexico|Raton]] and [[La Junta, Colorado|La Junta]]. From La Junta, the train was powered by a succession of [[4-4-2]] type locomotives that were swapped across the plains in [[Syracuse, Kansas|Syracuse]], [[Dodge City, Kansas|Dodge City]], [[Newton, Kansas|Newton]], [[Emporia, Kansas|Emporia]], [[Argentine, Kansas|Argentine]], [[Marceline, Missouri|Marceline]]to the [[Mississippi River]] crossing at [[Shopton, Iowa]], near [[Fort Madison, Iowa|Fort Madison]]. One more locomotive and crew took the train to [[Chillicothe, Illinois|Chillicothe]] where it made its final locomotive change for the last leg into [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]]. Engineer Charles Losee piloted the train for its entire run across [[Illinois]], at an average speed of 60 mph (97 km/h),Waters, p 391 staying aboard the train during the locomotive change in Chillicothe. The train officially arrived at [[Dearborn Station (Chicago)|Dearborn Station]] at 11:54 AM Central Time on [[July 11]].Signor, p 19-25Mike's Railway History == Legacy and preservation == In 1955, on the 50th anniversary of the special's run, the ''Scott Special'' was re-enacted for [[television]]. For the show "[[Death Valley Days]]", the production crew was able to reuse Santa Fe locomotive number 1010, the [[2-6-2]] locomotive that was used in the original run between [[Needles, California|Needles]] and [[Seligman, Arizona|Seligman]]. Robert Hinze, a fireman on the original ''Scott Special'', was on hand to aid in the recreation as the replica train worked over [[Cajon Pass]] in California.Signor, p 27-28 In October 1984, the Santa Fe donated locomotive 1010 to the [[California State Railroad Museum]], where it remains on static display.California State Railroad Museum Foundation == References == * {{cite web| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| year=1906| url=http://catskillhistory.com/rrextra/blatsf.Html| title=The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway System: The Scott Special| accessdate=2006-05-09| }} * {{cite web| author=California State Railroad Museum Foundation| url=http://www.csrmf.org/doc.asp?id=152| accessdate=2006-05-09| title=Library & Collections: Steam Locomotives| year=2001| }} * {{cite web| url=http://mikes.railhistory.railfan.net/r005.html| title=The Santa Fe "Chief"| work=Mike's Railway History| year=March 2006| accessdate=2006-05-09| }} * {{cite journal| journal=The Warbonnet| title=Death Valley Scotty's "Coyote" Special| author=Signor, John R., compiler| year=2006| month=first quarter| pages=p 17-29| volume=12| issue=1| }} (''The Warbonnet'' is the official journal of the Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modeling Society) * {{cite book| author=Waters, Leslie L.| title=Steel Trails to Santa Fe| year=1950| publisher=University of Kansas Press| location=Lawrence, Kansas| pages=p 389-392| }} == External links == * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0556592/ IMDB entry for "Death Valley Days" season 3, episode 16: "Death Valley Scotty"] [[Category:High-speed trains]] [[Category:Named passenger trains of the United States]] [[Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] [[Category:1905]]