Santa Fe Class 3460

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's 3460 class comprised six 4-6-4 "Super Hudson" type steam locomotives built in 1937 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for service between La Junta, Colorado and Chicago, Illinois, a fairly flat division of the railroad suited for the 4-6-4 type. They were substantially larger than the road's earlier 3450 class locomotives, and all were built oil-fired, although in a manner that would allow for easy conversion to coal firing. All were fitted with SKF roller bearings on every axle.
They had much in common with the Milwaukee Road's class F7 and the Chicago and North Western Railway's class E-4, all three types being fast, 84-inch drivered 4-6-4s for Midwestern service with 300 lb/in² boiler pressures.
In December 1937, locomotive #3461 set a world record for the longest single run by a steam locomotive by completing the 2,227 miles (3,584 km) from Los Angeles, California to Chicago without maintenance other than five refuelling stops en route, hauling Train #8, the Fast Mail Express. An average speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) was obtained, including stops; maximum speed during the run was 90 mph (140 km/h). During steeply graded portions of the run it was, of course, assisted by helper locomotives. Such long distance runs were a goal of railway operating departments, enabling a reduction in locomotive numbers and through increased locomotive utilization, reduce overall costs.
The first locomotive, #3460, was built streamlined; painted light, robin's egg blue and silver, it became known as the "Blue Goose". It was the Santa Fe's only streamlined steam locomotive, featuring extensively in railroad publicity.
Locomotive #3461 was fitted with a streamlined "skyline" casing along the top of the boiler, encasing stack and domes, in an experiment to see if it helped clear smoke away from the locomotive. It was not retained. All of the locomotives otherwise had a Santa Fe-style telescoping stack extension fitted, which elongated the stack to clear smoke better and could be lowered to pass under low bridges and tunnels.
The 3460 class 4-6-4s, the 3765 class 4-8-4s, and the 5001 class 2-10-4s were designed and ordered around the same time and had much in common in their designs; in addition, they used the same six-axle tender design. The classes together were often called the "Big Three".
Only one of this class survives, #3463 was on static display on the grounds to the Southeast of the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kansas. It is planned to be restored to operating condition by the Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR).
Image	Number	Baldwin serial number	Date built	Disposition 	Notes
 	3460 	62083 	1937 	Sold for scrap. 	Streamlined, nicknamed "Blue Goose".
 	3461 	62084 	1937 	Sold for scrap. 	Ran the longest single run by a steam locomotive from Los Angeles to Chicago without maintenance.
 	3462 	62085 	1937 	Sold for scrap. 	
 	3463 	62086 	1937 	On static display on the grounds to the Southeast of the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kansas.	
 	3464 	62087 	1937 	Sold for scrap. 	
 	3465 	62088 	1937 	Sold for scrap. 	
==See also==
*Gallery
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Santa Fe locomotives
Category:Baldwin locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:4-6-4 steam locomotives
Category:4-6-4 locomotives
Category:Built in 1937
Category:Locomotives
Category:Streamlined locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Sole survivor
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:American steam locomotives