In this raw news footage, WFAA-TV News reporter Arch Campbell and cameraman Jack Murray journey from Chicago, Illinois, to Fort Worth, Texas, aboard Amtrak’s Texas Chief in 1974. After leaving Chicago Union Station, the newsmen capture the activity in the dining and bar cars before checking out the sleeping compartments. After a stop in Oklahoma City the next day, the pair journey on to Fort Worth. Most of the footage consists of b-roll or outtakes. The edited news segment appears at the end of the film. Campbell worked as a reporter for Dallas’ WFAA-TV News from 1971 to 1974.
Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe Railway introduced the Texas Chief on April 3, 1948. The passenger train initially offered service from Chicago, Illinois, to Galveston, Texas, with stops in Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, and Houston. The journey took 26 hours and 15 minutes. The route ended in Houston beginning in 1967. ATSF conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971, which maintained the Chicago-to-Houston service. Three years later, Amtrak changed the name of the train to the Lone Star. (ATSF reportedly demanded Amtrak stop using the “Chief” name because it felt Amtrak’s trains no longer met the company’s service standards.) Amtrak discontinued the Lone Star in 1979, following the Reorganization Act of 1979.