Business Industry | Business

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

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New routes and corporate mergers expanded the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to 7,500 miles of track by 1890.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway became part of America's second transcontinental railroad during two decades of development.

The first goal of a new railway company founded on February 11, 1859, was the connection of the Kansas towns of Atchison and Topeka, but the new tracks that were laid ultimately became part of a railroad that connected the nation. The American Civil War and difficulty finding investors delayed the beginning of construction of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway until October 30, 1868. As the new tracks cut a path across the relatively level terrain of the western Plains, the railroad promoted settlement across Kansas and eastern Colorado. After legal battles were settled with the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, the line turned south and extended to Albuquerque in the New Mexico Territory by 1880. By the late 1880s, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had advanced westward to San Diego and Los Angeles, California, and eastward to Chicago, Illinois, completing the second transcontinental railroad route in North America.

Credit: Edhac-Edham/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
The railway company had to sell two properties due to the economic problems caused by the Panic of 1893.

 

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
During the early-20th century, the AT&SF railway expanded to the south into Texas and eastern Louisiana.

 

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
Despite the company's name, the railway's main line went through nearby Lamy rather than Santa Fe, New Mexico.