In 1954 Santa Fe launched what would become the last of the Chiefs. The new San Francisco Chief entered service on June 6, 1954, offering the only single-carrier service between Chicago and the Bay Area. It operated over the southern transcontinental route via Amarillo and Belen, and connected at Clovis with the California Special to provide the only through service at the time between San Francisco, Houston and New Orleans (via Missouri Pacific).

At 2554.7 rail miles in length between Chicago and Oakland this timetable represents, as best as I have been able to determine, the longest passenger rail itinerary ever offered on an ongoing basis by a U. S. railroad, at least until 1993 when Amtrak extended the Sunset Limited east to Miami and Orlando. [Note: I have found a reference in Arthur Dubin's Some Classic Trains that for one season (Oct. 1897- April 1898) the Sunset Limited was operated twice weekly between Chicago and San Francisco on a routing via Chicago & Alton to St. Louis, Missouri Pacific [St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern] to Texarkana, Texas & Pacific to El Paso, and Southern Pacific to San Francisco via Los Angeles, which would make this seasonal operation the all-time champ. So far, however, I have not been able to find a timetable or any other reference which would confirm the routing between Los Angeles and San Francisco.] The San Francisco Chief remains the longest passenger rail itinerary ever operated entirely on the trackage of a single U. S. railroad; Espee could have theoretically claimed that crown by offering through service between New Orleans and Portland, Oregon, but it never did.

The Santa Fe's circuitous route through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona spots the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific Overland Route a full three hundred miles. Consequently, even at its best the San Francisco Chief could not match the 40 hour schedule the City of San Francisco offered in 1954. The other major competitor, the California Zephyr, touted its magnificent scenery and its five dome cars. The Painted Desert is scenic in its own way, but it is tough to compete with the Front Range of the Rockies. All that the San Francisco Chief really had going for it was a management that was completely committed to excellence in every facet of passenger train operations.

Apparently, that would be enough. The San Francisco Chief would be the only one of the trio to survive intact and unmerged with another train all the way to the coming of Amtrak on May 1, 1971.