The Super Chief was one of the named passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It claimed to be 'The Train of the Stars' because of the celebrities it carried between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California.

The Super Chief (Nos. 17 and 18) was the first Diesel-powered, all-Pullman sleeping car train in America, and it eclipsed the Chief as Santa Fe's standard bearer. The Super Chief left Dearborn Station in Chicago for its first trip on May 12, 1936. Before starting scheduled service in May 1937, the lightweight version of the Super Chief ran 2,227 miles  from Los Angeles over recently upgraded tracks in 36 hours, 49 minutes, averaging 60 mph and reaching 100 mph.