For three days in July 1905, the American public was transfixed by a fast train, racing from Los Angeles to Chicago with one goal: to make the trip faster than anyone had before.
The train did, making 2,265-mile trip in 44 hours, 54 minutes, a new cross-country record.
But after the hype died down, questions about the special run, and the larger-than-life personality on board, still linger. The man who arranged the event was a public con man and minor celebrity named Water Scott, known to his public as “Death Valley Scotty.”
Scott had no good reason for the run, and the mysterious backer who fronted Scott the money to charter the train all but disappeared soon after.
Was the trip a hoax, or one of the biggest reality stunts in American popular culture?
Trains magazine revisits the special train of 1905, and tries to sort the facts from the hype, in its April 2012 issue, on newsstands now.
It’s part of a special issue devoted to railroading’s greatest myths and legends — from John Henry’s legendary race against a steam drill (did it really happen?) and Butch Cassidy’s train-robbing escapades to the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase and crime boss Al Capone’s secret love of trains. It’s all here in one fascinating issue.
As for Death Valley Scotty and his record-breaking train ride, download the PDF below to see Santa Fe Railway’s account of the trip.
Then pick up the April 2012 issue of Trains magazine for the rest of the story… and decide for yourself.
The train did, making 2,265-mile trip in 44 hours, 54 minutes, a new cross-country record.
But after the hype died down, questions about the special run, and the larger-than-life personality on board, still linger. The man who arranged the event was a public con man and minor celebrity named Water Scott, known to his public as “Death Valley Scotty.”
Scott had no good reason for the run, and the mysterious backer who fronted Scott the money to charter the train all but disappeared soon after.
Was the trip a hoax, or one of the biggest reality stunts in American popular culture?
Trains magazine revisits the special train of 1905, and tries to sort the facts from the hype, in its April 2012 issue, on newsstands now.
It’s part of a special issue devoted to railroading’s greatest myths and legends — from John Henry’s legendary race against a steam drill (did it really happen?) and Butch Cassidy’s train-robbing escapades to the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase and crime boss Al Capone’s secret love of trains. It’s all here in one fascinating issue.
As for Death Valley Scotty and his record-breaking train ride, download the PDF below to see Santa Fe Railway’s account of the trip.
Then pick up the April 2012 issue of Trains magazine for the rest of the story… and decide for yourself.
