Amtrak's Texas Chief operated until mid-1979 over the same route previously used by Santa Fe's trains of the same name. The train used trackage rights over SP's Sunet Route to reach the ex-SP station in Houston.
Passenger trains through Wichita and Newton continued from Newton (in between Las Animas Junction and Ellinor) over the Santa Fe Passenger Transcon used by Amtrak's Southwest Chief.