To cross Raton Pass, locomotives and crews were changed at Las Vegas, Raton and La Junta. From La Junta, the train was powered by a succession of 4-4-2 type locomotives that were swapped across the plains in the Kansas cities of Syracuse, Dodge City, Newton, Emporia, and Argentine and Marceline, Missouri, to the Mississippi River crossing at Shopton, Iowa, near Fort Madison. Locomotive 530 was scheduled to take the train completely between Dodge City and Newton, but a burst cylinder head in Kent, Kansas, necessitated adding locomotive 1095 for the between Kent and Newton.