David B. Jones was suddenly taken ill with cancer[1] at his winter home[2] "Pepper Hill" in Montecito, California.
Although not part of the speed run, the train continued on to David B. Jones' summer home in Lake Forest, Illinois.
It was "a phenomenal run when compared with the regular Santa Fe limited time of sixty-eight hours and thirty minutes.
"[13] The Special covered the 455.3 miles (733 km) between Argentine, Kansas, and Chicago in 7 hours and 45 minutes at about 60 mph (97 km/h).
"[10] The run "was in the nature of staging a comeback at the aviation record in the non-stop flight from New York to San Diego last week.