The train left La Grande Station at Los Angeles at 11:33 PM May 5, 1923, Pacific Time and arrived in Chicago at 12:50 AM on May 8 Central Time. The 2,232-mile (3,592 km) journey was completed "in exactly 47 hours and 27 minutes."[5] The actual running time was only 44 hours and 51 minutes[6] which deducts time spent for stops such as those for coal and water and the 55-minute delay caused by the breakdown of a Union Pacific locomotive ahead of the special at Nebo, California.[6] The running time was therefore three minutes less[note 1] than the Scott Special. Thus, the average speed was 47 mph (76 km/h) and the average running speed was 50 mph (80 km/h). It was "a phenomenal run when compared with the regular Santa Fe limited time of sixty-eight hours and thirty minutes."[7] The $11,000 special thus saved about 20 hours over the time of the regularly scheduled train. ($11,000 is equivalent to $196,700 in present-day terms.[8]) "Mr. Jones' daughter, Gwendolyn[note 2] Jones; his brother [Thomas D.], a doctor and two nurses accompanied him on the trip."[10]
The special train traveled over selected segments as follows:[note 3]
F. M. Gillette, engineer, and W. L. Evens, fireman on locomotive 1370 ran between Los Angeles and Barstow, California-141.4 miles (228 km)—on the Los Angeles Division in 3 hours and 26 minutes. This included:
16 minutes taking water and testing the air brakes, and
27 minutes climbing a "stiff" mountain grade (Cajon Pass).[11]
The 432-mile (695 km) run between Seligman, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the Albuquerque Division was scheduled for 12 hours, but completed in 9 hours and 32 minutes.[12]
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). This was "thirty minutes faster than the Scott Special."[note 4]
"Upon arrival here [Chicago] it was switched back over the Northwestern track to Lake Forest, arriving there at 3:46 p.m. This switchback, however, is not counted in making the record."[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."[14] However, the run was only marginally faster than the Scott Special.
^But notice that the Scott Special traveled 2,265 miles (3,645 km) between Los Angeles and Chicago; The Jones Special traveled 2,232 miles (3,592 km) between the same cities.
^"Jones Special Another Notable Santa Fe Run". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) This article has 3 paragraphs on the Jones Special; 2 paragraphs on the Scott Special; and 1 paragraph each on the Nellie Bly; B. P. Cheney, Jr; C. P. Huntington; A. R. Peacock; H. P. Lowe; and Charles W. Clark specials.
^"Jones Special Another Notable Santa Fe Run". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) This should be 47 hours 17 minutes with the two-hour time-zone difference. Some newspapers accounts use the erroneous 27-minute figure; others use the correct 17-minute value.
^ ab"Jones Special Another Notable Santa Fe Run". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Onderdonk (care division foreman), M.P. (June 1923). "[Among Ourselves] Redondo Junction". The Santa Fe Magazine. 17 (7 (June)). Chicago, IL: Santa Fe Magazine: 79. Retrieved 7 September 2009 – via Google Books.
Erickson (care roundhouse foreman), Charles (June 1923). "[Among Ourselves] Winslow". The Santa Fe Magazine. 17 (7 (June)). Chicago, IL: Santa Fe Magazine: 88–89. Retrieved 7 September 2009 – via Google Books.
"Another Speed Record Broken". Logansport, Indiana Pharos-Tribune. 8 May 1923. p. 13.
"Special Train Speeds 2,230 Miles to Doctor. David B. Jones, Ill, Pays $11,000 for Los Angeles-Chicago Trip to Family Physician". New York Times. 8 May 1923. p. 25.
Wilson, Richard Guy (2002). "The Styles of David Adler". In Thorne, Martha (ed.). David Adler, architect: the elements of style. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. pp. 13–33. ISBN978-0-300-09702-3.
"Zinc Industry Founder Dead. D. B. Jones Passes Away at Lake Forest. Magnate Became Ill Here Last May. Was Rushed East on Train That Cost $11,000". Los Angeles Times. 24 August 1923. p. 16.