When Amtrak took over the Santa Fes Super Chief train, it originally retained the name of the classic silver streamlined service. In 1974, the name was changed from Super Chief to Southwest Limited, a name it retained for 10 years before becoming the Southwest Chief.

Like the Super Chief, the Southwest Limited was made up of a mixture of ACF, Pullman and Budd-built stainless steel cars, the same basic consist as the original Santa Fe Train. Like the Santa Fe had done before it, Amtrak combined the ex-Super Chief and ex-El Capitan Hi-level cars in its Southwest Limited service, the single-level cars being used as the 1st class portion of the consist.