Rail Books


of passenger revenue throughout the United States for all railroads. The layout of the all-color pho-


tos in the book follow no partic- ular pattern, and it can be a bit difficult to really grasp any par- ticular run or name train. But as with the proverbial “box of choco- lates,” a wealth of interesting sub- jects can be found throughout the book.


Noted author Greg Stout begins Rail Books Review


Southern Pacifi c Through Passenger Service


by Greg Stout published by


Morning Sun Books www.morningsunbooks.com


Mention Southern Pacific’s (SP) passenger service to most peo- ple, and the first thought is the famous Daylight trains of Cali- fornia in their eye-catching red- and-orange livery. However, SP operated passenger service up in Oregon in the north and out to New Orleans on the system’s far eastern end with a large variety of equipment and liveries. At the time it was inaugurated in


1950, the Sunset Limited on its Los Angeles–New Orleans route was regarded as the last word in streamliner luxury and technol- ogy. Begun in 1936, the City of San Francisco represented the


32 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


best of everything in transconti- nental rail transportation. And these long-distance services were backed with regional services in- cluding the various Daylights, Argonaut, Owl, Lark, Klamath Oregonian, Imperial, and many others. This recent Morning Sun re-


lease covers the various Southern Pacific passenger routes from af- ter World War II and primarily at the dawn of diesel locomotives, which had replaced both colorful and drab steam locomotives. The author begins with an interesting discussion of why the president of the SP in 1956, after riding the two- thirds empty Sunset Limit- ed, decided to begin a cost-cutting program that was the beginning of the end for Southern Pacific’s popular passenger service. That is not to say that SP was alone with this quandary — airlines and pri- vate automobiles spelled the loss


this book with steam-powered trains, and not just the GS-4- pulled Daylights, but such views as the Dallas/Houston Hustler with an all-black P-2 Pacific with Daylight cars. Another Pacific lo- comotive is shown with the Argo- naut, running from New Orleans to Los Angeles on a slower sched- ule with heavyweight equipment. This train operated on a slightly different route from the Sunset, on the mostly freight 168-mile “Gila Line” across Arizona, by- passing Phoenix, and stopping at Mariposa, Gila, and Sentinel be- fore rejoining the Phoenix line at Wellton. The all-Pullman Lark was Southern Pacific’s showcase over- night train between San Francis- co and Los Angeles, with its dis- tinctive gray livery. This is shown along with an MT-4 Mountain class locomotive pulling the Oak- land–Los Angeles Owl, which ran through the San Joaquin Valley, through Bakersfield, and over the Tehachapi Loop. Of course, the main thrust


of the photos are of the famous Daylights, and not just the best known Coast Daylight, but many of the other routes using similar equipment. The San Joaquin Daylight traveled through the central valley of California, via Ba- kersfield and Mojave. Traveling between Oakland and Portland, Oregon, the Cascade Daylight used a mixture of equipment, both modern and slightly dated, with some gray-liveried cars be- ing shown. The Shasta Daylight is shown in the 1950s and again in the 1960s, when it is a mere shadow of its former glory. Going


HEAD END


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