Here’s a 1945 photo portfolio issued by National Color Press, which — like others from that publisher — means the photos are really black-and-white and colored by hand. The colors are ghastly, with too much purple and yellow on many … Continue reading
The Lark was Southern Pacific’s overnight counterpart to the Coast Daylight, leaving San Francisco and Los Angeles at 9 pm each evening for a 9 am arrival in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Most people have eaten dinner by 9 … Continue reading
This 1944 menu from Bill Hough’s collection is one of Southern Pacific’s series of color photo menus printed on rather flimsy paper. All of the ones previously shown here are dated between 1940 and 1950 and, like this one, most … Continue reading
Where Santa Fe advertised that it was the “only railroad to Carlsbad,” Southern Pacific claimed in this 1941 booklet it was the “quickest way to Carlsbad.” This was because people could “arrive on a morning S.P. train, make the complete … Continue reading
Unlike yesterday’s menu, this 1940 menu is clearly marked for the San Joaquin. This was a heavyweight train when this menu was issued in 1940, but became the streamlined San Joaquin Daylight the very next year. Click image to download … Continue reading
We’ve seen menus like this before featuring cover illustrations of such things as redwoods, the Monterey coast, Mount Shasta, and prickly pear cactus, among others. This one shows the more famous saguaro cactus. Click image to download a 1.1-MB PDF … Continue reading
This was published in 1928, the same year as, and designed similarly to, a California booklet shown here previously. This particular booklet stresses Southern Pacific’s long-term “four great scenic routes” to the Pacific Coast theme. The Overland, Golden State, and … Continue reading
This brochure presents the Californian as a direct competitor to the Challenger, Union Pacific’s budget alternative to the Los Angeles Limited and Overland Limited. The Challengers operated at approximately the same schedules as their higher-priced counterparts, leaving Chicago or the … Continue reading
Although this appears to be a children’s book, it contains enough tourist information to make it clear that it also served as advertising. Moreover, each coloring page is accompanied by a full-color photo of the same scene, which isn’t usual … Continue reading
Like yesterday’s menus, this one is technically a Southern Pacific menu that uses a Union Pacific design and photograph. In fact, the cover photo also appeared on Union Pacific’s October, 1955 calendar. This is one of the menus in which … Continue reading
