The purpose of this booklet isn’t entirely clear. The main cover shown below (which, this being the Rock Island, is the back cover) is boring and uninformative. The front cover is the painting of Carriso Gorge by W.H. Bull, which … Continue reading
Today’s 48-page timetable (which puts the cover shown below on the back) has a front-page ad proclaiming “faster streamliner schedules Chicago-California.” The Golden State, it says, was an hour and 50 minutes faster eastbound and an hour faster westbound. The … Continue reading
Because of the San Francisco and San Diego exhibitions celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal, “California the wonderland, with two Expositions, will be irresistible” in 1915, says this booklet. For easterners who could not resist, the Golden State Limited … Continue reading
This booklet should really be called “Western Oregon Outdoors,” as it focuses on those parts of Oregon that can be seen in a short drive from Southern Pacific tracks. It even opens by describing Oregon as “a land of forest … Continue reading
We’ve seen Southern Pacific portfolios of photographs for the Overland Route, Shasta Route, and Valley & Coast Routes, so it stands to reason that there would be portfolios for the Sunset and Golden State routes. This is the first one … Continue reading
When Southern Pacific built across southern Arizona in 1880, it went through Tuscon, not Phoenix. At the time, Tucson, with more than 7,000 people, was by far Arizona’s largest city, while Phoenix was a comparative village of 1,700 people. Click … Continue reading
The tops of most pages of this timetable have helpful admonitions, such as “Fire Destroys – Save the Forests”; travel advice, such as “Santa Cruz Big Trees – Easily Reached”; or outright ads, such as “Eight Trains Daily, Each Way, … Continue reading
This 1923 booklet has an unusual format. Instead of the typical 8″x9″ pages, this one’s pages are 16″x9″. The cover shown below is the left side of the back cover. The text begins on the right side of the back … Continue reading
In late 1901, Rock Island completed a 264-mile extension from Liberal, Kansas to Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Its goal was to reach coal mines that were opening up in the territory, which wouldn’t become a state until 1912. To that … Continue reading
As the Santa Fe was growing its service to Los Angeles from Chicago, the Southern Pacific was expanding its own service between Los Angeles and New Orleans. While Wikipedia and other web sites seem to be confused about the railroad’s … Continue reading
