Marked “for train distribution,” this folding timetable shows only the Coast and San Joaquin routes. That means it has three panels of coast route schedules (one of which was mostly bus connections), two panels of San Joaquin route schedules, and … Continue reading
Category Archives: Southern Pacific
I noted yesterday that passenger train ridership was rapidly falling in the late 1940s, which may help explain why the number of pages in SP’s timetable shrank from 56 in 1948 to 52 in 1949. It doesn’t, however, explain why … Continue reading
The front cover of this timetable advertises the “new Golden State,” whose abbreviated name (it had previously been called Golden State Limited) covered up the fact that Southern Pacific was getting cold feet about passenger service. Originally, SP and Rock … Continue reading
Dated November 1, 1942, this issue of West doesn’t promote any vacation destinations or announce new trains, which would have been inappropriate in the midst of the world war. Instead, it relates how Union Pacific and Southern Pacific ceremoniously “undrove” … Continue reading
Here’s another menu with a cover painting by Michel Kady, similar to ones we’ve seen featuring Chinatown and other California scenes. This one is special because it has a train in the picture, something not found on most Southern Pacific … Continue reading
This timetable replaces the plain blue covers of pre-war and early-post-war SP timetables with a beautiful image of the Coast Daylight on its southbound journey to Los Angeles. This image was apparently first used on SP’s August, 1946 timetables. Click … Continue reading
The military-only trains in the March 1946 timetable have been replaced by trains that were apparently open to the public. On the Overland Route, a coach-only train called the Advanced Pacific Limited departed two hours before the regular Pacific Limited … Continue reading
A 1940 issue of West advertised that California was “throwing a winter party” consisting of “more than 300 colorful pageants, fiestas, celebrations, and sports events.” This one repeats the theme for the winter of 1941-42. No one knew that most … Continue reading
The S.S. Dixie was built in 1928 and used by the Southern Pacific to carry passengers from its rail terminus in New Orleans to New York City. As described in this issue of West, it had a swimming pool, a … Continue reading
Although the cover is bare of anything except the 1940 Golden Gate Exposition logo, inside this brochure are ten beautiful color images of what travelers might see on their Southern Pacific trips to and from the expo (plus one of … Continue reading