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26
ger on a small pad. Custom
china was made for the
Southern Pacific, and the china
included the crest of the railroad
at the top and was edged with
orange blossoms. Silver was spe-
cially made by Gorham and
Reed & Barton. Dinner in the
diner was a wonderfully special
event. Napkins had the compa-
ny crest woven into the starched
damask.
The other train to operate on
the line was the “work-horse,”
the Argonaut. This additional
train was begun in 1926 and
lasted until 1958. It was a slower
train and offered cheaper tickets
and services. This train hauled
more express and mail and
made more stops. Yet for the
thrifty-minded passenger who
was not in a hurry, this was the
train to take. The Argonaut was
a 50-hour train between east
and west terminals, and the
Sunset was by then 42 hours.
But even this slower train offered
sleeping-car arrangements and a
full diner. The Argonaut made a
flag stop in Marathon and a reg-
ular stop in Alpine and Marfa.
The Sunset survived the
Depression and World Wars I
and II. During the second war,
the famous train was perma-
nently forced to add chair cars to
its consist. After World War II,
the train was completely mod-
ernized again with the glam-
orous newly styled stainless steel
coaches. Diners and lounges
became stylish and gave the
train once again an image of
grandness. The steam locomo-
tives where replaced starting in
1953. With the new power,
diesels were changed only twice
during the entire route.
The Sunset now was the pic-
ture of streamlined beauty, and
thus it became a true streamlin-
er. One of the diners was named
the “Audubon Diner,” a lounge
car was named “The French
Quarter” and a coffee lounge
was “The Pride of Texas.” The
1950s proved to be the high
point of this train and the pride
of the company. The Sunset
Limited at this time could easily
have four power diesels, a bag-
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2011
gage car and as many as 15 pas-
senger cars. In stainless steel, it
was a glistering and stunning
sight, peaking 90 miles per hour
in flat, straight terrain.
But times were to change.
Along came the jet airliners and
the interstate highway system,
and in the late 50s and early 60s
passenger headcount began to
drop. At mid-point in the 60s,
railroads were discontinuing
trains regularly. The Southern
Pacific was losing money on the
once “crack” train. They tried to
discontinue the train and were
not allowed to do so by the
Texas Railroad Commission.
This marked the lowest point in
the train’s history, as the
Southern Pacific deliberately
tried to discourage ridership.
The diner was taken off as well
as the sleeping cars, and by 1970
the train was no longer daily.
Now the train was down to an
engine and three cars: a car fea-
turing vending machines with
junk food and two chair cars.
Public outrage forced the rail
line to bring back the sleepers
and diner.
By 1970, the American pas-
senger train had all but disap-
peared. Gone were such great
trains as the Santa Fe Chief, the
California Zephyr and the
Golden State Limited. The
Texas & Pacific saw its last Texas
Eagle in 1967. The few trains
left were not operated with pride
but with an eye to getting rid of
passenger service in favor of
freight service. The answer to
the problem came with Amtrak,
created by a bill signed by
Richard Nixon on May 1, 1971.
And at last the Southern Pacific
gladly gave away its famous but
tattered train.
Amtrak’s first need was to
establish the routes for its trains.
The Sunset Route was needed
to connect New Orleans and
Houston with the West Coast,
and that meant that the Sunset
would be kept. The second need
was for equipment to run the
trains. Amtrak bought the best
of the old equipment and start-
ed service. This meant all the
passenger trains had a
menagerie of cars of differing
colors. Popular among Amtrak’s
purchases were the double-level
chair cars built by the Santa Fe
for the famous El Capitan train
which
operated
between
Chicago and Los Angeles. So,
these double levels now
appeared as the chair cars on the
Sunset. These cars, called
“Viewliners,” proved to be so
popular and efficient that they
became the standard for what
Amtrak built for its long distance
trains. Ultimately, the entire
train became double-level.
In 1993, Amtrak experiment-
ed making Miami the eastern
terminus of the train. This sim-
ply did not work, due to the train
having to yield constantly to
freight trains, which made the
train ridiculously late at times.
Hurricane Katrina ended the
Miami route by destroying a
tremendous amount of track
east of New Orleans. Now the
train operates as far as New
Orleans with a connection in
San Antonio with the Texas
Eagle, which runs north to
Chicago.
Amtrak wants to make the
train, or sections of the route, a
daily operation. However ,the
“cooperating” Union Pacific has
put a steep price tag on that
notion: no less than $750 mil-
lion! Amtrak has always been at
the mercy of “cooperating” rail-
roads, which still do not want the
passenger train(s) on their tracks.
Currently the train averages
about 300 passengers per run.
The complete run from New
Orleans to Los Angeles requires
48 hours if it’s on time. Last year
the train carried over 90,000
passengers total. This train usu-
ally consists of the locomotive, a
baggage car, two or three chair
cars, a diner, a lounge car and
two sleeping cars.
The Sunset Limited has had
its share of ups and downs, but
the public can still hope that the
existing service will become
more dependable and that
someday it can be a daily train.