The Train Called the
Sunset Limited
by Warren Taylor
S
ix days a week at mid-
day, the Alpine area has
the exciting event of
seeing what has become a
rarity. It’s a passenger train –
the train called the Sunset
Limited. This famous train is
the oldest named train in
America and has the distinc-
tion of always being num-
bered train #1 (westward)
and # 2 (eastward).
The first run of this train
was in 1893, and it opened
up service along the route
from New Orleans to Los
Angeles and originally on to
San Francisco. Now the
train, under Amtrak, oper-
ates westward on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
and eastward on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
This train was operated for 78 years by Southern
Pacific. Now the Amtrak train runs on Union Pacific
tracks. During its long years of service, the “Sunset,” as
it is known, has seen its share of ups and downs.
In the beginning, the train was certainly the pride of
the Southern Pacific line. It was a first-class train with
only small private rooms. A second train served along
the same route for many years and offered more eco-
nomical fares; it was called the Argonaut. This train
offered chair-car service and what were commonly
called “tourist sleepers,” which were the old-fashioned
fold-down births with the canvas curtains.
In its early days at the end of the 1800s, the Sunset
Limited was not a long train with numerous coaches.
The wooden cars were very deluxe. They included
smoking rooms for men and parlors for women. The
train included a diner with specially prepared food.
There was a library at the end of one of a coach and a
writing room in the last car which featured an open out-
door platform “porch.” Short as it may have been, the
train also featured a barber shop and shower facility. At
that time, the Sunset probably did not operate daily
except during peak season. The train usually consisted
of five or six cars. The head car also featured space for
the U.S. Postal mail car.
The original Sunset Limited was steam-powered
and required 73 hours to travel between New Orleans
and Los Angeles. Many water stops were required for
4
Photos from the Southern Pacific archive, courtesy of Karen Lanier
Clockwise from top left - The Sunset Limited traveling
through the Arizona desert. The publicity poster touts the
glamour and “out of this world” experience of the train. The
color scheme on the diesels, the yellow next to red was
intentional, to further carry on the theme of the sunset. Also
the general logo of the railroad was a circle with railroad
tracks running off into a sunset. So the theme prevailed.
the steam engine and to change the locomotives; a sin-
gle steamer did not make the complete run. The coach-
es were wooden and without central heating and cer-
tainly without air conditioning. The locomotives were
coal-powered, a feature that was soon to change to oil
to reduce sparks in the engine smoke that could create
grass fires along the right of way.
By 1924, new steel coaches were added, which con-
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2011
tributed to a superior, smooth-riding quality for the pas-
sengers and eliminated the famous squeaking associat-
ed with the older “woodys.” Air conditioning was soon
to be added, and the train soon saw an increased rider-
ship, while maintaining the deluxe appeal. The train
was no longer a “bobcat,” to use railroad jargon, but
was now handling a total of 10 to 14 passenger cars
including eight sleepers, a diner and a lounge-observa-
tion car.
Diner specialties were broiled red fish, fried oysters
with coleslaw, breaded lamb chops with green peas, veal
cutlets and a wide assortment of desserts. Orders for
meals were not given verbally but written by the passen-
continued on page 26