1951 Sunset Corridors   August 21st, 1998

(1998 Commentary by William Lindley)

With Amtrak’s 1998 Business Plan discussing primarily Corridors, rather than long-distance trains, it may be instructive to look at the “corridor” and long-distance services which Southern Pacific offered along the Sunset Route in 1951.

City Pair 1951 Roundtrips per week 1998 Roundtrips per week
San Antonio – New Orleans 21 3
Houston – New Orleans 28 3

Condensed from SP timetable dated April 29, 1951:

    # 4 # 2 # 44 # 6 # 40 # 4 # 8
    Golden State Sunset Limited “Passenger” Argonaut Imperial Acadian Alamo
    ****** ****** ****** ****** ******    
Los Angeles CA Lv 1:30p 8:00p 8:05p 8:30p 11:30p    
Phoenix AZ Lv 10:40p 5:50a 8:15a [via Gila] 12:30p    
El Paso TX Lv 7:15a 3:00p 8:35p 8:05p 10:50p    
—————   | | | | | ******
San Antonio TX Lv | 4:30a | 3:00p | ***** 11:00p
Houston TX Lv | 8:40a | 10:00p | 8:30p 9:05a
New Orleans LA Ar | 4:00p | 7:00a | 6:45a 7:45a
—————   | ***** | ****** | ***** ******
Tucumcari NM* Lv 2:49p   —————–> 7:20a    
Kansas City MO* Lv 1:50a       11:59p    
—————                
Minneapolis MN* Ar 6:30p       5:00p    
—————   ******       ******    
Chicago IL* Ar 11:45a            
    ******            

* Via Rock Island Lines

NOTES:

  • Both the Acadian and the Golden State, quite different routes, were #3/4.
  • Sunset Limited carried through sleeper Dallas-LA via T&P (through Midland).
  • Today’s Sunset Limited (dp LA 9:55p, ar NO 6:50p) follows the route of the 1951 Argonaut via the Gila Line (bypassing Phoenix), Lordsburg and Deming (the 1951 Sunset went through Douglas AZ and Hermanas NM, part of which is the modern-day SPSW and the rest of which was removed in the 1960s).

Population:

ca. 1950 1994
——— ———
Los Angeles CA 2,243,901 3,448,613
Phoenix AZ 141,512 1,048,949 2,551,765 +
El Paso TX 130,485 579,307
San Antonio TX 408,442 998,905
Houston TX 596,163 1,702,086
New Orleans LA 570,445 484,149
Tucumcari NM 8,419 6,765 ++
Kansas City MO 456,622 443,878
Minneapolis MN 521,718 354,590
Chicago IL 3,620,962 2,731,743

Sources:

  • 1959 Encyclopedia Brittanica World Atlas (1950 figures)
  • 1998 Information Please Almanac (1994 Census Estimates)
  • + 1995 Special Census, Phoenix Metro Area
  • ++ 1988 Gousha Travel Planner
This entry was posted on Friday, August 21st, 1998 at 10:58 am and is filed under Intercity Rail, Perspective.