Golden State (train)

The Golden State was a named passenger train between Chicago and Los Angeles from 1902–1968 on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (“Rock Island”) and the Southern Pacific Company (SP) and predecessors. It was named for California, the “Golden State”.

The Golden State route was relatively low-altitude, crossing the Continental Divide at about 4,600 feet (1,400 m) near Lordsburg, New Mexico, although the highest elevation en route was over 6,600 ft (2,000 m) near Corona, New Mexico. Other transcontinental routes reached elevations of more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in the Santa Fe railway near Flagstaff, Arizona and Union Pacific near Sherman, Wyoming.

The train was inaugurated on November 2, 1902 as the Golden State Limited between Chicago, Kansas City, El Paso, southern Arizona and Los Angeles. At 2,762 miles (4,445 km) it had the longest route in the United States and second only to the Canadian Pacific Railway's Imperial Limited in North America. Until 1910 the Golden State Limited was seasonal, generally running December to April or May; the rest of the year, the same schedules were known as the California Limited westbound and Chicago-St. Louis Limited eastbound. The Golden State Limited was for Pullman passengers only, while the California Limited also carried tourist (economy) sleeping cars and coaches. The Golden State Limited (or California Limited in the off season) carried numbers 43 and 44 until mid-1907 when it became numbers 3 and 4. After January 1910 the Golden State Limited ran year-round until it ended in 1968. Limited was dropped from the name on May 18, 1947 and the train became the Golden State.

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