*** Welcome to piglix ***

Noon Daylight

Daylight Limited
Coast Daylight
SP Daylight.png
Noon Daylight leaving San Francisco 1949.JPG
Coast Daylight departing San Francisco in 1949.
Overview
First service April 28, 1922
Last service May 19, 1974
Successor Coast Starlight
Former operator(s) Southern Pacific
Amtrak
Route
Start Los Angeles
End San Francisco
Train number(s) 98/99
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Coast Daylight, originally known as the Daylight Limited, was a passenger train on the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, via SP's Coast Line. It was advertised as the "most beautiful passenger train in the world," carrying a particular red, orange, and black color scheme. The train operated from 1937 until 1974, one of the few passenger trains retained by Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak merged it with the Coast Starlight in 1974.

Southern Pacific introduced the Daylight Limited on April 28, 1922. The train operated on a 13-hour schedule between the Third and Townsend Depot in San Francisco and Central Station in Los Angeles, running on Fridays and Saturdays only. In 1922 and 1923 the train ran seasonally, beginning in April and ending in November. Daily operation began in July 1923. The SP shortened the running time to 12 hours for the 1924 season. Until the late 1920s it made no intermediate stops (except for servicing), the longest nonstop run in the world at that time. Its 12-hour schedule was two hours better than any other train on its route.

The streamlined Daylight began on March 21, 1937, pulled by GS-2 steam locomotives on a 9 34-hour schedule. It was the first of the Daylight series that later included the San Joaquin Daylight, Shasta Daylight, Sacramento Daylight, and Sunbeam.

By June 30, 1939, the streamlined Daylights had carried 268.6 million passenger-miles on 781,141 train-miles for an average occupancy of 344 passengers.


...
Wikipedia

...