Wild West – June 2019

37

STYLE

TRAVEL

All Aboard!

The Sunset Limited

steam train made its

maiden trip in 1894

and was considered

Southern Pacific’s

premier experience.

An all-Pullman train

with sleeping cars and

no coaches, it ran from

New Orleans to San

Francisco via Los

Angeles, westbound

on the Sunset Route

—the southernmost

of the three gateways

to the West Coast as

mapped by the Pacific

Railroad Acts. In 1936

the train was one of

Southern Pacific’s first

to receive air condi-

tioning. Six years later

the route dropped

San Francisco, instead

terminating in Los

Angeles. The train was

dieselized in late 1949

and a year later was

the last major Ameri-

can luxury train to

become a streamliner,

adding stainless steel

and red letter boards

and white company

logos to modernize

its look. Operating

today under Amtrak

[amtrak.com], the

Sunset Limited is the

oldest named train

in the United States,

offering three-day-

a-week service for

the 48-hour journey

from New Orleans

to Los Angeles.

Circa 1895 promo-
tional postcards
for the Southern
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Sunset Limited.

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Union Station.

WILD WEST