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 4600 feet (1402 m) near Lordsburg, New Mexico, although the highest elevation en route was over 6600 feet (2012 m) near Corona, New Mexico. Other transcontinental routes reached elevations of more than 7000 feet (2134 m) in the Santa Fe railway near Flagstaff, Arizona, and Union Pacific near Sherman, Wyoming. At 2340 miles it was one of the longest continuous passenger railroad routes in the United States, to be exceeded by the SP's Imperial and by Amtrak's pre 2005 Sunset Limited.

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 2762 mile (4445 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. In summer 1926, the train left Chicago at 8:30 PM CST and arrived Los Angeles 68 hr 15 min later. During the 1920s and 1930s when Florida became a popular winter destination, the Rock Island and Southern Pacific positioned the Golden State as an escape from the cold eastern and Midwestern winters, with some success. For years the primary competition was Santa Fe's California Limited which did almost twice the business. When the Santa Fe Chief started in November 1926, the Golden State started running on the same 63 hour schedule with the same $10 extra fare (until 1929). After World War II, the Rock Island and Southern Pacific considered a new 39¾ hour (the accepted fast schedule between Chicago and Los Angeles/San Francisco) streamliner to be named the Golden Rocket. This name was an extension of the use of the name Rocket that the Rock Island had introduced on other routes combined with the prefix “Golden” which had been used for many years as a prefix for car names. See also the Rocky Mountain Rocket, the Des Moines Rocket, the Peoria Rocket and others. The Golden Rocket was to have two sets of equipment (one supplied by each railroad) and compete with Santa Fe's Super Chief, another train between Chicago and Los Angeles. The Rock Island ordered cars with a red and silver color scheme, lettered for the Golden Rocket. The Southern Pacific was not as enthusiastic, primarily because of upgrades needed on the El Paso–Kansas City portion of the route, which was single track and poorly signaled. After Southern Pacific decided not to participate, Rock Island's set of Golden Rocket equipment was re lettered and integrated into the Golden State. The Golden State became a streamliner in January 1948, with vermilion red on the upper body and pier panel and the lower bodies either natural corrugated stainless steel or silver or grey paint on smooth sided cars. The train ran with many styles of equipment. Smooth sided and corrugated stainless steel equipment were mixed and heavyweight baggage, Railway Post Office (RPO) and dormitory cars were common. Transcontinental sleeping car service between New York and Los Angeles on alternate days via the New York Central Railroad and Pennsylvania Railroad was added in 1946 but ended in 1951. Other sleeping car routes on the Golden State included Chicago – Kansas City and Chicago – San Diego (via the Southern Pacific and their subsidiary, San Diego and Arizona Railway, connecting at Yuma, Arizona). The train carried linked sleeping cars from other carriers: in Kansas City, it picked up a Rock Island Railroad sleeping car from Minneapolis and at the same station it picked up also a Missouri Pacific Railroad sleeping car from St. Louis,

The train had a coordinated connection with the National Railway of Mexico's (NdeM) El Fronterizo (7/8) in El Paso, Texas; this NdeM train continued to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua and Mexico City. The schedule was set to accommodate travel from Los Angeles to Mexico, and the reverse direction. The Golden State had the same declining passenger revenues as other trains in the 1950s and 1960s, although service was not downgraded severely as on other trains. A sleeping car and grill/lounge or dining car was always included. The train was combined with Southern Pacific's New Orleans to Los Angeles Sunset Limited west of El Paso after April 1964. The final Golden State ran on April 8, 1968, after which service ceased. Amtrak's Sunset Limited between Los Angeles and New Orleans uses the Golden State's route west of Yuma. The Sunset runs three times weekly; Southern Pacific reduced the Sunset Limited from daily to tri weekly before Amtrak's formation.

The Southern Pacific line from Los Angeles to El Paso was completed in May 1881; the Golden State ran on the El Paso and Northeastern Railroad from Tucumcari, New Mexico, to El Paso. West of there it sometimes used the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad (EP&SW) through Douglas, Arizona, to Tucson and sometimes the Southern Pacific (SP) via Deming; SP carried the train Tucson to Los Angeles. The former EP&SW between Douglas and El Paso was abandoned in 1961 and the tracks removed in 1963. Rock Island had many feeder lines used for freight and passenger service to southern California. One of these was the ‘Choctaw Route’ from Memphis through Little Rock, Oklahoma City and Amarillo to Tucumcari, New Mexico. This line was completed in 1900 to Amarillo, Texas, and to Tucumcari, after purchase by the Rock Island, by 1902. Over the years connections were made with through sleeping cars from Memphis and Little Rock to Los Angeles, generally connecting with the Golden State. The Rock Island actually owned the rail line to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, 59 mile (95 km) south of Tucumcari, but since the routes intersected at Tucumcari, this is where the change from Rock Island to Southern Pacific crews and locomotives were made. The Rock Island main line crossed the Colorado and Southern and Fort Worth and Denver railroad main line at Dalhart, Texas. This Dallas Denver line was the route of the Texas Zephyr and other trains. For many years travelers could connect here to go north and south between El Paso and Denver, the only other route being the Santa Fe to Albuquerque with a second change of trains at La Junta, Colorado. As part of the merger agreement between EP&SW and SP in 1924, the SP agreed to build a main line through Phoenix, which until then was on a branch from Maricopa. The main line was built from a point near Picacho through Coolidge to Chandler, Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix thence on existing tracks to Buckeye with a new extension to Wellton on the original SP main. This alternate route is no longer in service between Roll and Buckeye, Arizona, although the tracks are in place.

In July 1948 the Golden State left Chicago at 10:15 pm CST and arrived Los Angeles 5:15 pm on the second day. The return trip left Los Angeles at 11:30 am arriving in Chicago at 11:30 am the second morning. In July 1954 it left Chicago at 2:15 pm CST and arrived Los Angeles the second day at 7:30 am. The return trip left Los Angeles at 1:30 pm and arrived the second day at 9:55 am. In later years the arrival in Phoenix, for example, was late in the evening. Pullman passengers on the Phoenix setout could stay in the sleeping car until morning.