City of Los Angeles (train)

UP #932, an EMD E8, leads the City of Los Angeles into Union Station in Los Angeles in March 1971, just prior to discontinuance.

"Drumhead" logos such as these often adorned the ends of observation cars on the City of Los Angeles.

The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955 and on the Milwaukee Road thereafter. The train had number 103 westbound and number 104 eastbound.

This train was the top-of-the-line for UP, which marketed it as a competitor to the Super Chief, a streamlined passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and the Golden State, a streamlined passenger train jointly operated by the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads. As with the City of Los Angeles, many of the train's cars bore the names of locales in and around its namesake city.

CNW / UP used one of two three-unit sets of EMC E2 locomotives as motive power beginning in 1937. The UP scored a public relations coup in the mid-1950s when the City of Los Angeles was featured in two episodes of the popular television series I Love Lucy. In 1955 the Milwaukee Road assumed the service, replacing the Chicago and North Western between Chicago and Omaha. Actor Ronald Reagan often traveled on this train and even did a full page print ad for it that appeared in the National Geographic magazine. In a cost-cutting move, the City of Los Angeles was combined with the City of San Francisco in 1960.

History

Timeline

The E2-powered train circa 1941. Slate gray crudely painted over originally brown roof.

1944 advertisement. Winged emblem has replaced badge plates. Roof trim complete.

Circa 1955 westbound at Hermosa, WY.

May 15, 1936: City of Los Angeles makes its first run between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. One trainset (the M-10002) leaves each terminal five times a month.
December 1937: 14-car 791-ton train powered by three EMC E2s replaces the older trainset, reassigned as City of Portland.
July 1938: Former City of San Francisco trainset M-10004 joins service, allowing departures ten times a month.
March 1939: New train powered by two unit EMC E3 set enters service, replacing M-10004; frequency remains ten departures per month. The Hollywood, a lounge car built for the City of Los Angeles, is the first passenger car with an interior built entirely of synthetic materials, including the newly invented formica (plastic) and naugahyde.
July 1941: EMC E6 three unit set replaces E3 set; consist of train expanded to 14 cars.
1947: City of Los Angeles begins running daily.
1955: Astra Dome dome cars are added to the City of Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Road takes over operation of the City of Los Angeles from the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Omaha.
1956: Challenger and City of Los Angeles are combined and operate on the City of Los Angeles schedule. (The Challenger operated on its own schedule during a couple of summers thereafter.)
1970: Dome dining cars retired and replaced with standard flat top cars.
May 1, 1971: Amtrak takes over long-distance passenger operations in the United States.
May 2, 1971: UP-operated long-distance rail service ends when the City of Los Angeles arrives at Los Angeles Union Station.

In 1979 Amtrak created the Desert Wind, running mostly on the City of LA route from Los Angeles to Ogden, Utah where it connected to the Oakland-Chicago train. (After a year or two some of its cars ran through to Chicago.) The Desert Wind ceased operation in 1997.

Other railroad uses of the name City of Los Angeles

The City of Los Angeles name has also been applied to a 48-seat diner built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1949. The car was originally UP No. 4808 and is currently owned and operated by the Union Pacific as part of their excursion fleet.

Equipment

The City of Los Angeles began running in 1936 using the articulated M-10002 trainset. Behind the two power units were an RPO-baggage car, a baggage-dormitory-kitchen, a diner-lounge, an 11-section sleeping car, a 7-double bedroom 2-compartment sleeper, two more 11-section sleepers, a 48-seat coach, and a 38-seat coach-buffet car. All the passenger-carrying cars were air-conditioned.^[1] The Union Pacific added a second, non-articulated train to the City of Los Angeles route in 1937. A trio of EMC E2 diesel locomotives pulled a baggage-dormitory car, two 52-seat coaches, a coffee shop-kitchen car, a dining car, a dormitory-buffet lounge, seven sleeping cars of varying configurations, and a buffet-lounge-observation car.^[2] Union Pacific added a second articulated trainset in 1938, the M-10004. Its configuration was similar to the M-10002: two power units, a baggage-dormitory, 40- and 48-seat coaches, a coffee-shop kitchen, a diner, an 11-section sleeper, two 7-double bedroom 2-compartment sleepers, two more 11-section sleepers, and a buffet-lounge-observation car.^[3]

A typical City of Los Angeles train consist around 1955 included:

EMD E9 A-B-A diesel locomotive set
Mail express 5707
Baggage 5606
Baggage dormitory 3107
Placid series sleeper 11-double bedroom Placid Lake
Placid series sleeper 11-double bedroom Placid Dune
Sleeper 4-4-2 Imperial Hill
Astra Dome diner 8008
Sleeper 4-4-2 Imperial Club
Sleeper 5-2-2 Ocean Beach
Sleeper 5-2-2 Ocean Bay
Astra Dome lounge observation 9009

Domeliner diner upper level.
Domeliner diner lower level.
The Gold Room, a private dining room available by reservation.
Astra Dome observation car.
Astra Dome lower level.
Observation car room for playing cards.
The Redwood Lounge.
Pullman car in day mode.
Pullman private compartment.
Seating in a coach car.
"The Little Nugget"-one of the streamliner's club cars.

Station stops

Station stops, 1950^[4]

Chicago, IL (Chicago & North Western)
Clinton, IA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Ames, IA
Boone, IA
Omaha, NE (Union Pacific)
Fremont, NE (departing passengers only)
Columbus, NE (departing passengers only)
Kearney, NE (departing passengers only)
Grand Island, NE
North Platte, NE
Sidney, NE
Cheyenne, WY
Laramie, WY
Rawlins, WY
Green River, WY
Evanston, WY
Ogden, UT
Salt Lake City, UT
Milford, UT
Las Vegas, NV
San Bernardino, CA
Riverside, CA
East Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA

Time Table

Sample Time Tables, 1947 - 1953

Westbound Read Down			Condensed Schedules All trains daily			Eastbound Read Up
City of Los Angeles 103						City of Los Angeles 104
Sep. 11, 1949	May, 1950	Sep. 27, 1953				Sep. 27, 1953	May, 1950	Sep. 11, 1949
7.15	7.15	7.15	Lv.	Chicago C.& N.W.	Ar.	10.40 +2	10.40 +2	10.45 +2
3.00 +1	3.00 +1	3.00 +1	Ar.	Omaha C.& N.W.	Lv.	2.50 +2	2.50 +2	2.50 +2
3.10 +1	3.10 +1	3.10 +1	Lv.	Omaha Un. Pac.	Ar.	2.40 +2	2.40 +2	2.40 +2
9.25 +1	9.25 +1	9.25 +1	Ar.	Cheyenne	Lv.	6.30 +1	6.30 +1	6.30 +1

9.35 +1	9.35 +1	9.35 +1	Lv.	Cheyenne	Ar.	6.20 +1	6.20 +1	6.20 +1
6.20 +1	6.20 +1	6.15 +1	Ar.	Ogden	Lv.	9.45 +1	9.45 +1	9.40 +1
6.30 +1	6.30 +1	6.25 +1	Lv.	Ogden	Ar.	9.35 +1	9.35 +1	9.30 +1
7.10 +1	7.10 +1	7.10 +1	Ar.	Salt Lake City	Lv.	8.50 +1	8.50 +1	8.50 +1

7.20 +1	7.20 +1	7.20 +1	Lv.	Salt Lake City	Ar.	8.40 +1	8.40 +1	8.40 +1
9.00 +2	9.00 +2	9.00 +2	Ar.	Los Angeles	Lv.	5.00	5.00	5.00
39 h 45 m	39 h 45 m	39 h 45 m	---Elapsed Time---			39 h 40 m	39 h 40 m	39 h 40 m

Notes:
Bold numbers indicate P.M.
+1 indicates the day after departure
+2 indicates two days after departure

Compare the run time to that of Amtrak's Desert Wind in 1979: Westbound (train 35) 48 hours and 30 minutes. Eastbound (train 36) 48 hours and 00 minutes.

Notes

↑ Wayner 1972, pp. 140–141
↑ Wayner 1972, p. 148
↑ Wayner 1972, p. 142
↑ The Official Guide of the Railways, May 1950

References

Ranks, Harold E.; Kratville, William W. (1974). The Union Pacific Streamliners. Kratville Publications, Omaha, NE.
Schafer, Mike; Welsh, Joe (1997). Classic American Streamliners. Osceola, WI: MotorBooks International. ISBN 0-7603-0377-0. OCLC 37281634.
Solomon, Brian (2000). Union Pacific Railroad. Osceola, WI: MBI. ISBN 0-7603-0756-3. OCLC 44406086.
Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to City of Los Angeles.

Passenger trains operating on the eve of Amtrak

Passenger trains of the Union Pacific Railroad



Early articulated streamliners	M-10000 M-10001 M-10002 M-10003 to M-10006

Named trains	Challenger City of Denver City of Las Vegas City of Los Angeles City of Portland City of San Francisco City of St. Louis Los Angeles Limited Overland Flyer Overland Limited San Francisco Challenger

Rolling stock	Astra Dome Pacific series Placid series

Named trains of the Chicago and North Western Railway

400s	Capitol 400 Dakota 400 Flambeau 400 Peninsula 400 Kate Shelley 400 Minnesota 400 Rochester 400 Twin Cities 400

Overland Route	Challenger City of Denver City of Los Angeles City of Portland City of San Francisco Los Angeles Limited Overland Limited San Francisco Challenger

Named trains of the Milwaukee Road

Hiawathas	Afternoon Hiawatha Chippewa-Hiawatha Midwest Hiawatha Morning Hiawatha North Woods Hiawatha Olympian Hiawatha Twin Cities Hiawatha

Overland Route	Challenger City of Denver City of Los Angeles City of Portland City of San Francisco

Others	Arrow Columbian Copper Country Limited Fast Mail Olympian Pioneer Limited Sioux Southwest Limited Tomahawk Varsity

Rolling stock	Beaver Tail Skytop Lounge Super Dome

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