The Southern Pacific was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Company and Southern Pacific Transportation Company.
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, being retained by Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak merged it with the Coast Starlight in 1974.
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being "GS-6" 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of "General Service" or "Golden State," a nickname for California.
The GS-6 is a class of semi-streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1943 to 1958 and the Western Pacific Railroad (WP) from 1943 to 1953. A total of sixteen were built by the Lima Locomotive Works, numbered 4460 through 4469 by SP and 481 through 486 by WP. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service".
The GS-5 was a class of streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1942 to 1958. A total of two were built by the Lima Locomotive Works, numbered 4458 and 4459. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."
The GS-3 was a class of streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1938 to 1957. A total of fourteen were built by the Lima Locomotive Works, numbered 4416 through 4429. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."
The GS-2 was a class of streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) from 1937 to 1958. A total of six were built by the Lima Locomotive Works, numbered 4410 through 4415. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."
The GS-1 was a class of conventional 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) and its Texas subsidiary the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO) from 1930 to 1956. A total of fourteen were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works, numbered 4400 through 4409 by SP and 700 through 703 by T&NO. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service."
Southern Pacific 4460 is the only surviving class "GS-6" steam locomotive, together with "GS-4" class Southern Pacific 4449, which is operational in excursion service. The GS-6 is a semi-streamlined 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive. GS stands for "Golden State" or "General Service". The locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works (LLW) for the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1943. The GS-6 lacked side skirting and red and orange "Daylight" paint found on previous locomotives of the GS class and were painted black and silver instead. The War Production Board controlled locomotive manufacturers during World War II and had turned down Southern Pacific's order of fourteen new Daylight locomotives in 1942. Southern Pacific re-designed the new fleet based on the older GS-2s, only with 260 psi instead of 250 psi, an all-weather cab, and a new GS-4 style tender. The design was finally approved, but the War Production Board reassigned four to the smaller and power-starved Western Pacific Railroad. Their smaller size when compared to previous GS class locomotives and the fact that they were built during World War II earned them the nicknames "War Babies".
Reading 2101 is a preserved American class "T-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive constructed in September 1945 for use by the Reading Company. Constructed from an earlier "I10SA" 2-8-0 "Consolidation"-type locomotive built in March 1923, the 2101 handled heavy coal train traffic for the Reading until being retired from revenue service in 1959. Withheld from scrapping, the 2101 served as emergency backup power for the three other T1 locomotives serving the Reading's "Iron Horse Rambler" excursions until being sold for scrap in 1964. In 1975, the locomotive was restored to operation from scrapyard condition in an emergency 30-day overhaul after being selected to pull the first eastern portion of the American Freedom Train. On March 6, 1979, while being stored one winter in a Chessie System roundhouse in Silver Grove, KY, 2101 was severely damaged in a fire. Also damaged in that fire was a NYC Mohawk tender, which is now located at the National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Indiana. 2101 was cosmetically restored and placed in the B&O Railroad Museum on Labor Day, 1979, in exchange for Chesapeake and Ohio 614. Today the locomotive remains on display in its American Freedom Train #1 paint scheme, and is currently undergoing cosmetic restoration.
Southern Pacific 6051 is an EMD E9 diesel locomotive. It was one of nine E9s built for SP by EMD in December 1954 for the Southern Pacific (SP).
Southern Pacific 2472 is a P-8 Class 4-6-2 heavy "Pacific" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in 1921. No. 2472 is one of three surviving Southern Pacific P-8 class 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives, the other two bring Nos. 2467 and 2479. The 4-6-2 designation means it has four leading wheels, six driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. The locomotive was used by the Southern Pacific Railroad to haul passenger trains until being retired in 1957. The locomotive was then donated to San Mateo County and placed on static display at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. After being restored to operational condition in the early 1990s, the locomotive would pull excursion trains on the Niles Canyon Railway until being retired in 2015. The No. 2472 was then moved to the Northwest Pacific Railroad, where it is as of 2023, undergoing its Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) mandated 1,472 day inspection and overhaul.
Southern Pacific 5021 is an SP-2 class 4-10-2 steam locomotive built in 1926 by ALCO at their Schenectady, New York, shops. It is the only member of this class of SP locomotives to be preserved, and it is one of only five three-cylinder locomotives preserved in North America.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class "E-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving "original" Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1938. Nearly identical to the class "A-3" Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal.
The Valley Flyer was a short-lived named passenger train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The all-heavyweight, "semi-streamlined" train ran between Bakersfield and Oakland, California during the 1939–1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Motive power was two Baldwin-built 1300 class 4-6-2 "Pacific" locomotives refurbished and decorated for the train. It was the Santa Fe's first attempt at streamlining older steam power.
The Lark was an overnight passenger train of the Southern Pacific Company on the 470-mile (760 km) run between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It became a streamliner in 1941 and was discontinued on April 8, 1968. The Lark ran along the same route as the Coast Daylight and was often pulled by a locomotive wearing the famous Daylight paint scheme of orange, red, and black.
The San Joaquin Daylight was a Southern Pacific passenger train inaugurated between Los Angeles and San Francisco's Oakland Pier by way of the San Joaquin Valley and Tehachapi Pass on July 4, 1941. Travel times were between 12 hours (1970) and 14 hours (1944). It operated until the advent of Amtrak in 1971.
The Shasta Daylight was a Southern Pacific Railroad passenger train between Oakland Pier in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon. It started on July 10, 1949, and was SP's third "Daylight" streamliner; it had a fast 15-hour-30-minute schedule in either direction for the 713-mile (1,147 km) trip through some of the most beautiful mountain scenery of any train in North America. The Shasta Daylight replaced heavyweight trains on the same route that had taken nearly a day and night to complete the run. The Shasta Daylight was the first diesel powered Daylight and the only Daylight to run beyond California. The scenic route of the Shasta Daylight passed its namesake Mount Shasta in daylight hours.
Southern Railway 1401 is a 4-6-2 steam locomotive built in July 1926 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway (SOU) as a member of the Ps-4 class, which was based on the United States Railroad Administration (USRA) Heavy Pacific design with some minor differences. It was assigned to haul the SOU's Crescent Limited passenger train between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.
Southern Pacific No. 1744 is a preserved American class "M-6" 2-6-0 "Mogul" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Southern Pacific Railroad in November 1901. Originally equipped with Vauclain compound cylinders, it was rebuilt with conventional cylinders in 1912. It operated for many years out of Oakland, California on the Southern Pacific's Western Division and in California's Central Valley where the locomotive and its classmates were fondly called “Valley Mallets” by their crews. The locomotive was made famous in later years by pulling some of the last steam excursions on the SP alongside other steam locomotives, including 4-8-4 4460. In 1959, No. 1744 was donated to the Sons of Utah Pioneers in Corinne, Utah where it remained on static display, until 1980. That year, it was restored by New London Railroad and Village Incorporated to operate on the Heber Valley Railroad in Heber City for the rest of the decade.
