An EMD SDP45 leads the San Joaquin Daylight at Martinez, California in 1971.
(Drew Jacksich, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
SAN JOAQUIN DAYLIGHT
The San Joaquin Daylight was a Southern Pacific passenger train (train numbers 51 and 52) 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.
History
Train numbers 51 and 52 were named the San Joaquin Flyer on March 20, 1927. The name was changed to the San Joaquin on the January 1928 timetable. All streamlined lightweight equipment brought the name change to San Joaquin Daylight on July 4, 1941.
Passenger cars
Pullman-Standard built coaches were assigned to the two train sets, both articulated pairs and singles. The 40-seat dining car and parlor-observation car had been built for the original 1937 Daylight. Each train set had ten cars painted in SP's Daylight colors (red and orange, with black roofs and white striping and lettering), and included two head-end cars rebuilt from heavyweights by the SP Sacramento shops repainted Daylight colors to match the rest of the train.
Locomotives
SP initially assigned three P-10 class Pacific steam locomotives 2383-2385 after semi-streamlining them and painting them in Daylight colors at the Sacramento shops. A single Pacific ran between Oakland Pier and Bakersfield; a pair of those Pacifics was assigned between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. The helper P-10 that led the northbound San Joaquin Daylight from Los Angeles to Bakersfield returned on the southbound San Joaquin Daylight from Bakersfield.
Diesel power included EMD F-units and Alco PAs, later supplemented by GP9s and SDP45s.
A combination San Joaquin Daylight / Sacramento Daylight booklet.
(Southern Pacific Transportation Company, via W. Lenheim Collection)
Inaugural runs
The inaugural runs were as follows:
First consist
2383 P-10 class 4-6-2 Streamlined Pacific Locomotive & Tender
5069 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage 30’ Railway Post Office Car
6091 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage Car
2492 44 Revenue seat Coach
2478 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach 2477 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
10200 40 seat Dining Car
2480 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach 2479 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2487 44 Revenue seat Coach
2950 23 Revenue seat Parlor 10 seat Lounge Observation
Second consist
2385 P-10 Class 4-6-2 Streamlined Pacific Locomotive and Tender (Helper) (Los Angeles – Bakersfield)
2384 P-10 Class 4-6-2 Streamlined Pacific Locomotive and Tender
5017 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage 30’ Railway Post Office Car
6092 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage Car
2493 44 Revenue seat Coach
2482 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach 2481 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
10201 40 seat Dining Car
2484 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach 2483 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2488 44 Revenue seat Coach
2951 23 Revenue seat Parlor 10 seat Lounge Observation
The San Joaquin Daylight in March 1971, one month before Amtrak took over nationwide rail passenger service in the United States.
(Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Later history
In 1946 a Sacramento section of the San Joaquin Daylight was introduced, named the Sacramento Daylight, trains 53-54. The two trains ran together from Los Angeles to Lathrop, where they split. In 1970 the split moved from Lathrop to Tracy.
The San Joaquin Daylight's dining car was replaced by a coffee-shop car by the 1950s. The parlor-observation car was also removed, though it immediately gained a second life. In 1954 SP placed two of its seven homebuilt dome-lounge cars in the consists; one of the cars was rebuilt from the train's own parlor-observation car. The dome car was discontinued in the late 1960s.
In 1961 the coffee-shop car was replaced by SP's automat cars which had vended meals and non-alcoholic beverages, a self-service microwave oven, and a table area. This lasted to the end of service.
The San Joaquin Daylight ran until April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak took over nationwide rail passenger service in the United States. In March 1974 Amtrak's San Joaquins began running between the Bay Area and Fresno and Bakersfield on Santa Fe track in the San Joaquin Valley. Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail trains in the Bay Area are expected to operate as far south as Merced along the former Daylight route by 2027.
SP GS-5 4-8-4 No. 4459 with Train No. 52, the San Joaquin Daylight at Lathrop, CA, July 30, 1956. Photo courtesy Walter R. Evans. (© Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties, Inc., Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)
The Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight as seen near Bakersfield, CA. Photo courtesy Southern Pacific Transportation Company. (© Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties, Inc., Fair use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)
The Southern Pacific's Train No. 52, the San Joaquin Daylight, pulled by four EMD F-units with an SP-built "Stairway to the Stars" near full-length Dome-Lounge car, traveling through the Tehachapi Mountains of Southern California. Photo courtesy Southern Pacific. (Lyman E. Cox, Sacramento, CA, Public domain, W. Lenheim Collection)
Overnight: The Owl and the West Coast
The overnight counterpart to the San Joaquin Daylight was the Owl, trains 57-58, between Oakland and Los Angeles, with sleeping cars and meal and beverage service. It was discontinued in 1965, three years before the Lark (direct to San Francisco itself) on the Coast Line ended. The West Coast (trains 59-60) carried overnight Sacramento-LA passengers until about 1960, though unlike the Sacramento Daylight it was a separate train all the way.
An earlier photo of the San Joaquin Daylight near Martinez, California.
(Unknown, Public domain, via W. Lenheim Collection)
Overview
Status: Discontinued
Locale: California
First service: July 4, 1941
Last service: April 30, 1971
Former operator: Southern Pacific Railroad
Route Termini: Los Angeles Union Station / Oakland Pier
Train numbers: 51/52
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
See Also:
Coast Daylight
San Joaquin, Amtrak California's service to the Central Valley
Sacramento Daylight