SP's Baldwin-built 4-8-8-2 Cab-Forward No. 4118 hauling Train No. 60, the West Coast, at speed of about 40 mph, circa 1940s.
(DeGolyer Library, SMU, Digital Collection)
WEST COAST
The West Coast was a named train of the Southern Pacific Railroad from Los Angeles to Portland via the San Joaquin Valley. It had through car service to Seattle via the Great Northern Railway. Unlike the West Coast, Amtrak's Coast Starlight takes the Coast Line through San Luis Obispo and Oakland; no Southern Pacific passenger train was ever scheduled to run from Los Angeles to Portland via Oakland.
The first through train from Los Angeles to Portland started in 1924 and was named West Coast in 1927, by which time it was on the Cascade Line via Klamath Falls. In California it sometimes ran on the West Valley via Orland and Davis and sometimes on the East Valley via Marysville and Roseville; it always ran via Merced. It was always an overnight train between Sacramento and Los Angeles; in 1932-36 it was combined with the Owl south of Fresno.
The train was discontinued north of Sacramento in 1949 in favor of the Shasta Daylight and Cascade. The last section of the West Coast between Los Angeles and Sacramento continued to operate until December 1960, when it was permanently discontinued.
Addendum:
"The West Coast changed train numbers during its servicing stop at Sacramento. Southern Pacific assigned even numbers to every train operating "away from" San Francisco, and odd numbers to every train operating "toward" San Francisco. Thus, when operating toward Portland, the West Coast was Train No. 59 as far as Sacramento, and Train No. 16 beyond. In the opposite direction it operated as Train No. 15, becoming Train No. 60 at Sacramento." - Norm Anderson
West Coast Overview
Status: Discontinued
Locale: Western United States
First service: 1927
Last service: 1960
Former operator: Southern Pacific Railroad
Route Termini: Los Angeles, California / Portland, Oregon
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route of the West Coast.
(Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; Wikimedia Commons)
