City of San Francisco (train)
The City of San Francisco was a 1936 to 1971 by the Union Pacific in cooperation with Southern Pacific and Chicago & North Western ( in 1955 with the Milwaukee Road) powered luxurious overnight passenger train between Oakland on the Bay of San Francisco and Chicago. He was also the first streamlined train on the historic first transcontinental railroad in North America. The westbound train had the No. 101 train no. 102 went to the east.
A month after on the Union Pacific 's route had started its operations to southern California, the "City of Los Angeles ", launched on 14 June 1936, the M- 10004, the fourth Union Pacific streamlined train as a "City of San Francisco " the transcontinental night train service and shortened henceforth also the travel time to northern California to 39 hours and 45 minutes.
Since the UP east of Omaha had no own tracks, the train was operated to and from Chicago in cooperation with the Chicago & North Western ( C & NW). From the Ogden Southern Pacific ( SP) was responsible for the operational management over the Donner Pass to Oakland Pier where ferry services existed to San Francisco. As previously recorded in the 1935 "City of Portland " and the " City of Los Angeles ' schedule, only five vehicle blocks per month were also possible in the " City of San Francisco " with only a tractor.
In December 1937, the lead Union Pacific procured for the "City of San Francisco " and " City of Los Angeles ' two three-piece EMC E2 diesel locomotives. One of the two triple locomotive SF- 1 to SF -3 called " Bulldog " design due to their striking stem transported from now on a new 791 -ton 14 -car train. The previous M- 10004 -unit set wrong for the last time on January 2, 1938 as "City of San Francisco " to compress the schedule after modifications offer of a higher market demand "City of Los Angeles " in ten monthly trips per direction. On the northern route to Oakland, however, it remained at the " City of San Francisco " still first in five trips per month and direction.
On August 12, 1939 accident of the "City of San Francisco " on the stretch of the Southern Pacific at Carlin in the Nevada desert, as the delayed train at full speed at 21:33 clock on a bridge over the Humboldt River derailed. 24 people were killed and 121 were injured when it crashed five cars into the river and three other slid down the embankment. The official investigation results to the misfortune of Carlin, the train had fallen an act of sabotage by a willfully distant rail piece victim, are still controversial.
With the introduction of the designated as SF - 4 to SF -6 EMD E6 and another Wagenzugs the schedule can be compressed in July 1941 on ten train movements per month. From September 1947, the train wrong then daily between Chicago and Oakland. Only in 1949 arose with the operated jointly by the Burlington Route, Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific "California Zephyr" a serious competition.
In January 1952, the "City of San Francisco " made international headlines when the train was stuck for six days at 101 a snowstorm in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada (Spanish aptly " snowy mountain range "). Gravity 3.6 m high snow drifts were blocked at Donner Pass from 13 to 19 January 1952, the trassierte in an exposed hillside Southern Pacific route. Despite a large-scale rescue operation in which two workers were killed, the 196 passengers and 20 staff members of the train crew were evacuated only after 72 hours.
End of October 1955 was the traffic east of Omaha from the C & NW on the Milwaukee Road. In 1960, "City of San Francisco " and " City of Los Angeles " performed between Ogden and Chicago in the same train.
After passage of the Amtrak passenger train service on 1 May 1971, the new operator only up until 1972 a passenger train with the previous name " City of San Francisco " in his schedule offered.
Gallery
Southern Pacific SDP45 before "City of San Francisco " in April 1971