Golden State (train) - Other Trains On The Golden State Route

Other Trains On The Golden State Route

There was always additional train service on the Golden State route. Among these trains were the Californian (passenger trains), Apache, Cherokee and the Imperial.

In the Depression years, the Californian became the coach/chair car and tourist car (second class, older sleeping cars) train. This train competed with the Union Pacific Challengers, the Santa Fe Scout and always featured low-cost dining car meals (as little as three meals for $1.00 per day) and a special car for women and children (and nursing babies). They all proved immensely popular until the end of World War II.

The connections at Tucumcari from Memphis on the Choctaw Route were variously referred as the Memphis-Californian or other terminology including the word “Choctaw.

Shortly after the World War II, the Imperial was introduced as trains 39 and 40 on yet another alternative routing. From Yuma, the train traveled though Mexico on the "Inter-California Railway" from Araz Junction, CA through Algondones, Mexico to the border towns of Mexicali (Mexico) and Calexico (California) and back to the Southern Pacific mainline at Niland. This alternative routing did not last long because of customs issues and starting and stopping at every station (required by Mexican law) which wreaked havoc on the car batteries and charging systems and air-conditioning.

The secondary train ultimately carried no name and a single rider coach until it was discontinued in the middle 1960’s. The last train became known as the Sunset-Golden State between 1964 and the final discontinuance in 1968.

Until the last years of service, the Southern Pacific had between four and six daily trains providing service on this portion of the route between El Paso and Los Angeles.