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| ⚫ | The '''''Overland Limited''''' (also known at various times as the ''Overland Flyer'', ''San Francisco Overland Limited'', ''San Francisco Overland'' and often simply as the ''Overland'') was a named ] which for much of its history was jointly operated by three railroads on the ] between ] and ]. The ] handled the train west of ], the ] between Ogden and ]/], and east of the ] to Chicago it was operated by the ] as well as, for a few years starting in 1905, by the ] (the "Milwaukee Road"). | ||
| The named service on this route began on the UP as the ''Overland Flyer'' (1887–96), and the SP began its own separate named ''Overland Limited'' train in 1899. The ''Overland'' name disappeared on C&NW's portion of the route on October 30, 1955, from the UP in 1956, and finally ended on the SP's portion as a separate year-round train on July 16, 1962 when that service was consolidated with the ] | |||
| ⚫ | The '''''Overland Limited''''' was a ] on the ] between ] |
||
| It became an Oakland-Omaha train in 1955 and was cut back to Oakland-Ogden in 1956; from July 1962 until it ended in 1963-64 it was just a seasonal second section of the ]. | |||
| == History == | == History == | ||
| {{seealso|Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)}} | {{seealso|Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)}} | ||
| ] |
]The first transcontinental rail service on the ] between the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific on the Missouri River at ]<ref> (38th Congress, 1st Session SENATE Ex. Doc. No. 27)</ref> via ] (]) and ] (]/CPRR) to the San Francisco Bay at the Oakland Wharf was opened in 1869. At that time just one daily passenger express train ran in each direction taking 102 hours to cover that 1,912 mile route.<ref>, June, 1870 pp. 215-16</ref> The fare from Council Bluffs to Sacramento (the end of the Central Pacific Railroad proper) was $134.50, and from Chicago $22.00 more.<ref>Klink, William L. "Modern Passenger Schedules and Their Development in Railway Transportation". University of Illinois, College of Commerce and Business Administration. 1918. p. 19</ref> During the entire decade of the 1870's and much of the 1880s the schedule was shortened by only 3 hours and service was not improved to any major extent until November 13, 1887 when the''' ''Overland Flyer'' '''was put into service by the UP connecting to SP's ''Pacific Express'' (westbound) and ''Atlantic Express'' (eastbound) at Ogden. Between Chicago and Council Bluffs connecting service was provided by the Chicago and North Western.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=28}}</ref> | ||
| ]The name ''Overland'' had its roots in the West |
]The name ''Overland'' had its roots in the West. In 1868, the chronicler of the ], ], had founded a monthly literary magazine based in San Francisco named the '']'' while previously various ] companies such as the '']'' had incorporated "Overland" into their names.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=27}}</ref> The ''Overland'' was the subject of an early train documentary film short in 1901.<ref> and , however cf. John Huntley ''Railways in the cinema'' 1969 p.89 "THE SHORT FILM In addition to films like "Darlington Centenary" and "Night Mail" (see pages 47 and 52) the railways of the world have inspired countless documentary, instructional, factual, poetic, compilation and amateur films. ...Union Pacific Overland Limited (Edison, 1902)"</ref> For a period of a few years in the early Twentieth Century beginning in 1905, the ''Overland'' used the Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Council Bluffs. ] contends that a possible reason for this the Union Pacific always intended to coerce better performance from the Chicago and North Western, and in fact a section of the ''Overland'' continued to use the C&NW during the period.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=31}}</ref> (The C&NW would retain its close partnership with the UP between Chicago and Council Bluffs/Omaha for its various through ''Overland'' and ''City'' trains for another half century until the Milwaukee Road finally took over all that service on October 30, 1955.<ref>. ''The Milwaukee Road Magazine'', Vol. 43, No. 7. October, 1955. pp. 4-6</ref>) | ||
| The introduction of the then five-times-a-month dieselized streamliner '']'' in 1936 began the relegation the ''Overland'' to secondary status on the Overland Route.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=50}}</ref> By January, 1955 the train was a shell of its former self carrying only two Chicago–Oakland through cars and ceased operation on the C&NW altogether on October 30, 1955.<ref>''The Milwaukee Road Magazine'', October, 1955, pp. 4-6</ref> While the UP the name from its service in 1956, the SP held out for another six years retaining the name ''San Francisco Overland'' for trains 27 and 28 between San Francisco and Ogden until that last vestige of the line's original 1899 ''Overland Limited'' as a separate named train providing year-round daily service<ref>, May, 1962, 94th year, No. 12, p. 658</ref> ended on July 16, 1962.<ref>Signor 1985 p. 276</ref><ref>Beebe 1963 p. 51</ref><ref>Solomon 2001 p. 71</ref> On that date the ] recent order (Docket #21946) approving of its discontinuation and consolidation with the ''City of San Francisco'' went into effect and new ''Overland Route'' schedules were instituted.<ref>ICC Financial Docket No. 21946 (Filed February 5, 1962, decided July 6, 1962, served July 16, 1962)</ref><ref>), July 16, 1962</ref> The ''Overland'' continued only as titular seasonal summer and holiday service consolidated with the ''City of San Francisco'' except when run as an occasional second section if heavy seasonal traffic warranted until January 2, 1964 after which the ''Overland'' name disappeared forever from the route.<ref>, October 28, 1962, p. 6, Table 17</ref><ref>, October, 1962, 95th year, No. 5, p. 654</ref> The SP declined to revive the train's name in 1964 amid some controversy.<ref name="dij19640722" /><ref> Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Case #7955 (Filed July 21, 1964), Decision #70568 and Order, April 12, 1966</ref> | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| == Name == | == "Limited" Name == | ||
| ⚫ | ]The ''Overland Limited'' was generally referred to as the ''Overland'' whatever other nouns |
||
| ⚫ | ]The ''Overland Limited'' 's formal name varied during its long career although it was generally referred to colloquially as the ''Overland'' regardless of whatever other nouns might be attached. <ref>Solomon 2000 p. 74</ref> The Union Pacific introduced the ''Overland Flyer'' on November 13,1887 and renamed it the ''Overland Limited'' on November 17, 1895. <ref>Beebe 1963 p. 13</ref><ref> New York: National Railway Publication Co. 21st year, No. 8. January, 1889. p. 355</ref> On December 5, 1888 the SP joined with the UP to introduce its first deluxe transcontinental service, the weekly ''Golden Gate Special'', between San Francisco/Oakland via Ogden to Council Bluffs where passengers connected with the C&NW's trains 1 and 2 to and from Chicago although that extravagant extra-fare train was dropped after just five months.<ref> January, 1889. p. 328</ref><ref>"The Golden Gate Special to be discontinued after the 12th of May", The Sacramento ''Daily Union'', Volume 61, Number 56, April 29, 1889, p. 1</ref><ref> Union Pacific Railway, Passenger Department (1888)</ref> The cost for travel between San Francisco and Council Bluffs on this train was $60 for the First Class passage and $40 in extra fare for sleeping accommodations and meals in the dining car.<ref>, UP 8-panel folding brochure, December, 1888</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | For the next decade the ''Overland's'' connection at Ogden to and from San Francisco was with the eastbound ''Atlantic Express'' and westbound ''Pacific Express'' until October 15, 1899 when the SP inaugurated its own new ''Overland Limited'' (TR1&2) which became the UP's identically named Ogden to Omaha/Council Bluffs train providing 71-hour through service. The SP described its new first class train as "An Elegant Solid Vestibuled Train of Composite Car, with library, Smoking Parlor, Buffet, etc. Luxurious Double Drawing-room Sleeping Cars, Dining Car. The Fastest Overland service in the history of transcontinental railroading."<ref> The San Francisco ''Call'', November, 1899</ref> On January 1, 1913 the ''Overland Limited'' became an extra-fare ($10) train when it further cut its running time from 68 to 64 hours and added amenities such as a barber, manicurist, stenographer, bath, etc.<ref>The ''Straits Times'', November 19, 1912, p. 9</ref> Known variously as both the ''Overland Limited'' and ''San Francisco Overland Limited'' for the next 32 years, on May 31, 1931 the service again became the ''San Francisco Overland Limited'' when its train numbers changed from "1 and 2" to "27 and 28", and on July 10, 1947 the designation "Limited" was dropped from the name altogether.<ref>Signor 1985 p. 276</ref> | ||
| In 1913 the ''Overland Limited'' became an extra-fare ($10) train with a 65-hour schedule and a barber, manicurist, stenographer, bath, etc.<ref>The ''Straits Times'', November 19, 1912, p. 9</ref> The extra fare was dropped in 1918 when the schedule reverted to 70+ hours. In November 1926 the schedule dropped to 63 hours each way with $10 extra fare that ended in 1931. | |||
| == Equipment == | == Equipment == | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| With the ] raging, the previously all-Pullman ''Overland'' began to carry chair cars in 1931, a service which lasted through much of the rest of that decade.<ref>Signor 1985 p. 276</ref> In 1941–42 the ] Company built two groups (60 "6-6-4" and 18 "4-1-4") of streamlined light-weight sleeping cars for the UP (54), SP (13) and C&NW (11) and three groups totaling 70 similar style head-end and chair cars for the UP for use on all their trains servicing their ''Overland Routes'' to the west coast from Los Angeles to Seattle.<ref>Wayner 1972 pp. 156-7</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Welsh|2008|p=85}}</ref> To meet the tripling of military and civilian passenger traffic during the WWII years the consists on the again all-Pullman ''San Francisco Overland Limited'' ballooned to as many as 20 cars and often ran in multiple daily sections.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=138}}</ref><ref> September 15, 1945</ref> Chair car service returned to the train in 1946 and it became all streamlined by 1951 including a dome car on the SP by 1955.<ref> #14 (June 2, 1946); #15 (February 1, 1955)</ref><ref>Solomon 2007 p. 67</ref> In March 1952, toward the end of its existence as an independent through train, the ''San Francisco Overland'' carried Chicago–San Francisco sleepers, a New York–San Francisco sleeper conveyed on alternating days by the ]'s '']'' and the ]'s ''Pennsylvania Limited'', and a summer-only sleeper for ] conveyed to the ''Idahoan'' at ].<ref>{{harvnb|Maiken|1989|p=339}}</ref> | |||
| The Southern Pacific introduced a "Hamburger Grill" car between Oakland and Ogden on October 24, 1954. The SP |
The Southern Pacific introduced a "Hamburger Grill" car between Oakland and Ogden on October 24, 1954. The SP was bullish, saying the burgers were among "the finest meat products of Southern Pacific territory."<ref name="nsj19541024" /> ] was unimpressed, noting the car, and the coffee-shop car which replaced it, as part of the decline of the train.<ref>{{harvnb|Beebe|1963|p=51}}</ref> | ||
| ==Route diagrams== | ==Route diagrams== | ||
Revision as of 02:20, 8 April 2015
 | |
 The Overland Limited leaving 16th Street Station, Oakland, in 1906 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| First service | November 13, 1887 (1887-11-13) |
| Last service | 1963 (1963) |
| Former operator(s) | |
The Overland Limited (also known at various times as the Overland Flyer, San Francisco Overland Limited, San Francisco Overland and often simply as the Overland) was a named passenger train which for much of its history was jointly operated by three railroads on the Overland Route between San Francisco and Chicago. The Southern Pacific Railroad handled the train west of Ogden, Utah, the Union Pacific Railroad between Ogden and Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa, and east of the Missouri River to Chicago it was operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway as well as, for a few years starting in 1905, by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road").
The named service on this route began on the UP as the Overland Flyer (1887–96), and the SP began its own separate named Overland Limited train in 1899. The Overland name disappeared on C&NW's portion of the route on October 30, 1955, from the UP in 1956, and finally ended on the SP's portion as a separate year-round train on July 16, 1962 when that service was consolidated with the City of San Francisco.
History
See also: Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad)
The first transcontinental rail service on the Overland Route between the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific on the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa via Ogden, Utah (CPRR) and Sacramento (WPRR/CPRR) to the San Francisco Bay at the Oakland Wharf was opened in 1869. At that time just one daily passenger express train ran in each direction taking 102 hours to cover that 1,912 mile route. The fare from Council Bluffs to Sacramento (the end of the Central Pacific Railroad proper) was $134.50, and from Chicago $22.00 more. During the entire decade of the 1870's and much of the 1880s the schedule was shortened by only 3 hours and service was not improved to any major extent until November 13, 1887 when the Overland Flyer was put into service by the UP connecting to SP's Pacific Express (westbound) and Atlantic Express (eastbound) at Ogden. Between Chicago and Council Bluffs connecting service was provided by the Chicago and North Western.
The name Overland had its roots in the West. In 1868, the chronicler of the California Gold Rush, Bret Harte, had founded a monthly literary magazine based in San Francisco named the Overland Monthly while previously various stagecoach companies such as the Butterfield Overland Mail had incorporated "Overland" into their names. The Overland was the subject of an early train documentary film short in 1901. For a period of a few years in the early Twentieth Century beginning in 1905, the Overland used the Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Council Bluffs. Lucius Beebe contends that a possible reason for this the Union Pacific always intended to coerce better performance from the Chicago and North Western, and in fact a section of the Overland continued to use the C&NW during the period. (The C&NW would retain its close partnership with the UP between Chicago and Council Bluffs/Omaha for its various through Overland and City trains for another half century until the Milwaukee Road finally took over all that service on October 30, 1955.)
The introduction of the then five-times-a-month dieselized streamliner City of San Francisco in 1936 began the relegation the Overland to secondary status on the Overland Route. By January, 1955 the train was a shell of its former self carrying only two Chicago–Oakland through cars and ceased operation on the C&NW altogether on October 30, 1955. While the UP the name from its service in 1956, the SP held out for another six years retaining the name San Francisco Overland for trains 27 and 28 between San Francisco and Ogden until that last vestige of the line's original 1899 Overland Limited as a separate named train providing year-round daily service ended on July 16, 1962. On that date the ICC's recent order (Docket #21946) approving of its discontinuation and consolidation with the City of San Francisco went into effect and new Overland Route schedules were instituted. The Overland continued only as titular seasonal summer and holiday service consolidated with the City of San Francisco except when run as an occasional second section if heavy seasonal traffic warranted until January 2, 1964 after which the Overland name disappeared forever from the route. The SP declined to revive the train's name in 1964 amid some controversy.
"Limited" Name
The Overland Limited 's formal name varied during its long career although it was generally referred to colloquially as the Overland regardless of whatever other nouns might be attached. The Union Pacific introduced the Overland Flyer on November 13,1887 and renamed it the Overland Limited on November 17, 1895. On December 5, 1888 the SP joined with the UP to introduce its first deluxe transcontinental service, the weekly Golden Gate Special, between San Francisco/Oakland via Ogden to Council Bluffs where passengers connected with the C&NW's trains 1 and 2 to and from Chicago although that extravagant extra-fare train was dropped after just five months. The cost for travel between San Francisco and Council Bluffs on this train was $60 for the First Class passage and $40 in extra fare for sleeping accommodations and meals in the dining car.
For the next decade the Overland's connection at Ogden to and from San Francisco was with the eastbound Atlantic Express and westbound Pacific Express until October 15, 1899 when the SP inaugurated its own new Overland Limited (TR1&2) which became the UP's identically named Ogden to Omaha/Council Bluffs train providing 71-hour through service. The SP described its new first class train as "An Elegant Solid Vestibuled Train of Composite Car, with library, Smoking Parlor, Buffet, etc. Luxurious Double Drawing-room Sleeping Cars, Dining Car. The Fastest Overland service in the history of transcontinental railroading." On January 1, 1913 the Overland Limited became an extra-fare ($10) train when it further cut its running time from 68 to 64 hours and added amenities such as a barber, manicurist, stenographer, bath, etc. Known variously as both the Overland Limited and San Francisco Overland Limited for the next 32 years, on May 31, 1931 the service again became the San Francisco Overland Limited when its train numbers changed from "1 and 2" to "27 and 28", and on July 10, 1947 the designation "Limited" was dropped from the name altogether.
Equipment
With the Depression raging, the previously all-Pullman Overland began to carry chair cars in 1931, a service which lasted through much of the rest of that decade. In 1941–42 the Pullman-Standard Company built two groups (60 "6-6-4" and 18 "4-1-4") of streamlined light-weight sleeping cars for the UP (54), SP (13) and C&NW (11) and three groups totaling 70 similar style head-end and chair cars for the UP for use on all their trains servicing their Overland Routes to the west coast from Los Angeles to Seattle. To meet the tripling of military and civilian passenger traffic during the WWII years the consists on the again all-Pullman San Francisco Overland Limited ballooned to as many as 20 cars and often ran in multiple daily sections. Chair car service returned to the train in 1946 and it became all streamlined by 1951 including a dome car on the SP by 1955. In March 1952, toward the end of its existence as an independent through train, the San Francisco Overland carried Chicago–San Francisco sleepers, a New York–San Francisco sleeper conveyed on alternating days by the New York Central Railroad's Wolverine and the Pennsylvania Railroad's Pennsylvania Limited, and a summer-only sleeper for Yellowstone Park conveyed to the Idahoan at Green River, Wyoming.
The Southern Pacific introduced a "Hamburger Grill" car between Oakland and Ogden on October 24, 1954. The SP was bullish, saying the burgers were among "the finest meat products of Southern Pacific territory." Lucius Beebe was unimpressed, noting the car, and the coffee-shop car which replaced it, as part of the decline of the train.
Route diagrams
See also
- Overland Limited of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
- Passenger train service on the Union Pacific Railroad
Notes
- Executive Order of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, Fixing the Point of Commencement of the Pacific Railroad at Council Bluffs, Iowa. dated March 7, 1864. (38th Congress, 1st Session SENATE Ex. Doc. No. 27)
- "Travellers' Official Guide of Railways an Steam Navigation Lines in the United States and Canada", June, 1870 pp. 215-16
- Klink, William L. "Modern Passenger Schedules and Their Development in Railway Transportation". University of Illinois, College of Commerce and Business Administration. 1918. p. 19
- Beebe 1963, p. 28
- Beebe 1963, p. 27
- IMDB has "1901" and another short 1901, however cf. John Huntley Railways in the cinema 1969 p.89 "THE SHORT FILM In addition to films like "Darlington Centenary" and "Night Mail" (see pages 47 and 52) the railways of the world have inspired countless documentary, instructional, factual, poetic, compilation and amateur films. ...Union Pacific Overland Limited (Edison, 1902)"
- Beebe 1963, p. 31
- "Now ... Service to all the West". The Milwaukee Road Magazine, Vol. 43, No. 7. October, 1955. pp. 4-6
- Beebe 1963, p. 50
- The Milwaukee Road Magazine, October, 1955, pp. 4-6
- THE OFFICIAL GUIDE of RAILWAYS of the UNITED STATES, May, 1962, 94th year, No. 12, p. 658
- Signor 1985 p. 276
- Beebe 1963 p. 51
- Solomon 2001 p. 71
- ICC Financial Docket No. 21946 (Filed February 5, 1962, decided July 6, 1962, served July 16, 1962)
- Southern Pacific Overland Route Time Tables (Form 4), July 16, 1962
- Southern Pacific Passenger Train Schedules, October 28, 1962, p. 6, Table 17
- THE OFFICIAL GUIDE of RAILWAYS of the UNITED STATES, October, 1962, 95th year, No. 5, p. 654
- "Railroad Dispute". Daily Independent Journal. July 22, 1964. p. 2. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
- "In the Matter of the Unauthorized Discontinuance by SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY of passenger Trains Nos. 27 and 28, the "Overland" Public Utilities Commission of the State of California, Case #7955 (Filed July 21, 1964), Decision #70568 and Order, April 12, 1966
- Solomon 2000 p. 74
- Beebe 1963 p. 13
- THE OFFICIAL GUIDE of the RAILWAY and STEAM NAVIGATION LINES of the UNITED STATES and CANADA New York: National Railway Publication Co. 21st year, No. 8. January, 1889. p. 355
- THE OFFICIAL GUIDE January, 1889. p. 328
- "The Golden Gate Special to be discontinued after the 12th of May", The Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 61, Number 56, April 29, 1889, p. 1
- "The Finest Train in the World: The Golden Gate Special." Union Pacific Railway, Passenger Department (1888)
- "The Golden Gate Special", UP 8-panel folding brochure, December, 1888
- SP Overland Limited Advertisement The San Francisco Call, November, 1899
- The Straits Times, November 19, 1912, p. 9
- Signor 1985 p. 276
- Signor 1985 p. 276
- Wayner 1972 pp. 156-7
- Welsh 2008, p. 85
- Beebe 1963, p. 138
- San Francisco Overland Limited Consists September 15, 1945
- "Southern Pacific Equipment Registers" #14 (June 2, 1946); #15 (February 1, 1955)
- Solomon 2007 p. 67
- Maiken 1989, p. 339
- "S.P. Glorifying Hamburger With New-Style Car". Nevada State Journal. October 24, 1954. p. 9. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
- Beebe 1963, p. 51
References
- Beebe, Lucius Morris (1963). The Overland Limited. Howell-North Books. ISBN 0831070382.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Maiken, Peter T. (1989). Night Trains: The Pullman System in the Golden Years of American Rail Travel. Chicago: Lakme Press. ISBN 0-9621-480-0-8. OCLC 20461978.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Signor, John (1985) DONNER PASS Southern Pacific's Sierra Crossing. San Marino, CA: Golden West Books
- Solomon, Brian (2000). Union Pacific Railroad. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI. ISBN 0-7603-0756-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Solomon, Brian (2007) Southern Pacific Railroad. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. ISBN-10: 0760329311
- Welsh, Joe; Bill Howes (2004). Travel by Pullman: a century of service. Saint Paul, MN: MBI. ISBN 0760318573. OCLC 56634363.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Welsh, Joe (2008). Union Pacific's Streamliners. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2534-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
| Passenger trains of the Union Pacific Railroad | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metra (commuter rail) | |||||
| Early articulated streamliners | |||||
| City fleet | |||||
| Others |
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| Rolling stock | |||||
| Amtrak |
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| See also | |||||
| Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific | ||
|---|---|---|
| Named trains |  | |
| Daylights | ||
| Overland Route | ||
- Named passenger trains of the United States
- Passenger trains of the Chicago and North Western Railway
- Passenger trains of the Milwaukee Road
- Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company
- Passenger trains of the Union Pacific Railroad
- Railway services discontinued in 1963
- Railway services introduced in 1887