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• Overland Limited
• Overland Flyer

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)	Union Pacific Railroad Southern Pacific Railroad Milwaukee Road Chicago and North Western Railway

The Overland Limited, known as the Overland Flyer from 1887–96, and often shortened to Overland, was a Union Pacific Railroad passenger train on the Overland Route between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. It ran from 1887 until 1963. The Southern Pacific Railroad handled the train west of Ogden, Utah. East of Omaha, Nebraska, both the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road") and the Chicago and North Western Railway ran the train at different points during its existence.

History

The Union Pacific introduced the Overland Flyer on the Overland Route on November 13, 1887. It operated daily between Chicago and San Francisco via Council Bluffs, Iowa (the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific). Between Chicago and Council Bluffs it used the Chicago and North Western. At Ogden, Utah, it switched to the Central Pacific Railroad (leased by the Southern Pacific). The Overland Flyer was one of the first named passenger trains in the United States. The name itself had its roots in the West: Bret Harte, chronicler of the California Gold Rush, had founded a monthly literary magazine named the Overland Monthly in 1868. Previously various stagecoach companies had incorporated "Overland" into their names. The Overland was the subject of an early train documentary film short in 1901.

Between 1905–1907 the Overland used the Milwaukee Road between Chicago and Council Bluffs. Lucius Beebe wrote that the Union Pacific intended this as a temporary measure 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 introduction of the streamlined City of San Francisco in 1936 relegated the Overland to secondary status. In 1955 the Overland became an Omaha-Oakland train, with no Chicago connection, and after summer 1956 it was coach-only east of Ogden/Green River—no sleepers, no diner, and no name. In 1960 even that remnant ceased running between Ogden and Laramie. Daily operation ended on July 16, 1962, with the City of San Francisco handling what through traffic remained. The San Francisco Overland remained as a seasonal SP train between Oakland and Ogden through summer 1963. The SP declined to revive the train in 1964 amid some controversy.

Schedule

In 1920 the Overland took 72 hours each way, leaving San Francisco at 0900 and Chicago at 1910; by summer 1922 it was down to about 68 hours. In November 1926 The Overland and three Chicago-Los Angeles trains dropped to 63 hours each way, charging $10 extra for the full trip. (One-way fare on a 68-hour train was then $103.47 including the charge for a lower berth.) In June 1929 the Overland and the Chief dropped to 58 hours each way; the Overland left San Francisco at 2140 and Chicago at 1150. It was a bit faster in 1930, but in 1931 the Overland was combined with a slower train and its schedule was around 60 hours (with no extra fare) until 1946. That June it dropped to 49 hr 20 min westward (leave Chicago 1500) and 48 hr 30 min eastward (leave San Francisco 1130).

Name

The Overland Limited's name varied during its career, and many people called it the Overland regardless of other nouns attached. The Union Pacific introduced the Overland Flyer in 1887 and renamed it the Overland Limited in 1896; the Southern Pacific used the old name until 1899. In 1931 the Overland Limited was combined with the San Francisco Limited and the names were combined too. "Limited" was dropped from the name in 1947.

Equipment

In 1941–42 the train was re-equipped with lightweight streamlined cars built by Pullman-Standard. 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, Utah.

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.

See also

• Overland Limited of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
• Passenger train service on the Union Pacific Railroad

Notes

1. Beebe 1963, p. 28
2. Beebe 1963, p. 27
3. 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)"
4. Beebe 1963, p. 31
5. Beebe 1963, p. 50
6. Beebe 1963, p. 51
7. Beebe, Lucius Morris (March 8, 1964). "Highball On Overland Limited Is Memory". The Fresno Bee. p. 19. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Railroad Dispute". Daily Independent Journal. July 22, 1964. p. 2. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Welsh 2008, p. 85
10. Maiken 1989, p. 339
11. "S.P. Glorifying Hamburger With New-Style Car". Nevada State Journal. October 24, 1954. p. 9. Retrieved August 30, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
12. 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)
• Solomon, Brian (2000). Union Pacific Railroad. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI. ISBN 0-7603-0756-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• 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)

v t e Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific
Named trains	Acadian Apache Argonaut Arizona Limited Beaver Californian Cascade Coaster Del Monte El Yaqui Golden Rocket Golden State Imperial Klamath Lark Oregon & California Express Oregonian Owl Limited Peninsula Commute Rogue River Sunbeam Sunset Limited Suntan Special Tonopah Express West Coast
Daylights	Coast Daylight Daylight Limited Morning Daylight Noon Daylight Sacramento Daylight San Joaquin Daylight Shasta Daylight
Overland Route	Challenger City of San Francisco San Francisco Challenger San Francisco Overland Pacific Limited Gold Coast Saint Louis Express

• 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