The City of San Francisco, Union Pacific's Chicago - San Francisco Streamlined Train

The City of San Francisco was just one train in the Union Pacific’s premier fleet of passenger trains. The railroad hosted an entire array of plush City trains including (along with the City of Los Angeles) the City of Portland, City of Denver, City of Salina, City St. Louis, City of San Francisco, and City of Las Vegas. Today, the City fleet can still be witnessed, in a manner of speaking, as the UP’s official business train is not only decorated in a the Cities’ classic livery but also includes the original equipment from them, right down to the two E9As and E9Bs that power it!

The Union Pacific Railroad (UP), the largest and one of the most powerful railroads in the country, has been with us since 1862, some 146 years. The Union Pacific is far older than any other American Class I railroad today with the Kansas City Southern in a nearby second at 107 years (beyond that CSX Transportation ranks in third at 27 years). In that time the railroad has become not only one of the most highly respected institutions in the nation but also has seen nearly every major railroading event in our country’s history, and accordingly has a very long and storied history.

Perhaps what the UP is best recognized for is its appetite for large power, which perhaps matches its character to some degree! It holds the record for the largest diesel and steam locomotives (the steam issue remains up to debate) ever built in the way of the American Locomotive Company’s (Alco) 4-8-8-4 “Big Boys” (behemoth steamers able to produce some 135,000 pounds of tractive effort!) and EMD’s 6600 horsepower DD40AX “Centennial” diesel-electrics (which were essentially two SD40 models under one frame). These are not the only large units the railroad operated as they also owned Alco’s largest diesel-electric and experimented with a gas-turbine electric locomotive capable of 8500 horsepower!

The Union Pacific’s City fleet is credited with being the first lightweight streamlined passenger train to operate in the United States. In 1934 the City of Salina, the first in the fleet, debuted as a three-car lightweight trainset that the Electro-Motive Corporation named the M-10000. The Union Pacific was so impressed with the train, and the response it received from the public, that it purchased seven more sets and the City fleet was born!

Following the City of Salina, also in 1934 was the City of Portland, followed by the City of Los Angeles, City of San Francisco, and City of Denver in 1936. The City fleet became revered throughout the west and rivaled the Santa Fe’s legendary Super Chief, and every other western passenger train, in exquisiteness and fine traveling. Once the trains received their Domeliners in the mid-1950s they became the lavish way to travel for many in Hollywood.

The City of San Francisco was actually quite similar to its sister, the City of Los Angeles, operating almost virtually identical routes save for the two’s different terminating cities in California. For the first twenty years or so of the train’s existence it was operated in conjunction with the Chicago & North Western which ferried the San Francisco from Omaha, eastward to Chicago. This setup lasted until 1955 when the UP, dissatisfied with the services C&NW was providing handed the train over to rival Milwaukee Road, a partnership that would last until the train’s end. Similarly, west of Ogden, Utah the Southern Pacific handled the City of San Francisco to its final destination. In total, the train was operated by three different railroads to stretch from the Midwest to West Coast.

It was also around this time that the City fleet received upgraded, lightweight equipment and what UP termed “Domeliners,” which were dome cars set up as diners, coaches, and even lounges. The new equipment, as the original streamliners that had debuted in the mid-1930s, was also adorned in a striking livery of Armour yellow and light gray with red trim, a paint scheme still in use today on the Union Pacific.

While the City of San Francisco could be termed as the Los Angeles’ since it never operated with quite such stately services as the latter (for instance, the train never received domes, at least by Union Pacific, although the Southern Pacific did offer dome service on its leg of the San Francisco), as with the entire City fleet, the train was a finely run through the end. As with all of the Union Pacific’s City trains the San Francisco no longer survives today as a route under the Amtrak system (which has its beginnings dating back to the spring of 1971).

For more reading on the Union Pacific you might want to consider Union Pacific Railroad from noted author Brian Solomon. Of course, being that the Union Pacific is so well known and has been around for so many years, hundreds of publications (many quite good) have been written about it detailing various subjects of the railroad. However, this book will at least give you a general overview and history of the UP (filled with many, excellent, historical and colorful photographs) at which point you can decide if you are interested in further books of study on the railroad. Even if you are a historian of the UP and have not seen this book I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Also, for more reading on streamliners like the City of San Francisco you might want to also consider the book Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon from renowned author Mike Schafer who covers in detail most of the well known and remembered “classic” passenger trains to operate in the country. If you have any interest in such you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book.