55
the Ca I i fo rni a G eo graP._,_h""e:..!.r
______________
Volume XVIII, 1978
T H E G EOGRAPHY OF R A I L PASSENG E R S E R V IC ES
IN CAL IFO RN IA AND N EVADA, 1900-19 70
I.
E.
Quastler*
The history of the American passenger train can be
traced to the beginnings of common carrier service by rail
in 1830.
The railroad proved to be generally the most
efficient way to move people between cities.
Its passenger
role grew rapidly, and by the last decades of the nineteenth
century it almost monopolized long distance passenger move­
ments.
This important role for the passenger train
continued well into the twentieth century.
However,
even
as ridership was increasing during the first two decades,
technological developments were taking place that would
weaken the demand for travel by rail.
In fact, total
1
ridership reached its all-time peak in 1920.
Thereafter,
except during World War I I, the number of riders declined
each year for over half a century.
the passenger train
By 19 70 it appeared that
(except in commuter services) was on the
verge of disappearing from the American scene.
Only federal
intervention, through the establishment of the National
Railroad Passenger Corporation
(Amtrak) in 19 7 1, prevented
this from happening.
*Dr.
I.
State University.
E.
Quastler is P rofe s s or of Geography at S an Diego
56
The purpose of this study is to define and explain
the changing geography of rai l passenger service i n
California and Nevada from 1900 until 1970, one year before
2
During these seven decades the
the advent of Amtrak.
nature a nd location of rail passenger service changed
substa ntially in response to a variety of forces both
within a nd outside of the industry.
The specific approach
taken here is to map the location of such service at
regular intervals through time, to define cha nges in the
geography of passenger trains between these dates, and to
explain these changes i n terms of the major variables that
affected the demand and supply of rail transportatio n.
The primary data source o n California a nd Nevada
passenger operations was the Official Guide of the Railways
3
(OG R).
This monthly publication, which first appeared in
1 86 8, listed essentially all rail passe nger services i n the
United States during the study years.
Therefore, it was
possible to map the distribution of passenger trains on
common carrier railroads in the study area, a nd to define
the changes in service over time.
The basic measure of
service which can be derived from the OGR is the trai n-mi le,
for o n ly the number of scheduled trai ns on each route was
listed.
The resu lting maps of the frequency of trai n
service are the most accurate representation of service by
routes for the study years which can be produced today, for
no historical data on ridership are avai lab le.
I nterurban
railroads a nd services are exc luded from consideration, for
the interurban offered a different type of service and used
a differe nt tech nology than the "steam rai lroads" co nsidered
4
here.
All rail lines in Califor nia and Nevada were
classified as either main or bra nch li nes.
This faci litated
the analysis, for passenger trai n histories for these types
of lines tended to differ radically.
Because no precise
57
definitio ns of these te rms a re available, routes classified
as main lines a re those listed as offering
"th rough se rvice"
i n the 1944 edition of the Ra nd McNally Handy Rail road
�
(except the Sa n Diego and Arizona Easte rn Rail road) .
5
All othe r segme nts were desig nated as b ranches.
serv ic e
in
19 0 0
I n 1900 rail passenger se rvice had been offe red for
6
about 4 5 years in the study a rea.
I n the i nte rim the
rail road netwo rk had expanded to the point where relatively
few settled pa rts of California or Nevada we re without at
least minimal se rvice.
Although f reight was undoubtedly
the dominant source of income for the industry, the states'
companies put much ene rgy into their passenge r ope rations.
At this time most passenge r t rains seem to have been
profitable, a nd they were considered to be both an excelle nt
7
sou rce of publicity and impo rtant to the co rporate image.
On a few light traffic density lines, passenge r t rains may
have been ope rated because they we re requi red by the
co rporate f ranchise.
Perhaps the outstanding geog raphic cha racte ristic
of rail passenge r se rvice in California and Nevada in 1900
was its widesp read availability within the netwo rk
(Figure 1).
In that yea r, 6,624 o ut of a total of 6,600 route-miles i n
these states
se rvice
(99.4 pe rcent)
(Table I).
had some ki nd o f passenge r
Of the 36 miles whe re only f reight was
handled, the longest was a 16-mile segment between Elwood
a nd Santa Ba rba ra on the new coastal main li ne between
San F ra ncisco and Los A ngeles then u nde r const ruction by the
Southe rn Pacific Rail road
(SP) .
In mid-1900 this segment
had appa rently been completed recently a nd f reight se rvice
was offe red; however, it apparently was not yet in p roper
condition for passenge r ope rations.
Even this exceptio n
se rves to illust rate the nea r unive rsality of passenge r
58
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1900
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
�- ---- - - =.�- - ----- ----- -- 1--- ------------------------- -------lI
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UNSCHHIUl!D UAINS INIUU�aAN tiNES AND OP'I:RAT I O NS.
ANDNON-to,.PONtAARIUUI LRIJIOSNOT I!ItLUOEO
FREQUENCY OF SERVICE
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOTH DIRECTIONS
1-11
12-13
14-21
22-35
36-49
50-63
64-77
78-91
92-105
7
8
-120-133
-134+
10+
PASSENGER SERVICE PROVIDED, IIUT
FREQUENCY NOT SPECIFIED
•THESE FIGURES ONLY APPROXIMATE
THE LEVEL OF DAJLY SEII:VICE
"-,
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TRAINS PER DAY'
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Figure
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59
Table
1
Cha nges i n California a nd Nevada Passenger
Service, 1900-1970
1900
1915
1930
1940
1950
1960
1970
Total Mileage
6,660
10,309
10,349
9,888
9,188
9,277
9,006
Ma in Line Mileage
2,853
4,668
4,668
4,668
4,668
4,668
4,668
6,624
10,077
9,530
6,931
5,145
5,061
3,982
99.4
97.7
92.1
70.1
56.0
54.5
44.2
168
459
419
350
283
191
75
98
325.
336
317
269
179
72
70
134
83
33
15
11
3
Mileage with
Passenger S ervice
Percent of Mileage
with Pass enger
S ervice
Total Weekly TM's l
(1,000)
Weekly Main Line
TM's
(1,000)
Weekly Branch Line
TM's
(1,000)
Percentage Change in
Weekly TM's
+172.6
-0.9
-16.5
-19.1
-32.7
-60.4
+231. 5
+3.4
-
5.7
-15.3
-33.3
-60.0
+ 90.2
-37.8
-60.2
-55.7
-21.6
-70.9
Percentage Change in
Weekly Main Line TM's
Percentage Change in
Weekly Branch Line
TM's
Average Number of Trains
Daily in Each Direct ion,
1.81
3.18
2.89
2.53
2.20
1.47
0.60
2.46
4.98
5.15
4.85
4.11
2.74
1.10
l. 32
l . 69
l . 04
0.45
0.23
0.18
0.06
All Lines
Average Number of Trains
Daily in Each Direction,
Main Lines
Average Number of Trains
Daily in Each Direction,
Branch Lines
1
TM
Source :
=
train-miles
Calculated from data in the Offic i al Gui de of the Railw ays.
60
services on the existing lines.
On most routes at least one
train was operate d in each direction daily, but only tri­
weekly service was offered on some lines to small communi­
ties in Nevada and eastern California.
Although passenger trains were wi despread, the
average frequency of service was rather low.
In 1900, the
typica l segment saw only 1. 81 trains dai ly in each direction.
This relatively small figure seems to reflect a low level of
demand in many rural areas of the two states.
This was
especially the case for branch lines, where the average
daily density was only 1. 32 trains each way.
Further, it
reflects the small populations of California an d Nevada, for
the states had only about 1. 5 million and 42,000 resi dents,
8
respectively.
Even main lines averaged only 2. 46 trains
dai ly, a figure lower than for any subsequent study year
except 1970.
On the main lines, frequency of service differe d
consi derably by location.
the Atchison,
At one extreme, both the SP and
Topeka and Santa Fe
(AT&SF) routes into Los
Angeles from the east supporte d only one train daily in each
direction.
This probably reflecte d the early state of the
economic development of southern California;
at this time
9
even Los Angeles ha d only 102,000 inhabitants.
The SP's
transcontinental route into the San Francisco Bay Area an d
its Los Angeles-Bay Area lines supported three trains daily
in each direction.
Of the other important main lines, both
the SP route from Oakland to Portland an d the AT&SF line
from Los Angeles to San Diego supported two trains per day.
The greatest density of longer and interme diate distance
( 50-1 50 miles) main line trains was in the triangular area
between Oakland, Sacramento and Stockton,
which was served by
a total of 1 5 SP and 3 AT&SF trains per day.
The highest leve ls of service on both main lines
and branch lines were found in the two largest metropo litan
61
areas of California.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, there
was already a we l l estab lishe d rail commuter service
between San Francisco an d San Jose by 1900.
In Marin
county a large commuter traffic had a lso developed in
conjunction with ferry service from Sausalito and Tiburon
to San Francisco.
On the East Bay, sizab le service was
provi de d between Oakland and Avon, with ferry connections
to San Francisco.
The Los Ange les area also had a we ll- develope d
network o f commuter lines linking the various parts o f this
polynuclear region.
In
1900 the electric interurban system
was just beginning to be forme d, an d steam trains p layed a
considerable role in short-haul passenger trave l.
SP routes
ra diated from downtown Los Ange les to such p laces as
Pasa dena, San Bernar dino,
Redondo Beach and Santa Ana.
An
especially dense pattern of services was provided by a
number of railroads to cities south and southwest of down­
town.
Judging from their schedules, these trains prin­
cipal ly provided general mobi lity between the widespread
growth centers of the metropolitan areas.
In 1900 even the San Diego area, with only 17, 700
people in its central city, had local steam passenger
10
services.
Here a number of short line companies provi de d
occasional trains to nearby communities such as Foster,
El Cajon,
La Mesa, Sweetwater an d La Jo lla.
Some routes
were built in conjunction with real estate developments, a
pattern repeated in many parts of the nation.
As in Los
Ange les, few of these trains served as commuter lines.
P e r io d
II ,
1901-1915
Between 1901 and 1915, the far western rai l network
an d its level of passenger service grew extensively.
Ca lifornia and Neva da's route-mileage expanded by
approximately 5 5 percent, increasing from 6,660 to 10,309
62
miles,
11
and most areas previously without railroads
(e.g.,
southern Nevada, the Imperial Valley and the zone between
Ukiah and Humbol dt Bay) acquired them.
Much of this
expansion was in main lines, which increased from 2,8 53 to
4,668 miles.
From north to south,
the most significant
additions were a new Western Pacific Railroad
(WP) route
from Salt Lake City to Oakland, the completion of the SP's
coastal main line between the San Francisco Bay Area and
Los Angeles, and the San Pe dro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake
Railroa d
(SL&S, later the Union Pacific) from Los Angeles to
Las Vegas an d Salt Lake City.
During this period the frequency of rail passenger
services increased over three times as fast as the mileage-­
the 191 5 total of 4 59, 000 weekly train-miles was 172.6
percent above the figure for 1900.
In 191 5 the average line
in California an d Neva da ran over three trains daily in each
direction, compare d with less than two trains 1 5 years
earlier.
This expansion was concentrate d on main lines,
where the average segment had almost five trains daily each
way, or over twice the level in 1900.
As a result, the
percentage of all train-miles generated on the main lines
increase d from
58.3 to about 71 percent.
Rail passenger
services continue d to be widespread within the network; with
at least some service on 97.7 percent of the route-miles in
191 5.
Perhaps the outstan ding trend of the 1901-191 5
period was the great increase in the number of long distance
passenger trains, particularly on the transcontinental
routes into Los Angeles.
By 191 5 the SL&S route into that
city was serve d by three trains daily in each direction.
The AT&SF had increased from one to five trains dai ly
(plus
one from Arizona to Los Angeles via the Parker branch) ,
while the SP had increased from one to four
a dditional shorter distance trains).
(with some
Such dramatic increases
63
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1915
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
-
,
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FREQUENCY Of SERVICE
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOTH DIRECTIONS
.,.......
TRAINS PER DAY•
(, ,
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EACH DIRECTION
l
osou-..s
1-11
12-13
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22-35
36-49
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92-105
106-119
-120-133
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PASSENGER SERVICE PROVIDED, IUT
FREQUENCY NOT SPECIFIED
"THESE fiGUlES ONLY APPIOXIMATE
THE lEVEl OF DAILY SEIVICE
IOUfH[�II,ACifiC
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2.
SILVERI>f.U
suun
ITOC�TOIITER�IUL&USHAN
IUURP!n
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64
no doubt we re a reflection of the conside rable g rowth of
southe rn Califo rnia.
In a d dition, they imply a la rge
increase in disc retionary income since 1900.
Finally, the
opening of two majo r expositions in Califo rnia in 191 5
(in San Diego an d San F rancisco )
12
led to the ope ration of a
few additional t rains.
Se rvice also increased imp ressively on seve ral othe r
main lines to Los Angeles.
The numbe r of t rains ope rating
to San Diego g rew f rom two to five in each direction daily.
The total f requency of se rvice between the San F rancisco
Bay A rea and Los Angeles also g rew substantially.
Since
1900 the SP's coastal main line between these places had
been completed, and th ree t rains per day operate d ove r its
enti re length.
With fou r t rains via the Cent ral Valley,
this meant that seven t rains now connecte d the two majo r
Califo rnia metropolitan a reas ve rsus only th ree in 1900.
Se rvice on the o riginal t ranscontinental route to
Oakland also expe rienced la rge inc reases.
The newly
complete d WP operated th ree t rains daily, and the pa rallel
SP line had four, mo re than doubling total se rvice on this
route since 1900.
On the SP line no rth to O regon, the
f requency in 191 5 was double that 1 5 years earlier.
One of
these t rains ope rated ove r a new main line north of Weed
into O regon via Klamath Falls.
The A T&SF's t ranscontinental
service between Ba rstow and the Bay A rea also g rew f rom one
to fou r t rains a day in each di rection.
Both the SP and
AT&SF also operated seve ral a d ditional t rains on the main
lines f rom the East Bay to majo r cities in the San Joaquin
Valley.
By 191 5 there were some major changes in the 1900
patte rns of short distance "steam rail road" passenger
se rvices within Califo rnia's two la rgest met ropolises.
Such se rvices ha d declined sha rply a round Los Angeles as
the Pacific Elect ric
(PE )
interu rban lines, bette r suited
65
to serving short distance passenger trips, assumed an
increasing transportation role.
In its expansion the PE had
even absorbed a number of former steam rai lroa ds.
On the
other hand, the number of intermediate distance trains from
Los Angeles to such points as Riversi de, Santa Barbara and
san Bernardino ha d increased.
In contrast to the situation aroun d Los Ange les,
between 1901 and 191 5 the number of short-distance trains
increased in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A major new
suburban service had develope d between San Francisco
(via
ferry ) , Oak land, and Stonehurst station south of downtown
Oaklan d.
In 191 5 this route was served by three daily
trains, five trains that operated dai ly except Sundays, and
five more trains on Sun day-only schedules.
During this
period commuter service also increased consi derably between
San Francisco an d San Jose
(a dditiona l trains ran only as
far as Mayfie l d and Redwoo d City ) , and from Oak land northwest to Port Costa.
On the other hand, steam-powere d
commuter operations dec lined in Marin County; as in Los
Ange les, the main cause of this dec line was the intro duction
13
of e lectrifie d interurban trains.
Over intermediate distances, the frequency of
service between the Bay Area and Sacramento increased
sharply.
The SP Railroad connected these cities over three
routes, the most direct of which
per day.
(via Davis )
tous lines through Tracy via Altamont Pass
or Avon.
ran ten trains
A dditional trains were operated over more circui­
(Ni les Canyon )
On the Altamont Pass route, the SP services were
supp lemente d by WP trains.
Two other areas had high-frequency, short distance
trains at this time.
In and around E ly, Neva da, a commuter
service for miners was operated by the Nevada Northern
Railroa d
(NN ) .
There were a lso two lines with short­
distance steam trains around San Diego, exten ding from the
66
central city to Foster an d Sweetwater over the San Diego
and Southeastern Railway
(SD&SE).
As in 1900, relatively
few S D&SE trains ha d schedules that suggested they were used
for the journey to work.
Peri o d
III,
1916-1930
Between 1916 an d 1930 the two-state rail network
remained relatively stable, with both new construction
(north of Wells,
Nevada an d northwest of Alturas, California)
an d some track abandonment
(notably in the mining zones of
southern Neva da an d eastern California ) .
The total route
mileage therefore increased by only 40 miles.
During this period a number of important new forces
emerge d that decreased the deman d for travel by rail.
Most
prominent was the rapid rise in travel by bus an d private
automobile, particularly the latter.
With increased average
incomes, low car prices, and economic prosperity, in the
1920's the United States moved rapidly towar d becoming a
motorized nation.
At the same time the network of paved
rural roa ds was expanding.
The impact of these changes was
a decline in patronage of passenger trains after 1920.
Initially the greatest impact of the rising use of
cars and buses was on branch line passenger trains.
It was
here that rail service was slowest and most infrequent, and
therefore most susceptible to new competition.
Buses could
offer a far greater frequency of service over the same
route, for the equipment unit was better suited to the level
of demand.
The private automobile offered the possibility
of an infinite frequency, something that no form of public
transportation could hope to match.
As a result, many
former branch line customers began to use highway transpor­
tation, apparently sometimes as a more convenient way to
gain access to long distance passenger trains.
branch services
Further,
(and short distance trains in general )
were
67
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1930
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
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68
relative ly expensive to operate, and rai l managers sometimes
took the opportunity either to reduce the
leve l of branch
line operations or to abandon them a ltogether.
The reduc-
tion of service tended further to weaken the demand for such
trains.
As a result, total branch line train-mi les
dec lined by 37.8 percent between 1916 and 1930.
The changes in branch line service were uneven ly
distributed.
On a number of segments
western Pacific
(e. g. , the North­
(NWP) to Eureka) frequency actual ly
increased after 1915.
Typica lly, however, the number of
trains on secondary lines dec lined from two or three to only
one train daily each way, or even to less than daily service.
On the average, the
from
leve l of branch line service dec lined
1.69 trains daily in each direction in 1915 to 1.04
fifteen years later.
The decrease of branch line service was not
duplicated on the main lines, for the car and bus were not
yet serious competitors for long-distance movements.
In
fact, tota l train-mi les on such lines increased by 3. 4
percent.
This sma l l increase was not enough to offset the
rapid dec line in branch line services, so that tota l trainBecause of these changes,
_
the increasing concentration of services on the main lines
mi les dec lined by nine percent.
of the 1900-1915 period continued.
By 1930 fu l ly 80 per­
cent of the total train-miles were generated on main lines.
C lear ly, the branch line passenger train was playing a
rapid ly decreasing ro le in intercity trave l.
The average level of service on the main lines
increased from almost five to 5. 15 trains daily in each
direction during this period.
pccurred on two SP routes:
The largest increases
on the coasta l main line from
San Francisco to Los Ange les the frequency changed from
three to six trains per day, and on the southern trans­
continenta l route it rose from four to six.
On the A T&SF,
69
the number of trains on the Needles- Los Angeles route
increased from five to seven trains daily.
In contrast,
service between Oakland and Barstow was only half as high
in 1930 as it had been in 1915; it is quite possible that
the circuity of this railroa d's line from Chicago to the
Bay Area
(via Barstow) compared with SP's direct route may
have been a factor in this decline.
The basic strengths and weaknesses of competitive
routes may also help account for changes in main line
services in northern California and Nevada.
On the central
transcontinental route into the Bay Area, the number of
trains operating remained stable at seven.
However, the
location of these services change d as the SP's longer route
gaine d at the expense of the WP.
By 1930 service between
the Bay Area and Oregon ha d increased by one train daily;
now most trains took the interior route to Portland via
Klamath Falls.
In addition to four Los Angeles-San Francisco
trains via the Central Val ley, the SP operate d four trains
from the Bay Area to Fresno
(via Los Banos or Modesto ) .
Finally, the earlier dense corridor services between
Sacramento and Oakland remained, both on the direct line to
the northeast and on the two longer routes via Tracy.
With the exception of the San Francisco-San Jose
commuter corridor, short distance steam services continued
to decline drastically in the face of automobile, bus and
interurban competition.
By 1930 such services had dis­
appeared completely around San Diego, and they had decline d
almost as sharply around Los Angeles and Ely.
In Los
Angeles, many lines now only ha d freight services, and
almost all local trains on the main lines ha d disappeared.
Even the East Bay commuter trains had largely been abandone d
by 1930, to some degree replaced by interurbans.
As in
191 5, some shorter distance trains remained outsi de the
areas served by the interurbans.
In contrast,
the San
70
Francisco-San Jose commuter service of the SP continued to
increase, ref lecting both that area's growth as a prestigious
suburb of San Francisco an d the lack of effective interurban
competition.
Period
1931-194 0
IV,
Because the railroad is a high fixe d cost form of
transportation, rail managers have a difficult time a djusting
costs to falling demand.
As a result, the Great Depression
affecte d this mode with particular force, and many companies
soon went bankrupt.
During this decade the railroads
came increasingly under pressure to eliminate uneconomic
activities.
Among the first operations to come un der care­
fu l scrutiny were branch and short-distance passenger trains.
Such trains had continued to experience sharp drops in
ri dership after 1930, not on ly because of the diversion of
passengers to buses an d cars but also because of the lower
demand that came with decreased incomes.
The great ec�nomic
pressures of the time led to aban dment of both money-losing
passenger trains and more than 450 miles of track.
when a major economic upturn was beginning,
By 1940,
these Great
Depression pressures had exerted a considerable influence
on the geography of rail passenger services in California
and Nevada.
Between 1930 and 1940 the tota l railroad passenger
service of the study area
by
17 percent.
(in train-miles per week) declined
Pre dictably, the decline was more pro­
nounced on branch than on main lines, where tota l service
decreased by only
5.7 percent.
Because of the severe
economic pressures on branch line trains, many secon dary
routes lost al l passenger services.
By 1940, freight-only
trackage in Ca lifornia and Nevada totaled close to 3, 000
miles, versus less than a third that figure ten years
ear lier.
Further, this change does not consider the
71
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1940
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
--- 1 - l----------------------------- �� ---- ,
.
i
., ii
i.,,..
'---1!'....
\
\"'"'
·,_<""
- .,.;a•)•••
\-- \�
\
QOLifiiU
o
w
�
m
�
100
-===---=­
,_,us
-�UWIEU AlONG li�E> H!HR TO
APPAO�IWAff NUM!ER OF lUINS
0AilVINUCHIIIR£CTtON
FREQUENCY OF SERVIC.E "' '""
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOTH OIRECTIONS
TRAINS PER DAY'
HCH DIRECTION
0
1-11
12-13
14-21
22-35
36-49
50-63
64-77
78-91
92-105
106-119
(P&l l
-120-133
-134+
.
10 +
PASSENGER SERVICE PROVIDED aUT
fREQUENCY NOT SPECIFIE
"THESE fiGURES ONLY APPlOXIM.UE
THE lEVU OF DAilY SUVICE
D
"
AMAOOAt!UIIAl
IAYPOIIIIIItlAYllllll
CUll NO, nACUVIlU lllAU TAHO!
ljt4=�
Fi gure
4.
5UOIIGO&AIIIl0UUSTIII.
AHHISOI,T0!1:UI�n•H
SUUMARIAVAU(Y
SOUTHUN,UifiC
SUNS!I
STOCKTOIIITIII"'INAli!ASI!RIII
TROU
TONOUHIGOlOfiHO
Uf<IONPACIFIC
V(NTUUCOUNTT
VIRGIMIAITRUCU[
IUST£RIPACifiC
YOSUIIUV.tiU
YRIUIIIUIIIIIII
72
additional service that was lost when segments were totally
abandoned.
Because of the massive with drawal of passenger
trains, several parts of the study area
(particularly the
Central Valley and northeastern California)
had concentra­
tions of freight-only lines.
On the other hand, the long-distance passenger train
weathere d the Great Depression rather well.
This stability
was probably due primarily to the lack of effective long
distance intermodal competition, although the strength of
established habits and major marketing efforts by railroa ds
may also have been involve d.
During the decade, service on
the A T&SF's transcontinental line to Los Angeles actually
increased by one train daily in each direction, as did its
service on the line between the Bay Area and the Central
14
Valley.
In general, stability also characterize d the
SP's main lines; the biggest change was the loss of two
interstate trains on the southern transcontinental route.
On the other hand, the WP's long distance service declined
further after 1930, so that only one train per day was being
operated over the main line to Salt Lake City.
The WP also
operated a daily round trip between Oakland an d Reno.
Since 1930 this railroad an d the Great Northern
jointly ha d constructed the
(GN)
"inside gateway" route from
the WP main line in eastern California northward into Oregon
via Bieber.
Significantly, this late addition to the net­
work never saw more than temporary an d mixed
(passenger­
freight) train service, and even this was only offere d
spora dically.
Except between San Francisco and San Jose, by 1940
intrametropolitan passenger operations ha d disappeared.
The
San Jose commuter service was maintaine d at approximately a
steady level during this decade.
In 1940, the density of
passenger trains on this route considerably exceeded that of
any other line in the stu dy area.
73
peri o d
V,
1941-1950
The deman d for rail passenger service varied greatly
between 194 1 an d 19 50.
During World War I I passenger travel
increased rapi dly, both because of great numbers of military
travelers and because of decreased use of cars and buses
because of gasoline and tire rationing.
Ri dership peaked
in 1944, the last full year of the war, and declined rapi dly
15
The primary cause of the decline was the
thereafter.
revival of highway transportation, but the rise of air
transportation also began to effect the passenger train.
By 19 50, these developments ha d le d to a substantial
decline in rail passenger services in California an d Nevada.
During the deca de total train-miles decrease d by 19.1
percent an d, because of the increased effectiveness of long
distance competition by air an d highway, main line service
decline d almost as rapidly
(1 5.3 percent).
The slower
relative decline of main line trains meant that the concen­
tration of passenger services on these routes continued.
In 19 50, 94.8 percent of the train-miles in the two states
was generated on main lines, and few branches saw passenger
trains of any kind.
In fact, branch line service was
restricted largely to those routes that were most like main
lines,
such as the San Diego and Arizona Eastern
(SD&AE)
between San Diego an d El Centro, the SP between Tracy an d
Fresno via Los Banos, and the NWP between San Rafael an d
Eureka.
By 19 50 over 4, DOO miles of track in the two states
(44 percent of the total) saw only freight service.
As had been true ear lier, the decline in main line
services was unevenly distribute d.
On the SP's two San
Francisco-Los Angeles routes, for example, service via the
Central Valley remained constant, while on the coastal
route
(with fewer large interme diate cities) it decline d by
two trains per day.
On the SP an d AT&SF between the Bay
74
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1950
--
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
�,
c: �J
--
·�
-
'" '""
r
------------------------- --
�,��
.
i
-·"""'
'
I
\
.::,,
"'"'u't...
,,
,,
'"
\-�!.. . ...._
-� ""'
'"
,,
'
"-
,"
•""
'
"
\_......
·_. ·--�
.
�
-
FREQUENCY OF SERVICE
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOll! OIHCTIOHS
TRAINS PER DAY'
EACH DIRECTION
0
1-11
12-13
14-21
22-35
36-49
50-63
64-77
5
78-91
6
92-105
7
-120-133
..
.. ...
.w•
Sll& [
10 +
'ASSENGU SUVICE PROVIDED, IUT
FIEQUENC'f NOT SPECIFIED
.,-HESE FIGURES ONLY APPROXIMATE
THE lEVEl Of DA.Il Y SUVICE
Cl'lll
�
·�
-106-119
-134+
.
"
�·
.
nu
'
..
..
�
Figure
5.
'
"
'"
'"
'"
'"
'"
-
,
"-,
�
-----
75
Area and major San Joaquin Valley cities the level of
service generally decline d by one train per day.
The same
rate of de�line also applie d to the route from Oakland to
oreg on.
In contrast, long distance service on the WP
increased with the inauguration in 1949 of the famous
california
Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland.
The San Jose
com muter line and the SP route from Oakland to Davis
continued to have the highest passenger train densities in
the stu dy area; although in both cases this service had
declined somewhat since 1940.
Of the main routes into Los Angeles fro m the south
and east, the frequency on the A T&SF's transcontinental
line via Needles decreased most sharply
(from eight to six
trains per day) , while service on the Union Pacific
SP routes remained the same.
(UP)
an d
In a slight reversal of this
trend, the number of trains between Los Angeles and San
Diego increased from four to five per day, as both cities
experience d consi derable population growth.
Overall, the
average main line in 19 50 still had a relatively high level
of passenger service
Period
VI,
(4.11 trains per day each way) .
1951-1960
In general, the trends evi dent between 1940 and 19 50
continued to 1960, but at an accelerated pace.
perio d national income, car ownership,
During this
and the mileage of
limite d access intercity roads increased greatly, with a
parallel decrease in the demand for rail passenger services.
In a ddition, the airline industry began to play a large role
in intercity common carrier travel.
Traffic diversion to
air was reinforced by the introduction of turbojet aircraft
late in the perio d, for this innovation provided both
greater speed and lower unit operating costs.
The decline
in the number of passengers, coupled with increasing costs
of operations,
led to a peak loss of about
$723 million on
76
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1960
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
.\-----;--,------------------------------!------,
'
i
i
�·
�
�� : ·.<·!
�
••
I
-·�.
.
''·
I
HTUft•�
.
...·. .·.•. •
.. •
•ES�D�•
tO!ITUa�·:
I
·
..•
� ..
.
I
I
\
,,
,,
,,
,,
,,
'"-,
"
'"
c
20
-
100
�
m
w
-=-
FREQUENCY OF SERVICE
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOT� DIRECTIONS
TRAINS PER DAY•
EACH DIRECTION
1-11
12-13
14-21
22-35
36-49
"
50-63
tl'lo�T
�
64-77
78-91
92-105
·�·
"�·
106-119
-120-133
-13.4+
10+
PASSENGER SEIVICE PltOVIDED, IUT
flfQUENCY NOT SPECIFIED
..
.
lUI
.
�
•THESE FIGURES ONlY A"lOltiMATf
THE LEVEL Of DAILY SUVICE
Figure
6.
,"
,,
,,
,,
,,
77
16
passenger trains by the industry in 19 57.
Faced with
enormous operating losses an d a rapi d decline in patronage,
in the second half of the decade the in dustry move d to
eliminate many money-losing services.
This trend was
accelerated in 19 58 when the Interstate Commerce Commission
liberalize d its policies on allowing the with drawal of
.
17
passenger tralns.
Given these unfavorable tren ds, the total number of
train-miles declined by about 33 percent.
The rate of
decline was somewhat larger for main lines than branches.
The decreases in service were remarkably evenly distributed
over the main lines; on most, there was one less train in
1960 than there ha d been in 19 50.
The two prominent
exceptions were on the A T&SF main line between Needles and
Los Angeles, where service declined from six to four trains
per day, and between Los Angeles and San Diego, where service
increased again.
Elsewhere in 1960, most main lines saw two
or three trains daily each way.
The average total number of
trains daily on California an d Nevada main lines declined
from 4.11 in 1950 to 2.74 ten years later.
On branch lines, by 1960 passenger service existed
only on a few lines that constitute d unusual cases.
The
important Tracy-Los Banos-Fresno route, retained one train.
On the NWP, the Interstate Commerce Commission had been
reluctant to approve abandonment because the trains served
some relatively isolate d communities.
The heaviest branch
line service actually was foun d on the short California
Western Raidroad
(CW)
between Willits and Ft.
Bragg, but
this was largely operate� as a tourist attraction.
In 1960,
4,216 miles of track in the study area had no passenger
service.
As in earlier years, the highest passenger train
frequency was on the commuter route between San Francisco
and San Jose.
This line averaged 28 trains in each
78
direction per day, but most service was actually concentrated
on weekdays.
Despite the high passenger counts, the SP lost
money on this operation.
Peri od
VII,
196 1-1970
During the 1960's rail passenger service in the
United States experienced another sharp decline.
As before
1960, the main causes of the decline on the demand side were
increasing competition from highways
(particularly with the
growth of the Interstate Highway System) and great expansion
of air services.
In California air competition was intensi­
fied by the emergence of an efficient and inexpensive
.
.
18
.
'
1ntrastate a1r11ne.
On the supply Sl. de, ra11 passenger
service continued to become more expensive to operate vis-a­
vis its main competitors, particularly because it is so
19
labor-intensive.
As a result, the level of rail passenger
service declined by over 60 percent on both the main and
branch lines.
This decline was so drastic that by 1970 the
service on many main lines amounted to little more than
tokenism.
During the 1960's the SP management held a strongly
anti-passenger train philosophy; its goal was to consolidate
all main line traffic into a single train whenever
.
20
.
l'
poss1ble.
Therefore, by 1970 almost al 1 SP ma1n
1nes
had only one or fewer trains daily in each direction.
tri-weekly service was provided on two major routes
Portland and Oakland-Chicago)�
Only
(Oakland­
the same would soon apply to
the southern transcontinental route.
Even on the more
passenger-oriented Santa Fe, service had declined sub­
stantially.
In 1970 only one train was operated daily
between Richmond and Barstow, and only two trains ran
between Los Angeles and Needles on the line to Chicago.
The
highest frequency of AT&SF service, between Los Angeles and
San Diego, was only half as many trains
(three) in 1970 as
79
FREQUENCY OF PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE, 1970
CALIFORNIA AND NEVADA
........ ....�...
../�.0011'
ftuHU
,�...<01(011�
1.lll9i ·•
'
'
...
,�
I
I
I
I
I
I
...Ill:� •• •••
.J/
o
20
-
411
GO
80
lllll
-===­
MitES
Of
NUM!ER!AlONGliNESRHUTO
A,.,Kfi�IMAU N
U
TRAINS
OAilYINEACHOiftECTION
UII!I
FREQUENCY OF SERVICE
TRAINS PER WEEK
BOTH OIRECTIONS
TRAINS PER DAY'
EACH DIRECTION
1-11
12-13
U-21
22-35
36-�9
50-63
6�-77
78-91
92-105
7
106-119
- 120-133
- 134+
. •
.
••>IE, IO!OWfO! tC'""' U">Ol "UilU I! I' 111•11•
.!
ll
!
l.!!
!.�-'
"" OIU. 101 IC•lMI •tr IO<lUOIO lo I.U
..
10 +
PASSENGU SERVICE PROVIDED, IUT
FIEQUENCY NOT SPECIFIED
•THESE FIGURES ONlY APPROXIMATE
THE LEVEL Of DAilY SERVICE
Figure
7.
"'
fU"OI!CO
'"0
80
a decade earlier.
During this decade, the WP became the
first major carrier in the study area to eliminate all
passenger trains.
Overall, in 1970 the average main line
had only 1.1 trains daily in each direction.
On the branches, a few unusual cases continued to
account for some operations.
The greatest density again was
found on the CW between Willits and Ft. Bragg, where four
trains were operated daily.
Between Willits and Eureka,
the NWP continued to operate a tri-weekly self-contained
diesel railcar.
The SP also operated a daily service from
San Francisco to Monterey, but this train ran on a branch
only for a few miles.
In 1970, but 44 percent of the mileage
in the two states had passenger service of any kind; over
5,000 route-miles were freight-only.
S u m m ar y
and
C o ncl u s i on s
Between 1900 and 1970 the geography of passenger
train services in California and Nevada changed greatly in
response to forces both internal and external to the industry.
Because of the differential impact of these forces, the
changes were distributed unevenly both through time and
space.
With few exceptions, services on branch lines
declined earlier and at a faster rate than on main lines.
As early as the 19 16-1930 period, branch line train-miles
declined by 37.8 percent.
By 1970 the branch line passenger
train had almost disappeared.
The same rapid decline
characterized intrametropolitan services
(except between
San Francisco and San Jose), which were displaced by inter­
urbans, buses and private automobiles.
The main line train encountered serious intermodal
competition much later than its branch line counterpart.
Main line train-miles continued to increase until 1930, and
on one line there was an increase as late as 1960.
Higher
frequencies were particularly common on the main lines to
81
Los A ngeles, as that met ropolita n a rea g rew rapidly.
Main
li ne se rvices began to dec rease rapid ly after 19 50, but i n
onl Y o ne pe riod
(19 51 -1960) did they dec line a t a g reate r
rate than b ra nch line ope rations.
Ove rall, between 1900 and
1970 there was an almost co nti nuo us tendency towa rd
conce nt ration on the mai n line fo r rai l passe nge r se rvices.
By 1970 mai n line t rains accounte d fo r almost 96 pe rcent of
tota l t rain-mi les generated in Ca lifo rnia and Nevada.
With a long histo ry of dec line, by 1970
\.
1t ha d
become clea r that the non-commute r passenge r t rai n was in
da nge r of becoming extinct
(except fo r some tou rist
O n some majo r routes, even the nomi nal ser­
operations ) .
vice stil l being p rovided was th reatened with imminent
It had become clea r that without gove rnment
abandonme nt.
inte rvention, the i nte rcity passenge r t rain wou l d disappea r.
This fact was soo n t ra ns lated i nto politica l action by a
smal l numbe r of vocal a dvocates of passe nge r t rains.
May 1 , 19 71, a gove rnme nt -sponso red corpo ration
On
(Amtrak)
began to ope rate most i nte rcity services, a nd a new e ra for
the Ame rica n passenge r t rain had begun.
NOTES
1
U . S. ,
Uni ted Sta tes ,
Bureau of the Census ,
Historical Sta t i s t i cs of the
Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2
ment Printing Offic e ,
1 97 5 ) ,
p.
729.
(Washington :
U. S .
Govern­
Hereafter referred to a s Histori­
cal Sta tistics .
2
Most studies of the growth and decline of the American
pass enger train have been done by historians
F . Stover ,
and e conomi sts.
The Life and Decline of the Ameri can Rai lroad
Oxford Univer s i ty P r es s ,
197 0 ) ,
passim and George W.
porta tion Act of 195 8 ; A Decade of Experi ence
University P r es s ,
1969) ,
pp.
4
Hilton ,
( Bloomington :
The Trans­
Indiana
11-13 and 9 7 - 1 5 4 .
3
offi cial Gui de of the Rai l ways
Pub l ication Company ,
See John
(New York :
(New York :
National Rai lway
date varies ) .
rn C a l i fornia th.e functions o f the interurbans did not d i ffer
a s greatly from their steam railroad counterparts . a s was the case
most o f the rest
of
the country .
in
1\
82
5
Rand McNally
S t a t es
( C h i c ago :
the San D i ego
Handy Railroad A tl a s of the United
& Company ,
Rand McNally
&
Company ,
considerably
less
map inc luded the
fol lowing
l in e s :
both v i a Sacramento
via W i l lows ;
from Oakland
and
the
(l)
(2)
SP
The WPand SP
(3)
the
( vi a Antioch o r N i l e s Canyon)
SP
lines
l in e from Los Ang e l e s to
Union P a c i f i c route
6
ward McA fee ,
p.
revenue
in this
era
usua l ly
( s e e various
the s e trains were more expens ive
were usually unprof itable .
9
1 8 5 0-1930
A winter
for
u.s. ,
Bureau of
Robert M .
the
10
Ernst
Ed . ,
12
Trains ,
a favorab l e ratio
have argued that
admitted and that they
s e e John A .
Droeg e ,
Kalmbach Publishing Co . ,
C.
Harvard Unive r s i ty P r e s s ,
t ime would perhaps
Gr i f f in ,
have
" San
1976) ,
(Washington ,
Part
1,
pp .
Los Angel es ,
1967 ) ,
s hown more
s t i l l primarily a winter resort
p.
67 .
s ervice ,
area .
Diego ' s Popul ation Patterns , " i n P h i l ip R .
p.
from 1 9 1 5 cal culated
Data
( Dubuque :
Kendall/
64 .
from the Offi c i a l
D.C. :
G u i de of the Rai l ­
from A Chronology of
are
A s s o c i ation o f Ame r i c an Railroads ,
5.
David P .
Vol .
13
the
( San Marino :
Hi s torical Sta t i s t i cs,
Data f o r 1 9 0 0 and most other years
p.
( 6)
o f the Commerci a l
San Di ego : A n In t roduc tion to the R egion
American Ra i l roads
n . d. ) ,
(Mi lwauke e :
showed
The Fragmen t ed Metropol i s :
Mass . :
Hunt Publishing Company ,
ways .
1850-1911
others
than has been
Census ,
Fogel s o n ,
( Camb r i dge ,
schedul e at th i s
11
and
1- 6 .
southern C a l i fornia was
Pryd e ,
and Oakland via
San Diego ,
i s sues
For such a view,
Pass enger Termin a l s and Tra i ns
8
to Los Angeles
35.
Although p a s s enger operations
31.
Central Val l ey route
C a liforn i a ' s Rai l road Era,
197 3 ) ,
and Financial Chronicl e for the y e a r 1 9 0 0 ) ,
25,
from the
from the Nevada-Utah border to Los Ange l e s .
Golden West Books ,
pp .
railroads
from N e e d l e s to Los Angeles
the AT&SF
the AT&SF
1 9 69 ) '
it was
The Rand McNally
l in e from San Fran c i s c o and Oakland to Los
(4)
to
exc lusion o f
and the coastal
(5)
costs
The
and Sac ramento
Barstow;
of
2.
from the Oregon border to Oakl and ,
Ange l e s ;
7
p.
important than the other main l in e s .
Utah border to Oakland ;
via Modesto ,
1944) ,
and Arizona Eastern was based o n the j udgment that
37,
Morgan ,
No .
ll
" Southern P a c i f i c
( S eptember
rn Marin County ,
the
197 7 ) ,
former
p.
at
the P anama-Pac i f i c , "
49.
steam l in e s were e l e c t r i fied on
s e c t i ons o f the No rthwes t e rn Pac i f i c Ra i l road .
14
duction
s e rv i c e ,
Th i s
in the
increase may have been attributable to the AT&SF ' s
l ate
1930 ' s
o f San Francisco-Los Ang e l e s pass enger
where the Los Ange l e s
to Bakers f i e l d l ink was
on a bus .
intro­
83
15
p.
U. S. ,
729 .
16
p.
Bureau o f the Censu s ,
H i l ton ,
Hi s tori c a l S t a tis t i cs ,
Th e Transport a t ion Act of 195 8 :
Part
2,
A Decade of Experience,
12 .
17
pp .
97- 1 S 4 .
18
w i l l iam A.
rbi d . ,
Jordan ,
Imperfec t ions
19
(Ba ltimore :
T h i s problem
crew changes
is
A i rl i ne Reg u l a tion in America :
The Johns Hopkins Pres s ,
exacerbated by
at regular d istance
union regulations
intervals ,
Effects and
1970) .
that
require
rather than based o n hours
o f s e rvice .
20
p.
124 .
H i lton ,
The Transport a tion Act of 195 8 :
A Decade of Experien ce ,