It was Easter Sunday, 1971, as SP #6461 leads Train #51, the Westbound San Joaquin Daylight, at Fresno, CA. The third car after the baggage is one of SP's "automat" cars. The louvered buildind behind the train was for parking private cars out of the hot Valley sun.
What did passenger trains look like before Amtrak in America, and Via Rail in Canada? Find out in this album with 2,700+ Historical Photos from early passenger trains of North America from the 1900's up until the early years of Government passenger trains
In the years after World War II Southern Pacific went from being the most bullish railroad on passenger service to one of its biggest detractors. It continually downgraded service until Amtrak took over what remained.
