Richard Wright’s book, “The Daylight,” recounts that when this
radical-looking train was first assembled for inspection at Los
Angeles, railroad executives and workers seeing the streamliner
for the first time stared at it in shock. An analogy might be if
you found a red, orange and silver space shuttle parked in front
of your house today.
The streamlined Coast Daylight in service,
March 21, 1937
The Daylight’s schedule was the fastest ever operated on this
line, and the popular Los Angeles-San Francisco coast route
assured that this train would be well patronized.
The rugged landscape of the California coastline with views of
the Pacific Ocean was another attraction of the train. All seats
were reserved, assuring adequate seating, and the railroad pro-
moted the train with intense advertising. Soon, photos of movie
stars and other celebrities boarding the Daylight began to
PART 1 – SP PASSENGER TRAINS |
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7. The Daylight was such a radical appearing train in 1937 that
seeing it would be like finding a red and orange Space Shuttle
in front of your house today.
