View source for San Joaquin Daylight

{{Short description|Southern Pacific Railroad service via the Central Valley}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width       = 
| name            = ''San Joaquin Daylight''
| color           = 
| logo            = 
| logo_width      = 
| image           = SP 3201 with 52 MTZ Apr 25 1971 Truckee Ltdx.jpg
| image_width     = 300px
| caption         = An [[EMD SDP45]] leads the ''San Joaquin Daylight'' at Martinez, California in 1971
| type            = 
| status          = Discontinued
| locale          = [[California]]
| predecessor     = 
| first           = July 4, 1941
| last            = April 30, 1971
| successor       = 
| operator        = 
| formeroperator  = [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company]]
| ridership       = 
| ridership2      = 
| start           = [[Union Station (Los Angeles)|Los Angeles Union Station]]
| stops           = 
| end             = [[Oakland Long Wharf|Oakland Pier]]
| distance        = 
| journeytime     = 
| frequency       = 
| trainnumber     = 51/52
| line_used       = 
| class           = 
| access          = 
| seating         = 
| sleeping        = 
| catering        = 
| observation     = 
| entertainment   = 
| baggage         = 
| otherfacilities = 
| stock           = 
| gauge           = {{track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| speed           = 
| owners          = 
| maintenance     =
| map             = {{San Joaquin Daylight|inline=y}}
| map_state       = collapsed
}}

The '''''San Joaquin Daylight''''' was a [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] passenger [[train]] (train numbers 51 and 52) inaugurated between [[Los Angeles]] and San Francisco's [[Oakland Long Wharf|Oakland Pier]] by way of the [[San Joaquin Valley]] and [[Tehachapi Pass]] on July 4, 1941. Travel times were between 12 hours (1970<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track7/sanjoaqdaylt197104.html | title=The San Joaquin Daylight/The Sacramento Daylight - April, 1971 - Streamliner Schedules }}</ref>) and 14 hours (1944<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.american-rails.com/joaquin.html|title = "San Joaquin Daylight" (Train): Consist, Schedule, Photos}}</ref>). It operated until the advent of [[Amtrak]] in 1971.

==History==
Train numbers 51 and 52 were named the ''San Joaquin Flyer'' on March 20, 1927. The name was changed to the ''San Joaquin'' on the January 1928 timetable. All streamlined lightweight equipment brought the name change to ''San Joaquin Daylight'' on July 4, 1941.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beebe |first=Lucius |author-link =Lucius Beebe |title =The Central Pacific & the Southern Pacific Railroads |publisher =Howell-North |date =1963 |location =[[Berkeley, California]] |page =617 }}</ref>

==Passenger cars==
[[Pullman Company|Pullman-Standard]] built coaches were assigned to the two train sets, both [[Articulated vehicle|articulated pairs]] and singles. The 40-seat [[dining car]] and parlor-observation car had been built for the original 1937 ''[[Coast Daylight (SP train)|Daylight]]''. Each train set had ten cars painted in SP's Daylight colors (red and orange, with black roofs and white striping and lettering), and included two [[Baggage car|head-end cars]] rebuilt from heavyweights by the SP [[Sacramento]] shops repainted Daylight colors to match the rest of the train.

==Locomotives==
SP initially assigned three [[Southern Pacific class P-10|P-10 class]] [[4-6-2|Pacific]] [[steam locomotive]]s 2383-2385 after [[Streamliner|semi-streamlining]] them and painting them in Daylight colors at the Sacramento shops. A single Pacific ran between Oakland Pier and Bakersfield; a pair of those Pacifics was assigned between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. The [[Helper locomotive|helper]] P-10 that led the northbound ''San Joaquin Daylight'' from Los Angeles to Bakersfield returned on the southbound ''San Joaquin Daylight'' from Bakersfield.

Diesel power included [[EMD F-unit]]s and [[ALCO PA|Alco PAs]], later supplemented by [[EMD GP9|GP9s]] and [[EMD SDP45|SDP45s]].

==Inaugural runs==
The inaugural runs were as follows:

===First consist===

2383 P-10 class [[4-6-2]] Streamlined Pacific Locomotive & Tender

5069 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage 30’ [[Railway post office|Railway Post Office]] Car

6091 Heavyweight Modernized [[Baggage car|Baggage Car]]

2492 44 Revenue seat Coach

2478 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2477 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach

10200 40 seat Dining Car

2480 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2479 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach

2487 44 Revenue seat Coach

2950 23 Revenue seat Parlor 10 seat Lounge Observation

===Second consist===

2385 P-10 Class 4-6-2 Streamlined Pacific Locomotive and Tender (Helper)
(Los Angeles – Bakersfield)

2384 P-10 Class 4-6-2 Streamlined Pacific Locomotive and Tender

5017 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage 30’ Railway Post Office Car

6092 Heavyweight Modernized Baggage Car

2493 44 Revenue seat Coach

2482 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2481 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach

10201 40 seat Dining Car

2484 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach
2483 Articulated 46 Revenue seat Coach

2488 44 Revenue seat Coach

2951 23 Revenue seat Parlor 10 seat Lounge Observation

==Later history==
In 1946 a Sacramento section of the ''San Joaquin Daylight'' was introduced, named the '''''[[Sacramento Daylight]]''''', trains 53-54. The two trains ran together from Los Angeles to Lathrop, where they split. In 1970 the split moved from Lathrop to Tracy.
[[File:Obs car walong - Flickr - drewj1946.jpg|thumb|The ''San Joaquin Daylight'' in March 1971, one month before [[Amtrak]] took over nationwide rail passenger service in the United States.]]

The ''San Joaquin Daylight'''s dining car was replaced by a coffee-shop car by the 1950s. The parlor-observation car was also removed, though it immediately gained a second life. In 1954 SP placed two of its seven homebuilt [[Dome car|dome-lounge cars]] in the consists; one of the cars was rebuilt from the train's own parlor-observation car.<ref>{{Wayner - Car names, numbers, consists}}</ref>  The dome car was discontinued in the late 1960s.

In 1961 the coffee-shop car was replaced by SP's [[automat]] cars which had vended meals and non-alcoholic beverages, a self-service microwave oven, and a table area. This lasted to the end of service.

The ''San Joaquin Daylight'' ran until April 30, 1971, the day before [[Amtrak]] took over nationwide rail passenger service in the United States. In March 1974 Amtrak's ''[[San Joaquins]]'' began running between the Bay Area and Fresno and Bakersfield on [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe]] track in the San Joaquin Valley. [[Altamont Corridor Express]] [[commuter rail]] trains in the Bay Area are expected to operate as far south as Merced along the former ''Daylight'' route by 2027.

== Overnight: The ''Owl'' and the ''West Coast'' ==

The overnight counterpart to the ''San Joaquin Daylight'' was the ''Owl'', trains 57-58, between Oakland and [[Union Station (Los Angeles)|Los Angeles]], with sleeping cars and meal and beverage service. It was discontinued in 1965, three years before the ''[[Lark (passenger train)|Lark]]'' (direct to San Francisco itself) on the Coast Line ended. The ''West Coast'' (trains 59-60) carried overnight Sacramento-LA passengers until about 1960, though unlike the ''Sacramento Daylight'' it was a separate train all the way.<ref>Solomon, Brian. Southern Pacific Passenger Trains. Voyageur Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7603-1795-X}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Coast Daylight (SP train)|Coast Daylight]]''
* ''[[San Joaquin (Amtrak)|San Joaquin]]'', [[Amtrak California]]'s service to the Central Valley
* ''[[Sacramento Daylight]]''
* [[Southern Pacific 4449]] locomotive in "Daylight" paint scheme

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{SP named trains}}

[[Category:Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company]]
[[Category:Named passenger trains of the United States]]
[[Category:Articulated passenger trains]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1941]]
[[Category:Railway services discontinued in 1971]]