"The City of Los Angeles" was a Streamlined
Passenger Train between
Chicago, Illinois, and
Los Angeles, California, via
Omaha, Nebraska, and
Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles, it ran on The
Union Pacific Railroad; East of Omaha, it ran on The
Chicago and North-Western Railway, until October 1955, and on The
Milwaukee Road, thereafter. The Train had number 103, Westbound, and Number 104, Eastbound.
This Train was the "Top-Of-The-Line" for Union Pacific, which marketed it as a competitor to The
Super Chief, a Streamlined Passenger Train on The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and The
Golden State, a Streamlined Passenger Train jointly operated by The
Rock Island and
Southern Pacific Railroads. As with "The City of Los Angeles", many of the Train's Cars bore the names of locales, in and around its namesake City.
The Chicago and North-Western Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad, used one of two Three-Unit Sets of
EMC E2 locomotives as motive power, beginning in 1937. The Union Pacific scored a public relations coup in the mid-1950s when "The City of Los Angeles" was featured in two episodes of the popular
Television Series "
I Love Lucy".
In 1955, The
Milwaukee Road assumed the Service, replacing The Chicago and North-Western Railway, between Chicago and Omaha. Actor
Ronald Reagan, later President Reagan, often travelled on this Train and even did a Full-Page print advertisement for it that appeared in The National Geographic magazine. In a cost-cutting move, "The City of Los Angeles" was combined with "The City of San Francisco" in 1960.
Photo depicting the Club Car "Little Nugget",
aboard Union Pacific's "City of Los Angeles" Train.
Date: 1948. Published as an advertisement in Time Magazine.
Author: Union Pacific Railroad.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Station Stops, 1950
Clinton, Iowa.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Ames, Iowa.
Boone, Iowa.
Omaha, Nebraska (Union Pacific).
Fremont, Nebraska (departing passengers only).
Columbus, Nebraska (departing passengers only).
Kearney, Nebraska (departing passengers only).
Grand Island, Nebraska.
North Platte, Nebraska.
Sidney, Nebraska.
Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Laramie, Wyoming.
Rawlins, Wyoming.
Green River, Wyoming.
Evanston, Wyoming.
Ogden, Utah.
Milford, Utah.
Las Vegas, Nevada.
San Bernardino, California.
Riverside, California.
East Los Angeles, California.
Union Pacific Streamliner
"City of Los Angeles".
Date: 1930-1945.
Source: Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers collection #70205
Author: Tichnor Brothers, Publisher.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Chicago & North Western Railroad, and Union Pacific Railroad,
promoting their "City of Los Angeles" Streamliners' Service
between Chicago and Los Angeles.
Date: 1938.
Source: Advertisement.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Or, Maybe You Want To Travel To
Denver, Colorado,
on Streamliner "The City of Denver" ?
The Interior of "The Frontier Shack"
Lounge Car, on "The City of Denver",
in the 1940s.
Postcard depiction of "The Frontier Shack" Lounge Car,
on The Union Pacific Train "City of Denver".
This appears to be the first version of The Lounge Car
after the Train was Streamlined.
Date: 1930-1950.
Author: Union Pacific Railroad.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Publicity photo of The Union Pacific Train
"City of Denver".
Date: 31 January 1940.
Author: Union Pacific Railroad.
(Wikimedia Commons)