I've seen teens/twenties pics of UP & SP steam locomotives with a letter board on the smokebox door reading "Shasta". Does anyone have any info on this train?

> I've seen teens/twenties pics of UP & SP
> steam locomotives with a letter board on the
> smokebox door reading "Shasta".
> Does anyone have any info on this train?

In 1922 "The Shasta" were trains 11 and 12 on the Southern Pacific. The trains operated Oakland to Portland with through Pullmans to Seattle.

NB #12 left San Francisco (ferry boat connection) at 4:00 pm then though Davis and the west side of the Sacramento River valley (NOT via Sacramento city), went through Dunsmuir at 2:45 am, Ashland at 8:15 am, Roseburg at 1:35 pm, arrived Portland at 8:30 pm. The Seattle connection left Portland at 11:00 pm and arrived at Seattle at 6:30 am.

The connection for #11 left Seattle at 8:15am and arrived at Portland at 2:55 pm. #11 then left at 4:00 pm, went through Roseburg at 10:55 pm, Ashland at 4:45 am, Dunsmuir at 9:55 am, and at Davis at 5:30 pm. (It had a connection over to Sacramento) The connecting ferry boat arrived at San Francisco at 8;35 pm.

The trains on the route were NB #14 "Portland Express," #16 "Oregon Express," and #54 "Oregonian." Southbound these were #13 "S.F. Express," #15 "California Express," and #53 "Oregonian."

The Shasta carried section - compartment - drawing room Pullmans to Seattle and section- drawing room Pullmans to Portland. Obvservation Sleeper with comparmtnets operated to Portland as did a dining car. No coaches were listed for this train. But all classes of reduced fair tickets were accepted.

Brian Norden

bnorden@gateway.net

Thanks for the info Brian. Do you know how many years this train was run?

Smokebox

> Thanks for the info Brian. Do you know how
> many years this train was run?

> Smokebox

If you can get access to a copy of Lucisu Beebe's book "The Central Pacific & Southern Pacific Railroads" (Howell-North, Berkeley, 1963) it has an appendix listing when the various passenger trains operated. Check friends or libraries.

Briefly, variations on the name came and went over the years (begining 1895). Sometimes the name lasted only a few months. But, the major use of the name as trains 11-12 was 1909 through 1931. Then the name was used by other numbered trains (often only from SF into Southern Oregon) until 1942. Then in the late 1940 the SP created the "Shasta Daylignt."

Brian Norden

bnorden@gateway.net