 Postcard depiction of the train in 1936. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontinued |
| Locale | Southwestern United States |
| First service | 1915 |
| Last service | 1960 |
| Former operator | Missouri Pacific Railroad |
| Route | |
| Termini | St. Louis, Missouri,Memphis, Tennessee andNew Orleans, Louisiana branches El Paso, Texas, andLaredo, Texas, branches and branches to other points in Texas Until 1948, a branch of the train continued on from Laredo toMexico City, Mexico |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train numbers | 31 (westbound); 32 (eastbound) |
| On-board services | |
| Seating arrangements | Reclining seat coaches |
| Sleeping arrangements | Sections,bedrooms,drawing rooms and compartments |
| Catering facilities | Dining cars; Dining-lounge car in 1950s |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) |
TheSunshine Special was inaugurated by theSt. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway, (later theMissouri Pacific Railroad), on December 5, 1915, to provide a premium level of passenger train service betweenSt. Louis,Little Rock, and destinations inTexas, United States, such as El Paso, San Antonio, Laredo and Houston. An auxiliary section of the train originated inMemphis, Tennessee, and linked with the train inLittle Rock, Arkansas.[1]
The train ran from St. Louis to either Longview or Marshall in East Texas. Their cars for Dallas, Ft. Worth and El Paso were cut out and forwarded over M.P. subsidiary Texas and Pacific. Cars for Houston were cut out at Palestine, Texas.
Until being shifted into a secondary role by theTexas Eagle diesel poweredstreamliner in August 1948, theSunshine Special served as the flagship of theMissouri Pacific Railroad's passenger train service. Prior to the advent of theTexas Eagle, the San Antonio/Laredo section of the train continued over theFerrocarriles Nacionales de México (N de M) as theÁguila Azteca orAztec Eagle toMexico City, Mexico.[1]
Between July 7, 1946, and April 25, 1948, the Missouri Pacific and thePennsylvania Railroad operated theSunshine Special jointly betweenNew York City and Texas. Low traffic west of St. Louis prompted the Missouri Pacific to withdraw from the joint operation in favor of exchanging sleeper cars. The PRR renamed its train theTexas Eagle on August 15, then finally thePenn Texas on December 12.[2][3] The last vestige of theSunshine Special, an unnamed train did not disappear from Missouri Pacific timetables until 1962. TheTexas Eagle achieved greater patronage volume and survived until 1971 when the MP gave up its passenger service to Amtrak.
TheSunshine Special was thrust into the national spotlight on January 22, 1927, when it struck a bus carrying members of theBaylor University basketball team inRound Rock, Texas. According to reports, the bus driver, 19-year-old Joe Potter, failed to see the train approaching the crossing at nearly sixty miles per hour from the bus' right. When Potter did see the train, he felt he had no choice but to attempt to beat it across the tracks. Attempting to put more distance between the bus and the train, Potter veered to his left, moving the bus farther ahead of the train. The results were disastrous, with ten Baylor students killed. The tragedy gave rise to Baylor's longstanding tradition of remembering "The Immortal Ten."
Named trains of theMissouri Pacific Railroad | ||
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| Named trains |
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| Rolling stock | ||