SAN FRANCISCO

Southern Pacific’s premier trains the Shasta Daylight, and the Cascade served the northwest from San Francisco to Portland and Seattle from the 1950s into the 1960s. They served dozens of California, Oregon and Washington cities. The Shasta was popular with tourists and the Cascade, a favorite with business people. THE ... Read More »

Southern Pacific’s longest-running named train, the Del Monte Limited operated a daily round-trip service between San Francisco, via San Jose, and Monterey.  Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, with its first-class observation parlor car, The Del Monte served San Francisco’s grandee families. There were generations of Crockers, Tevises, Morses, and regulars ... Read More »

Onboard such famous trains as the California Zephyr, Super Chief, Sunset Limited, Lark, 20th Century Limited, Pullman porters served millions of passengers from 1867 to 1968. They provided first-class train service in Pullman sleeping cars. The accommodations ranged from sections (upper and lower births), roomettes, bedrooms, compartments to drawing rooms. ... Read More »

Premiering in 1954, the San Francisco Chief offered First Class Pullman Sleeping Car and Chair Car accommodations daily from San Francisco to Chicago until 1971 when Amtrak eliminated 100s of passenger trains. Competing with the City of San Francisco and the California Zephyr, the San Francisco Chief soon became very ... Read More »

When the Fox Theater was built in 1929, it seemed as if there weren’t enough adjectives to describe the movie theatre’s magnificence. The new video features its history and final days in 1963. The San Francisco Chronicle called the opening “a spectacle of such beauty and magnitude that it seemed ... Read More »