The ''Argonaut'' was the Southern Pacific Railroad's secondary passenger train between

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

via Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Palm Springs, California. It started in 1926 on a 61 hr 35 min schedule Los Angeles to New Orleans, five hours slower than the

Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...

; it was discontinued west of Houston in 1958. (It was also dropped from May 1932 until May 1936.) In earlier years it carried sleeping cars from New Orleans to Yuma that would continue to San Diego via

San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway is a short-line American railroad founded in 1932 as the successor to the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A), which was founded in 1906 by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railr ...

, a SP subsidiary. Westbound trains carried sleeping cars from New Orleans and Houston to San Antonio. The ''

'' was the premiere SP train on the "

Sunset Route The Sunset Route is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the southernmost railway that connects the central United States to the U.S. Pacific Coast. History The idea ...

" — and probably on the whole SP system — and the ''Argonaut'' was a slower secondary train. The ''Argonaut'' needed 50 hours between New Orleans and Los Angeles, while after 1950 the ''Sunset Limited'' needed 42. The Argonaut ran Tucson to El Paso via Deming; the westward train usually ran on the EP&SW line via Douglas. Unlike the first-class ''Sunset Limited'' the ''Argonaut'' was always a train for economy travel, carrying standard

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and few standard sleepers, allowing people to travel at moderate prices but with full

dining A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in a ...

and

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

service. Another counterpart was the '' Imperial,'' which had Los Angeles and San Diego branches. The latter had a route which would twice cross the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. Through its life the train had olive green and black heavyweight passenger cars, pulled by

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

like the GS-1

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type wa ...

or MT-4

4-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels, eight powered and coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This type of steam locomotive is commonly known as ...

, sometimes even a Cab Forward

4-8-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-8-2 is a locomotive with four leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. Other equivalent classifications are: UIC classificat ...

. In its last years the train was pulled by

EMD F7 The EMD F7 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD). Although originally promoted by EMD as a freight-h ...

or ALCO PA/PB

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

. By its final year its route was shortened to have El Paso as its western terminus.

References

Passenger trains of the Southern Pacific Transportation Company Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1926 Night trains of the United States Railway services discontinued in 1958 {{US-train-stub

See also

References