City of Los Angeles (train)

City of Los Angeles
UP #932, an EMD E8, leads the City of Los Angeles into Union Station in Los Angeles in March 1971, just prior to discontinuance.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleWestern United States
First serviceMay 15, 1936
Last serviceMay 2, 1971
SuccessorDesert Wind
Former operator(s)
Route
TerminiChicago, Illinois
Los Angeles, California
Stops20
Average journey time
  • 40 hours, 45 minutes (Chicago - Los Angeles)
  • 40 hours, 30 minutes (Los Angeles - Chicago)
Service frequencyDaily
Train number(s)
  • 103 (Chicago - Los Angeles)
  • 104 (Los Angeles - Chicago)
Line(s) usedOverland Route
On-board services
Class(es)Coach Class
Sleeping arrangements
  • Streamlined Sleeping cars
  • Double Bedrooms
  • Drawing Rooms
  • Compartments
  • Roommates
Catering facilities
  • Cafe Lounge Car
  • Dome Dining Car
Observation facilitiesDome lounge
Baggage facilitiesLimited handling
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed
  • 56.4 mph (Chicago - Los Angeles)
  • 56.8 mph (Los Angeles - Chicago)

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 UP, 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. Many of the train's cars bore the names of locales in and around its namesake city.