UP 103-104, City of Los Angeles: Where Were the Meets in the Darkness?

[K. P. Harrier]

Under the cover of very remote darkness somewhere between Las Vegas, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah, decades ago the City of Los Angeles passenger trains regularly met. Does anyone know where the scheduled meets took place at?

[Anonymous]

It would be somewhere in the vicinity of Crestline, Nevada. I don't have any employee timetables from the line from that era handy, unfortunately. It's not shown in the Official Guide for October 1946, which I do have handy.

Of course, after 1948, there wouldn't be any scheduled meets between trains 103 and 104, because in that year CTC was completed between Caliente, Nevada, and Buena Vista, Utah, and thence all trains ran on signal indication.

OS

[Anonymous]

Can you be a little more specific (Be Specific -Ship & Travel Union Pacific) about what time frame? Are we talking about the 1960s era of the City of Everywhere?

[K. P. Harrier]

QUOTE: Originally posted by lfish

Can you be a little more specific (Be Specific -Ship & Travel Union Pacific) about what time frame? Are we talking about the 1960s era of the City of Everywhere?

How about the Domeliner era? (1955-1971)

[Anonymous]

August 1954 Official Guide puts #103 out of Milford at 10:30 p.m. MT, and #104 out of Las Vegas at 12:55 a.m. MT. Running time for #11/9 (combined Idahoan/City of St. Louis) from Milford to Caliente was 2 hrs 58 min, and #10/8 from Las Vegas to Caliente was 2 hrs 45 min. That indicates the meet is still somewhere in the vicinity of Crestline.

June 1966 Official Guide puts combined City of L.A./Challenger/City of St. Louis out of Milford at 12:10 a.m. MT, through Caliente at 2:40 a.m. MT, while the eastward City of Everywhere was through Caliente at 12:55 a.m. MT. Still meeting somewhere around Crestline.

If we had an old-head dispatcher to talk to, he'd be able to tell us where the meet was made when both were on time. It was probably the same siding every night. For example, 17 and 18 on the D&RGW would consistently meet at Grizzly or Shoshone in Glenwood Canyon.

OS

[Anonymous]

OS gave you an excellent answer for the '40s. As you probably know, when virtually all of the UP name trains were combined into one giant train - the so-called City of Everywhere - I'm not sure there was a train 103-104 as such.
I have two good sources at home. The fascinating book Night Trains gives the location of every train carrying Pullmans at midnight on a hypothetical spring night in, I believe, 1952. I'll see where the Cities were. Also, I have UP timetables from 1965-66-67.
Check back tomorros unless you get a better response first.

[Anonymous]

Darn it, OS. YOu keep posting about 30 seconds ahaed of me.

[PwdOpd]

Nevada was not the only place where 103 and 104 met under the cover of darkness. Train 104 was due in to Omaha at 2:40a.m.-out on CNW at 2:50a.m. CNW 103 was due to arrive Omaha at 3:00a.m.-out on UP at 3:10a.m. You figure the meet. Should have been just south of the CNW depot in Council Bluffs, Iowa. These times are of course in the late 40's and early 50's. From experience, UP 104 was almost always on time, in fact it usually was in the Omaha Union Station any where from 2:31 to 2:34. CNW 103, however, very seldom was on the advertised. It was not bad, just 5 to 10 minutes late. CNW 101, City of San Francisco followed at 3:15, which meant that it was late about the same time as 103. Just an interesting side. Paul