Starting in 1935 SP ran pairs of "Overnights" between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Los Angeles and Phoenix. These were trains of 30-40 expess boxcars carrying less-than-truckload freight - a version of Federal Express 40 years early!
Initially the trains were pulled by 4-8-2 Mountains, and then by 4-8-4 GS units including Daylight-painted units. The service was stopped during World War II but restarted after the war.
Eventually it became TOFC. I don't know specifically if that service became the Sprint trains, but the concept started in 1935.
Date: 11/22/02 21:13 SP's Sprint Trains Author: boomer Anybody still remember those hot little intermodal "Sprint" trains the SP was running a decade ago? I was thinking of those trains as I read the article below about the UP possibly embargoing their line west of Phoenix and was wondering what ever happened to those trains. As I recall, SP's Sprints running between LA and Phoenix were doing good business, even getting up to a couple of trains each way per day between those points. I wonder why UP didn't continue that service after their purchase of "the Friendly?" It just seems to me like the BNSF (nowadays) gets the lion's share of the intermodal business into the Phoenix area, even though UP still handles quite a bit of auto traffic through there -- why the discrepancy? Also, anybody happen to remember how many "Sprint-type" intermodal trains the SP used to run and what cities they ran between? Phoenix/LA is the only pair I can think of, but I'm sure there were quite a few more than that. I think they may also have had a pair running between KC and St. Louis at one time.
credit given at first line. Mike endmrw0127191426
Do a search for 'Southern Pacific Railroad sprint train" and weed or filter out any answers with telephone or communications (that Sprint was an SP subsidiary). You should find a least one thread on another site.
Where did Southern Pacific Sprint trains run. What was the power and how many cars were in each train. Since the trains made money why did they get rid of them. Gary
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