| Southern Pacific
GS-4 #4449 is still running today, and is believed to be one of the most well
known and most photographed locomotives ever made. The
GS-4 runs on four massive 80” drivers, 300lbs psi boiler pressure, and puts out
a roaring 5,500 horsepower at 55mph, with a maximum speed of 110 mph. The large
drivers gave the locomotive a high top speed; the telling mark of a steam engine
built for passenger service. The GS-4 was built for the Southern Pacific Railroad
by the Lima Locomotive Works and delivered in the early 1940’s for the SP’s premier
passenger trains, finding its way to the Daylight series of name trains. One of
the more unique specifications for the GS-4 by the SP was its Mars light, a necessity
with the large amount of grade crossings and fog present on the West Coast. The
Mars light, like ditch lights on modern locomotives, was utilized as a warning
for grade crossings that a high speed train was approaching, its shifting light
patterns serving as an eye catcher in foggy conditions.
Southern
Pacific “Morning Daylight” In
the 1940’s, the Southern Pacific “Morning Daylight” was possibly the world’s most
beautiful train, its orange and red striping being reserved for the SP’s premier
train lines. This “Morning Daylight” consist ran between Los Angeles and San Francisco
along the beautiful California coast, past cities such as Ventura, Santa Barbara,
Salinas and San Jose. Heading up the “Morning Daylight” was the specially built
steam locomotive, the GS-4, one of the most well known steam engines ever designed.
The SP “Morning Daylight”
was an all Pullman built lightweight passenger train consisting of:
1 Baggage-Chair car
(44 seat) 1 Coffee Shop (1st third of articulated car) 1
Kitchen car (2nd third of articulated car) 1 Dining car (final 3rd of articulated
car) 10 Articulated
Chair cars (each 46 seat) 1 Chair car (44 seat) 1
Tavern car (56 seat) 1 Parlor car (27 seat) 1 Parlor Observation car (22 seat)
The “Daylight” cars
are fitted with operating outer diaphragms, which makes the entire train appear
as one contiguous unit rather than separate individual cars. Cars were added and
subtracted from the consist as traffic warranted.
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