Railroad in the United States
The Sunset Route is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans , Louisiana .[ 1]
The name traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway , a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary which was known as the Sunset Route as early as 1874.[citation needed ] The line was built by several different companies and largely consolidated under Southern Pacific, with completion at the Colorado River in 1883.[ 2] Its construction prompted a frog war at the Colton Crossing , where it intersects the Southern Transcon , then owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , and now by BNSF Railway .
The first trains departed for through service between Los Angeles and New Orleans on February 5, 1883.[ 3]
Upon Southern Pacific Railroad's merger with Union Pacific in 1996, less than 25% of the route was double-tracked .[ 4] Efforts to expand double-trackage between Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas were ongoing as of the late 2000s and early 2010s.[ 5] By 2012, 72% of that 760-mile (1,220 km) section, or 547 miles (880 km), would have two tracks, including the entire section between Tucson, Arizona and El Paso.[ 4] The new trackage was designed for speeds of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h), a track spacing of 20 feet (6 m), and a rail weight of 141 pounds per yard (70 kg/m).[ 6]
Usage The line is primarily used for freight by the Union Pacific. BNSF shares ownership of the Lafayette Subdivision.[ 8] By 2007, 45 trains daily were operating through Maricopa, Arizona , with volumes projected to increase to 86 daily trains by 2016.[ 5] However, by 2019 the number of daily trains between Los Angeles and El Paso had dropped to 39, and the section east of El Paso was hosting 12 trains per day.[ 9]
The Amtrak Sunset Limited operates three round-trips weekly over the entirety of the route with the Texas Eagle attached between San Antonio and Los Angeles. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a grant through its Corridor ID Program to restore the Sunset Limited to full daily round-trip service. The program also issued grants to develop state-supported routes between San Antonio, Texas and Houston, Texas along the Sunset Route, in the Phoenix-Tucson Corridor (using Sunset Route track between Picacho, Arizona and Tucson), and in the Coachella Valley Rail Corridor (using Sunset Route track between Colton, California and Coachella, California ).[ 10]
Subdivisions
Dallas Yard
Paisano Pass elev. 5,078 ft (1,548 m)
Del Rio
to Eagle Pass
Knippa
Medina Spur
Martin Asphalt
Medina Line
San Antonio Intermodal Terminal
Laredo Subdivision
Austin Subdivision
Rockport Subdivision
Kerrville Subdivision
San Antonio
SwRI Locomotive Technology Center
East Side Yard
Austin Subdivision Mainline 2
Cuero Industrial Lead
Kirby
Houston East Belt
Englewood Yard
Englewood Intermodal
Houston West Belt
The Union Pacific has divided the Sunset Route into these subdivisions for operational purposes:
Yuma Subdivision
Gila Subdivision
Lordsburg Subdivision
Valentine Subdivision
Sanderson Subdivision
Del Rio Subdivision
Glidden Subdivision
Houston Subdivision
Lafayette Subdivision
Terminal Subdivision
See also
References
^ UPRR Common Line Names (PDF) (Map). Union Pacific Railroad . Retrieved January 4, 2009 .
^ Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the Year Ending December 31, 1889 (Report). California Board of Railroad Commissioners. 1889. p. 11.
^ Hofsomm, Donovan L. (1986). The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985 . Texas A & M University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9781603441278 .
^ a b Petrillo, Alan M. (December 5, 2012). "Union Pacific double track work hits Northwest Tucson" . The Northwest Explorer . Retrieved August 9, 2021 .
^ a b Giumette, Joe (November 14, 2007). "Union Pacific moving ahead with double track plans" . inMaricopa. Retrieved August 9, 2021 .
^ Lustig, David (September 2011). "Expansion supports intermodal growth". Railway Gazette International . Vol. 167, no. 9. pp. 36– 42. ISSN 0373-5346 . OCLC 755015940 . Gale A269692139 .
^ Bowen, Douglas John (December 2, 2014). "STB to weigh key trackage rights case" . Railway Age. Retrieved August 9, 2021 .
^ Frailey, Fred (October 20, 2019). "Whatever happened to UP?" . Trains (magazine) . Retrieved January 2, 2025 .
^ U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration (December 8, 2023). "FY22 Corridor Identification and Development Program Selections" (Press release). Retrieved January 3, 2025 .
^ Bourque, Scott (September 23, 2019). "Q&AZ: What Happened To The Railroad Line West Of Phoenix?" . KJZZ 91.5. Retrieved August 16, 2021 .
Further reading