The Sunset Route is a main line of the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
running between
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
and
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
The name traces its origins to the
Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway
The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos, and Colorado Railway (B.B.B.C. or B.B.B. & C.), also called the Harrisburg Road or Harrisburg Railroad, was the first operating railroad in Texas. It completed its first segment of track between Harrisburg, Texas (now a ...
, a
Southern Pacific Railway
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
subsidiary which was known as the ''Sunset Route'' as early as 1874. The line was built by several different companies and largely consolidated under Southern Pacific.
Upon Southern Pacific Railroad's merger with Union Pacific in 1996, less than 25% of the route was
double-tracked
Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...
.
Efforts to expand double-trackage were ongoing as of the late 2000s and early 2010s,
with over seventy percent of the route having two tracks by 2012.
Usage
The line is primarily used for freight by the Union Pacific.
BNSF
BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...
shares ownership of the Lafayette Subdivision.
By 2007, 45 trains daily were operating through
Maricopa, Arizona
Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. With 62,720 residents as of 2021, Maricopa is the largest incorporated municipality in Pinal County
History
Maricopa has had three locations over the years: ...
.
The
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
''
Sunset Limited
The ''Sunset Limited'' is an Amtrak passenger train that for most of its history has operated between New Orleans and Los Angeles, over the nation's second transcontinental route. However, up until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it operated betwe ...
'' operates three round-trips weekly over the entirety of the route with the ''
Texas Eagle
The ''Texas Eagle'' is a daily passenger train route operated by Amtrak between Chicago and San Antonio in the central and western United States. Prior to 1988, the train was known as the ''Eagle''.
Trains #21 (southbound) and 22 (northbound) ...
'' attached between San Antonio and Los Angeles.
Subdivisions
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
*
Central Corridor (Union Pacific Railroad)
The Central Corridor is a rail line operated by the Union Pacific Railroad from near Winnemucca, Nevada to Denver, Colorado in the western United States. The line was created after the merger with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company by co ...
*
Southern Transcon
The Southern Transcon is a main line of BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen C ...
References
Union Pacific Railroad lines
Rail infrastructure in California
Rail infrastructure in Arizona
Rail infrastructure in New Mexico
Rail infrastructure in Texas
Rail infrastructure in Louisiana
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