HomeMy WebLinkAboutRR-Left1SP-T&NO Sunbeam P-14
On Sept. 19,1937, the Texas and New Orleans Railroad, the lawful and storied incarnation of the Southern Pacific in Texas,
launched its high speed, all streamlined train between the states’ principal cities of Dallas and Houston. Sunbeam was
proclaimed, “The South’s Finest.” That day saw the culmination of over two years of planning and construction that had
focused on changing the image and reality of Texas railroading. Track and signal upgrades were made on the old Houston
and Texas Central route with the ballast, and track along the 265-mile right of way was almost completely replaced with
crushed granite and 100 and 112 pound rail. All curves on the route were also realigned with longer tapers and increased
elevation.
The P-14s had begun their lives twenty-four years earlier as Class P-6 built by Brooks for the Pacific Lines: SP #s 2455-
2457. In the early spring of 1937, these tired old locomotives were leased by the parent SP to the T&NO. It was not until
December 31, 1946 that they were formally purchased. The three made the long trek eastward over the Sunset Route
from Los Angeles to Houston where, over that summer, they would undergo a remarkable metamorphosis in the Hardy
Street Shops. Finally, the three elderly 4-6-2 Southern Pacific locomotives were rebuilt into the stunning P-14 Class at a
cost of a little over $2 million.
Written by Jon H. Fleming
SP Trainline (Fall 1996), The Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society
A Mile A Minute
The advent of streamliners, a modernization of the “Age of Steam” with
streamlined steam motive power, in the late 1930s and early 1940s introduced
a new era in railroading. “The Sunbeam” from Southern Pacific (shown left)
went into service between Dallas and Houston on Sept. 15, 1937, making brief
passenger stops in College Station.
Originally, the Sunbeam maintained a four hour, forty-five minute schedule.
By 1938 passengers covered the 265-mile distance in 265 minutes, averaging a
mile a minute. The trains departed Dallas at 5 p.m. and Houston at 4:45 p.m.
In 1954 the Sunbeam was making single daily round trips from Houston to
Dallas in the morning and Dallas to Houston in the evening. By 1955 the train
was annulled and the equipment was transferred to the Pacific Lines, some of
it serving to Amtrak takeover of passenger service.
Photo, ca. 1940; courtesy of
University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History (http://texashistory.unt.edu)
Near left: A Sunbeam locomotive pamphlet for the HO scale model.
This pamphlet and Sunbeam model, with engine and passenger cars
on display, is owned by B.B. Holland.
Far left: Postcard depiction of the Southern Pacific streamliner
train “The Sunbeam” which traveled between Dallas and Houston.