"The last overnight train between L.A. and S.F. ran in 1968": actually, in the early 1980s Amtrak ran the state-subsidized Spirit of California overnight between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Dreamstar Lines: Back to the Future?
During the “Golden Age of Railroading” in the middle of the past century, the Southern Pacific’s Lark was the train to take between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, at least for folks who could afford it. The train was one of the great “streamliners” of the era, and it carried only sleeping cars; 13 of them in 1946 plus two more to Oakland on the line that now hosts Capitol Corridor trains. There was a triple-unit food service car with diner and lounge, but no coaches. Even after coaches were introduced into the train’s consist in the 1950s, the dining car served only sleeping car passengers. Running a roughly twelve-hour schedule for the entire route, the old Lark was luxury on rails. It was discontinued on April 8, 1968, more than 55 years ago.
Today, a private-sector entity wants to start a train on the same route that will give contemporary sleeping car passengers a similar experience on equipment that originally ran during that time. Dreamstar Lines, based in Newport Beach in Orange County, Calif., is the company working on putting the proposed train on the rails. The company’s website, www.dreamstarlines.com, is not long on details yet, but conveys a vision of bringing back the feel of the luxurious trains of the past. It says: “Dreamstar Lines is preparing a premium overnight ‘hotel train’ passenger train service. Board our trains in a city center or convenient suburban station … fall asleep in a private room … and wake up at your destination.” Dreamstar’s slogan is “Go to bed. Wake up there.”
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