Sunset Limited schedules from early 60's

Back in the late 50's - early 60's, our family would take the train from Tucson, Arizona to Chicago. Get off at one station, take a big, black Checker cab to a station on the other side of town. My dad would read his magazines and my mom would shop for fresh baked rye bread in a bakery just outside the station while my younger brother and I had to take naps in the "kiddie" bunkroom. After a short layover, we'd catch a B&O train into Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore, Maryland. When we returned, we would do the same route back, in reverse. I've been trying to find an old schedule on the internet from that time period (1959 - 62) so I could retrace the route. I'm sure the route through Tucson was the "Sunset Limited". We would drive up to Tucson from Ft. Huachuca, where my father was stationed in the Army, and catch the train some time around 2:00 am. We'd try to quietly find our seats in the darkened cars lit only by those tiny violet/blue lamps. I remember a return trip out of Chicago when the air conditioning unit in our car went out, and to complicate matters even more, the cause of the outage was a skunk! We stopped at Tucumcari, NM while they repaired the AC unit and aired out the car. My memory of Tucumcari was a long, deep overhanging roof on the side of the building closest to the tracks. I recently saw a picture of the station and my memory was obviously one of a very small child as the building is not as large as I remembered! The route maps that I've found show the "Sunset Limited" never going through Tucumcari or going to Chicago. I don't remember changing trains but then, I was only 10 years old at the time. Does anyone have any knowledge of that route or do you know of some online sources that might?
Thanks,
Alex Cook

I don't think the Sunset Ltd ever ran through Tucumcari, but there used to be a "Golden State" train that was SP/CRIP, left Tucson about 1230am and ran through Tucumcari. I don't know when the GS was discontinued, but here's a page that might give you some more info: http://faculty.simpson.edu/RITS/www/his ... ate/gs.htm

Vincent,
Many thanks for the URL on the Golden State. I can only assume that somewhere along the line I got Sunset Limited mixed up with Golden State Limited - even though the route had dropped the "Limited" portion of its name by the time we were riding it. After reading through everything on the site and checking out the route maps, I'm pretty sure this is the route. I now recall the Rock Island logo being on the tickets stuck on those little wire thingies pinned to the back of the seat in front of you and on the antimacassar cloths of the seats.
The picture of the menu brought back a lot of memories. My mom usually packed food for the eastbound trip and my grandmother loaded us up with shoe boxes lined in tinfoil full of fried chicken and other goodies for the westbound leg. My dad always insisted that we had one meal in the dining car. The trip I remember most I was just 9 years old and my father let me do my ordering at the table for myself for the first time. When the porter was taking our orders, he asked what I wanted to drink. I knew how to answer that, I told him I would like some hot tea. He then asked if I wanted milk or lemon. That extra question kind of threw me and I said I wanted both. He looked over at my father who gave him that "If-that's-what-he-wants" look. I fixed my lemon tea with milk and got my first chemistry lesson about soured milk. I drank it and learned my lesson to ask questions when you don't understand something. I also distinctly remember the rich, smooth Tomato bisque with rice soup. Such a long way from the vending machine on my last Amtrak excursion. Oh well, that was then and this is now.
Again, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Alex Cook

It was the Golden State that left Tucson eastward at around 0200. Arrived Chicago at 1230 and the B&O left at 1600.

There were two routes between Tucson and El Paso; in 1959 the Golden State ran via Douglas, the route that was abandoned around 1961. After that it ran via Deming and Lordsburg, the present main line.

Let me know if you want more times.

Thanks, Timz. Further corroboration on the route. I remember one of the stations in Chicago being the LaSalle Street Station. I don't know if that's the SP/Rock Island side of town or the B&O side. I recall being in awe of the "roof" over the street outside the station when we caught the cab to go across town. Now I know the "roof" must have be the "EL"evated train tracks. Do those stations still exist in Chicago? I was able to catch a local from Baltimore into DC for the day at the Pennsylvania Station in downtown Baltimore. They sure did a nice job on bringing that station back. Speaking of rail station restoration/renovation, our SP station here in Tucson has been brought back from the dead. Its just across the street from the Congress Hotel where John Dillinger's gang was captured - John was captured at a house he was renting. As a matter of fact, the street in between the Congress Hotel and the station has just been reopened today. Construction for the past year on trolley tracks that have been laid down in anticipation of a light rail to connect the downtown with the University of Arizona is over. There was considerable debate to which era the station was to be restored. Since Tucson was a training base for so many fliers in WWII and countless more came through town on their way east and west, the station reflects what it looked like in the 40's. The group responsible did a really nice job. There's even a small rail museum.
Thanks for the times.
Alex Cook

The Golden State arrived at La Salle St station. There is still an active station about at that same location, as you can see on the online aerial pics, but Grand Central (B&O's station) is long gone. It was maybe 2-3 blocks from La Salle St.