This photograph portrays the dawn of a new era in railroading, the advent of the streamliners in the late 1930s and early 1940s, plus modernization of the " Age of Steam" streamlining steam motive power. The splendor of Southern Pacific's "The Sunbeam" is shown. This train went into service between Dallas and Houston on September 15, 1937 - traversing the rail distance: 265 miles in 265 minutes. The consist of eight lightweight cars is headed by Engine No. 652, a Pacific type 4-6-2 streamlined steam locomotive with disc drivers, air horn and equipped with a Vanderbuilt tender (an oil burner). Click to enlarge. (Southern Pacific (T&NO), Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History, cropped)
SUNBEAM / HUSTLER / OWL
Not to be confused with the Louisiana & Arkansas Hustler passenger train.
Not to be confused with the Southern Pacific Owl passenger train.
The Sunbeam, Hustler and Owl were named passenger trains between Houston and Dallas on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad (T&NO), a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The Sunbeam carried number 13 northbound and number 14 southbound, the Hustler 15 and 16, respectively. The Owl was the nighttime version of the train.
Postcard depicting the streamlined train in 1937. (Southern Pacific Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
SP Sunbeam and Hustler Ink Blotter from 1940. (Southern Pacific Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Postcard depiction of the streamlined Sunbeam in the Daylight color scheme.(Southern Pacific Railroad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
Beginnings
The Sunbeam began in 1925 as a heavyweight train. In June 1926 it took 6+1⁄2 hours each way, leaving Houston at noon and Dallas at 1:25 p.m.; in August 1937 it scheduled fifteen regular and flag stops in the 6+1⁄2-hour run. The Sunbeam was re-equipped on September 19, 1937, as a streamlined train in the Daylight paint scheme. The T&NO streamlined three P-14 class 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives and painted them with their Vanderbilt tenders in Daylight colors.
Southern Pacific's " The Hustler" train No. 16, southbound, headed by Engine No. 629, a Pacific type 4-6-2 locomotive, departing from Dallas enroute to Houston, 1950. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Locomotive No. 620 one of the P-6 class "protection" engines kept under steam at Ennis, substitutes for one of the three streamlined P-14 engines (650, 651,or 652) normally assigned to bring The Hustler, Train No. 15 into Dallas in 1949. The Southern Pacific was in direct competition with the FW&D in Texas at the time and the Dallas/Houston route's schedule had to be protected against engine failures. One engine was kept with steam up at Ennis and another at Hearne for just such emergencies. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Southern Pacific's "The Sunbeam" Engine No. 650 - type 4-6-2 and Burlington's "Sam Houston Zephyr" at Dallas Union Terminal in 1950. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Streamliner
The initial streamliner schedule over the 264 miles (425 km) was 4 hours 45 minutes. Beginning June 1, 1938, the train made no passenger stops between the two largest cities in Texas, and the schedule was trimmed by twenty minutes to 4 hours 25 minutes (265 minutes) each way. The schedule was intended to match the competition, the Burlington-Rock Island's Texas Rocket and Sam Houston Zephyr, which ran 249.6 miles (401.7 km) between Houston and Dallas in 250 minutes.
Southern Pacific's morning passenger train from Houston to Dallas is Train No. 15 The Hustler which uses the same cars as the afternoon Sunbeam. After its arrival in Dallas the entire train will be turned on "the wye" serviced, have a parlor car added to the consist and leave for Houston as Train No. 14 at five pm. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
With the Sears building in the background and the Union Terminal Company's coach yard on its left The Hustler Train No. 15 rolls into Dallas in the early afternoon in 1949 behind one of Southern Pacific's handsome P-14 steam locomotives. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Southern Pacific's the "Hustler" train No. 15 northbound, headed by Engine No. 650, a streamlined type 4-6-2 locomotive, entering Dallas Union Station on its run from Houston. The train is passing under the electric street railway viaduct (destroyed in the late 1950s) which spanned the railroad tracks and crossed over the Trinity River. Electric street cars to and from Oak Cliff and Interurban cars of the Northern Texas Traction Company and Texas Electric Railway used this double track facility. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
The Hustler
The Sunbeam (trains 13 and 14) operated in tandem with its slower sibling, the Hustler (trains 15 and 16) using primarily the same equipment. In August 1938 the streamlined Hustlers left Houston and Dallas at 8 a.m. and arrived at their destinations at 2 p.m., having made most local stops along the way. Each consist was then turned and returned as the Sunbeam, leaving Houston at 4:45 and Dallas at 5:00. By 1941 flag stops at Ennis and College Station had been added to the Sunbeam's schedule, but the 265-minute schedule continued into the 1950s. Both the Sunbeam and the Hustler would meet their respective counterparts at Kosse, near the mid-point of the run.
In an era of rapid transit in Texas the Southern Pacific's advertisements cited the "Sunbeam" trains - modern streamliners - as the apex in luxury and speed between Dallas and Houston - an elapsed time of four hours and twenty-five minutes. This view portrays the "Sunbeam" train No. 14 southbound headed by Engine No. 651 - a streamlined Pacific type 4-6-2 locomotive - rolling out of Dallas Union Station, enroute to Houston on the afternoon of October 5, 1952. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
This scene depicts Southern Pacific's Grand Central Station in Houston as it appeared in the last days , the "end of the age of steam". The Southern Pacific's "Sunbeam" train No. 13 northbound headed by Engine No. 650 - a streamlined Pacific type 4-6-2 locomotive - departs from the terminal on its run to Dallas at 4:45 PM on August 9, 1953. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Observe this masterpiece of streamlined steam motive power - bearing the name "Sunbeam", Southern Pacific's Engine No. 652, a Pacific type 4-6-2 locomotive, on the turntable at the Cadiz Street Roundhouse in Dallas, Texas, 1950. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
The Owl
The Sunbeam had an overnight counterpart in the Southern Pacific's (T&NO) Owl (No.17 northbound, and No.18 southbound). This night train consisted of coaches, and in the sleeping cars, open sections and bedrooms.
The Southern Pacific at one time also maintained a Los Angeles - San Francisco passenger train named "The Owl".
Southern Pacific's "The Owl" train No. 17, northbound, headed by diesel locomotive No 203, crossing the Trinity River bridge enroute into Dallas at sunrise on the morning of June 22, 1952. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Under a beautiful Texas sky, Southern Pacific's modern diesel powered streamliner "Sunbeam" train No. 14, southbound, rolls on a mile-a-minute schedule enroute from Dallas to Houston, 1952. (J.F. Curry, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Southern Pacific's "Hustler" train No. 16, southbound, headed by diesel locomotive No. 206, departing from Dallas enroute to Houston on October 7, 1952. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
Switch to Diesels
With the advent of T&NO/SP's Diesel locomotive fleet after World War II, ALCO PAs were often assigned to the Sunbeam. The Hustler was discontinued on August 11, 1954, and the Sunbeam received a new schedule that allowed it to depart Houston's Grand Central Station in the morning and return from Dallas in the afternoon, now using just one set of equipment instead of two. The new schedule lasted only thirteen months, and the Sunbeam made its final round trip on September 11, 1955.
Sunbeam and Hustler Route Map. Click to enlarge.
(Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0)
Overview
Service type: Inter-city rail
Status: Discontinued
Locale: Texas
First service: 1925
Last service: 1957
Successor: Dallas-Houston section of Texas Eagle (Amtrak)
Former operator: Texas and New Orleans Railroad (Southern Pacific)
Southern Pacific Railroad's "The Sunbeam" engine No. 650, a type 4-6-2 locomotive, at Dallas Union Terminal in 1950. Streamlined steam locomotive No.650 has been serviced and coupled to its train. When the number 13 is placed into its train indicator atop the boiler it will be ready to depart "On the Advertised" at 5:00PM as The Sunbeam. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
One of only three streamlined steam locomotives in regular service between Dallas and Houston Texas, the Southern Pacific No. 650, a class P-14 4-6-2 is being readied for its afternoon mile-a minute dash to Houston on the railroad's crack Sunbeam passenger run. Seen here at Dallas in 1948 after 11 years of service. (Roger S. Plummer, Museum of the American Railroad to The Portal to Texas History)
