Can anyone tell me the history of this line? When did passenger service cease, who did they interline with at Vaughn (if anyone), and what was the terminus of this line? Thank you in advance for any information.
The SP/RI passenger train LA-Chicago ended in 1968.
SP’s timetables showed Tucumcari as the end of the line, but seems to me SP only owned the track thru Santa Rosa-- they operated the rest but didn’t own it? Or something like that.
There never was much traffic interchanged with SFe at Vaughn, was there?
This was the SP/RI “Golden State Route”. The SP owned the line as far as Tucumcari. The RI owned the remainder of the route from Tucumcari to Chicago. This was the route of the joint SR/RI Golden State Limited streamliner.
Upon the RI’s bankrupcy and subsequent shutdown, the SP and its subsidiary SSW (Cotton Belt) took over operation of this route as well as some other lines.
Union Pacific obtained control with the 1995 merger of Southern Pacific.
MJ: Read up on the history of the El Paso & Southwestern RR; El Paso & Northwestern RY; and the El Paso and Rock Island RY. Originally Southern Pacific only owned to Santa Rosa, NM and then had trackage rights over Rock Island into Tucumcari.
Ed
The line from Santa Rosa to Tucumcari was leased from Rock Island.
The interchange has never been used for any significant volume. Vaughn wasn’t a rate gateway and there was no local business to speak of on either line anywhere in the vicinity that might create an interline opportunity.
RWM