page_title: City of Los Angeles (train)
section_title: Timeline
hierarchical_section_title: City of Los Angeles (train) / History / Timeline
caption_attribution_description: Postcard photo of the Union Pacific train "City of Los Angeles". This is the dome lounge car.
context_page_description: The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California via Omaha, Nebraska, and Ogden, Utah. Between Omaha and Los Angeles it ran on the Union Pacific Railroad; east of Omaha it ran on the Chicago and North Western Railway until October 1955 and on the Milwaukee Road thereafter. The train had number 103 westbound and number 104 eastbound.
  This train was the top-of-the-line for UP, which marketed it as a competitor to the Super Chief, a streamlined passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and the Golden State, a streamlined passenger train jointly operated by the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads. Many of the train's cars bore the names of locales in and around its namesake city.
  City of Los Angeles service began in May 1936 using the diesel-powered custom streamliner M-10002. It was the second of Union Pacific's diesel streamliners to the west coast, following the City of Portland that started service nearly a year earlier. Initial service consisted of five runs monthly.
context_section_description: May 15, 1936: City of Los Angeles makes its first run between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California. One trainset (the M-10002) leaves each terminal five times a month.
  December 1937: 14-car 791-ton train powered by three EMC E2s replaces the older trainset, reassigned as City of Portland.
  July 1938: Former City of San Francisco trainset M-10004 joins service, allowing departures ten times a month.
  March 1939: New train powered by two unit EMC E3 set enters service, replacing M-10004; frequency remains ten departures per month. The Hollywood, a lounge car built for the City of Los Angeles, is the first passenger car with an interior built entirely of synthetic materials, including the newly invented formica (plastic) and naugahyde.
  July 1941: EMC E6 three unit set replaces E3 set; consist of train expanded to 14 cars.
  1947: City of Los Angeles begins running daily.
  1955: Astra Dome dome cars are added to the City of Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Road takes over operation of the City of Los Angeles from the Chicago and North Western Railway between Chicago and Omaha.
  1956: Challenger and City of Los Angeles are combined and operate on the City of Los Angeles schedule. (The Challenger operated on its own schedule during a couple of summers thereafter.)
  1970: Dome dining cars retired and replaced with standard flat top cars.
  May 1, 1971: Amtrak takes over long-distance passenger operations in the United States.
  May 2, 1971: UP-operated long-distance rail service ends when the City of Los Angeles arrives at Los Angeles Union Station.
  In 1976 Amtrak created the short-lived Las Vegas Limited service which ran from Los Angeles to Las Vegas from May 21 to August 6, 1976. In 1979, the Desert Wind was introduced, mostly following the City of Los Angeles' route between Los Angeles and Ogden, Utah, where it connected to the Oakland-Chicago San Francisco Zephyr, once again offering Chicago-Los Angeles through service. The Desert Wind ceased operation in 1997.
caption: Circa 1955 westbound at Hermosa, WY.
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