A friend of mine in Santa Maria sent me this article from the San Luis Obispo Tribune newspaper way back when and I found it looking for an old Trains magazine. Here is that article -

"Night Train on Track for Thursday"

Several dozen county (San Luis Obispo) dignitaries and Amtrak representives(sic) are expected to make the grade Thursday afternoon when Amtrak kicks off its first overnight train service between Sacramento and Los Angeles in 15 years.

But an obscure constitutional provision may derail plans for about 50 state officials to ride free on that inaugural run.

County officials are scheduled to be bussed from San Luis Obispo to Paso Robles to meet state officials already aboard the train for a champagne party during a ride down Cuesta Grade to the SLO depot.

State officials accepted invitations from the state Departmemt of Transportation and Amtrak to make the run Thursday. Public runs officially begin Sunday.

A section of the state Constitution threatens public officials with removal from office if they accept free rides from a railroad.

While the Department of Transportation said Tuesday that it is advising officials of the danger of accepting the free ride, a department spokesman said CalTrans officials believe state officials can safely ride the train because it is not a "revenue producing" trip.

Round trip excursion fare for the new service will be $69.00 for a trip that leaves Los Angeles at 8:25pm and arrives in Sacramento at 9:30am the next day. Southbound passengers will leave the capital at 7:55pm and reach Los Angeles at 9am the next day. The excursion fare tickets must be used within 32 days after they have been purchased.

Daytime roundtrip fare aboard Amtrak's "Starlight" between Los Angeles and Sacramento is $106.00.

The overnight run came about after a lengthy battle that began in 1977 when CalTrans proposed it and Southern Pacific Transportation Co opposed it.

On July 15 the National Rail Arbitration Panel ruled that Amtrak could begin overnight service within 60 days.

The trains are to run 7 days a week and each train will have about 300 seats and will include some sleeper cars. CalTrans predicts 160,000 passengers will ride the train in the first year of service and use will climb to 300,000 in five years.

The night train will be named in a contest.


This must be from 1981 or 1982.



Ernie