Nostalgia & History > UP: LA to NY speed record run - 1930s

This is a clip out of a 1935 Pennzoil commercial featuring a number of land and air speed records, all of which presumably used Pennzoil in the engines, and of course that was the only reason that the speed record could be set. :-)

This was the only one that was a railroad speed record, but it was one I hadn't known about. I don't know if they are exaggerating the 120 MPH speed (sure couldn't do that today!) but it is interesting footage anyway.
 

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Like many trains, they did 120 in certain areas with long tangents. The Santa Fe Golden Gate got up to 110 near Hanford and Corcoran CA back in the late 30s and early 40s...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

Here's a very rough estimate of average speed.  The end of the video claims LA to NY in 56 hours 55 minutes.  From a 1937 UP timetable, the distance from LA to Omaha is 1810 miles (via SP west of Salt Lake City), and Omaha to Chicago via the CNW is 488 miles.  If they continued on the New York Central to NY, that's approximately 959 more miles.

So the average speed on this trip was a respectable 57 MPH for LA to NY, including time spent transferring in Chicago.   I'll leave others to comment on whether that is record material!

Cool video (film actually). Loved seeing some of the line from L.A. eastward. At 19-23 seconds shows Bluff road and the Whittier Narrows aquifer bridge between Montebello and Pico (before it became Pico-Rivera). :39-:43 shows the same area with an aerial view. I think the depot at :44-:45 is the Pico depot (kind of hard to tell with the quick glimpse). Pico was one of the few depots on the south side of the rails on the line from L.A. to Riverside, most were on the north side. :56-1:07 is Ontario to Mira Loma with grape vineyards in the background.-BMT