Sunset Route

{{Short description|Railway in the Southwestern United States}} {{about|the modern transcontinental railroad|the historical rail line|Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway}} {{use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox rail line | box_width = 300px | name = Sunset Route | other_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | color = {{Rail color|Union Pacific Railroad}} | logo = | logo_width = | logo_alt = | image = A long freight train approaches between a wind-turbine farm and desert land outside the town of Cabazon in Riverside County, California LCCN2013631271.tif | image_width = 300px | image_alt = | caption = Union Pacific GE AC4400CW No. 7277 leads between a wind farm and desert land outside the town of Cabazon in Riverside County, California (2013) | type = {{ubl|Freight rail|Inter-city rail}} | system = | status =  | locale = Southwestern and Southeastern United States | start = Los Angeles, California | end = New Orleans, Louisiana | cost = | stations = | connectinglines = {{ubl|Yuma Subdivision|Gila Subdivision|Lordsburg Subdivision|Valentine Subdivision|Sanderson Subdivision|Del Rio Subdivision|Glidden Subdivision|Houston Subdivision|Lafayette Subdivision|Terminal Subdivision}} | routes = | daily_ridership = | ridership2 = | planopen =  | open = {{Start date|1883|2|5|df=y}} | yearcommenced =  | yearcompleted =  | close =  | event1label = | event1 = | event2label = | event2 = | event3label = | event3 = | owner = Union Pacific Railroad | operator = {{ubl|Union Pacific Railroad|Amtrak|BNSF Railway}} | character = | depot = | stock = | linelength_km = | linelength_mi = 760<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ble-t.org/news/traffic-booms-on-ups-sunset-route/#:~:text=July%201%2C%202005%20%7C%20Headlines%2C,going%20effort%20to%20add%20capacity.|title=Traffic booms on UP’s Sunset Route|website=Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen|date=July 1, 2005|access-date=March 29, 2026}}</ref> | linelength = | tracklength_km = | tracklength_mi = | tracklength = | tracks = 1–2 | gauge = {{Track gauge|sg|allk=on}} | old_gauge = | load_gauge = | minradius = | racksystem = | routenumber = | linenumber = | electrification = | speed_km/h = | speed_mph = | speed = | trainprotection = PTC | signaling = | elevation_m = | elevation_ft = | elevation = | website = | map = | map_name = map_name | map_state = uncollapsed | embedded = }}

The '''Sunset Route''' is a main line of the Union Pacific Railroad running between Southern California and New Orleans, Louisiana.<ref name=uprr>{{cite map|url=http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/maps/attachments/upcomnam.pdf|title=UPRR Common Line Names|publisher=Union Pacific Railroad|format=PDF|accessdate=4 Jan 2009}}</ref> It is the southernmost railway that connects the central United States to the U.S. Pacific Coast.

==History== The idea for this railroad dated before the American Civil War, as businessmen in the Southern United States wanted a direct connection to the Pacific Ocean. This was the rationale for the Gadsden Purchase.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Gadsden Purchase and a failed attempt at a southern railroad {{!}} Constitution Center |url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-gadsden-purchase-and-a-failed-attempt-at-a-southern-railroad |access-date=2025-01-26 |website=National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org |language=en}}</ref>

The name traces its origins to the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary which was known as the ''Sunset Route'' as early as 1874.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The line was built by several different companies and largely consolidated under Southern Pacific, with completion at the Colorado River in 1883.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://archive.org/details/annualreportboa54commgoog/page/n31 |title=Tenth Annual Report of the Board of Railroad Commissioners of the State of California for the Year Ending December 31, 1889 |date=1889 |page=11 |publisher=California Board of Railroad Commissioners}}</ref> Its construction prompted a frog war at the Colton Crossing, where it intersects the Southern Transcon, then owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and now by BNSF Railway.

The first trains departed for through service between Los Angeles, California and New Orleans on February 5, 1883.{{sfn|Hofsommer|1986|p=5}}

The Sunset Route previously extended northward from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California.{{sfn|Southern Pacific Company|1904|pp=2–4, 37–38}}{{sfn|Connell|2008|p=5}}

==Description== The Sunset Route's western terminus officially begins about {{convert|115|km|order=flip}} east of Los Angeles, in West Colton, California. Going eastward, the route immediately faces steep inclines of up to 1.9% as it reaches {{convert|2,560|ft}} in elevation at Beaumont Hill, near Palm Springs, California. It then turns southeast, quickly dropping to {{convert|201|ft}} below sea level at Wister, California on the landlocked Salton Sea. The route rises to {{convert|385|ft}} in elevation before dropping again as it goes through Yuma, Arizona, near the California and Mexico borders and close to where the Gila River discharges into the Colorado River. It turns directly east to Maricopa, Arizona, at the southern edge of the Phoenix metropolitan area, before turning to the southeast again to Tucson, Arizona. Heading eastward again, the route rises to {{convert|4,557|ft}} at Dragoon in southeast Arizona, drops to {{convert|3,600|ft}} in San Simon, Arizona, and then crosses the Continental Divide at {{convert|4,554|ft}} elevation at Wilna in southwest New Mexico before crossing into Texas at the Mexican border metropolis of El Paso.<ref name=Lustig/>{{sfn|Connell|2008|p=6}} The Sunset Route is the lowest railway that crosses the Continental Divide.<ref name=CreatingASunset>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206640897}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Creating a sunset |publication-date=November 2007 |pages=30–41 |volume=67 |number=11 |first=Fred W. |last=Frailey}}</ref>

[[File:From cab of Texas and New Orleans RR Train -86 coming into LaCoste, TX in 1960 (22417305036).jpg|thumb|Coming into LaCoste, Texas in 1960.]] At El Paso, the Sunset Route splits off into the Golden State Route, which is another main line that Union Pacific acquired in the Southern Pacific merger that heads northeast to Kansas City, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. The Sunset Route itself turns southeast past El Paso near the Rio Grande River within the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. At the town of Sierra Blanca, Texas, {{convert|90|mi}} from El Paso, the Sunset Route meets the western end of the former Texas and Pacific main line, acquired by Union Pacific when it merged with Missouri Pacific, that goes east-northeast through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.<ref name=RisingPhoenixWingedShield/> The Sunset Route continues heading roughly southeast within the Rio Grande watershed until it arrives at the Mexican border city of Del Rio, Texas; at that point, the route turns directly east through San Antonio, Texas, the Gulf Coast metropolis of Houston, Texas, and the eastern terminus of New Orleans, in southeast Louisiana on the Mississippi River Delta.<ref name=Lustig/><ref name=ElPasoFreight1>{{cite report |title=El Paso Region Freight Study |section-url=https://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/rail/freight/el_paso.pdf#page=46 |access-date=January 8, 2025 |publication-date=April 2011 |author=HNTB |publisher=Texas Department of Transportation |section=Section 4: Existing rail system inventory}}</ref> Between San Antonio and New Orleans, the Sunset Route meets several other Union Pacific-controlled main lines and branch lines,<ref name=TexasChemicalCoast>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206634466}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Texas' chemical coast |publication-date=October 1999 |pages=36–49 |volume=59 |number=10 |first1=J. Parker |last1=Lamb |first2=J. Paul |last2=Grice}}</ref><ref name=DontMessWithBigBird>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206642375}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Don't mess with the big bird |publication-date=March 2001 |pages=38–43 |volume=61 |number=3 |first=Fred W. |last=Frailey}}</ref><ref name=MapUPRRTrainsPerDay>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206639379}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Map of the month: Union Pacific railroad, trains per day |publication-date=November 2001 |pages=86–87 |volume=61 |number=11}}</ref> of which many are directional running operations.<ref name=MotM200911>{{cite magazine |title=Map of the month: Directional running |magazine=Trains |publication-date=November 2009 |pages=46–47 |id={{ProQuest|206649033}} |issn=0041-0934 |volume=69 |number=11 |last=Richards |first=Curtis W.}}</ref>

BNSF shares ownership of the Lafayette Subdivision.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bowen |first1=Douglas John |title=STB to weigh key trackage rights case |url=https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/stb-to-weigh-key-trackage-rights-case/ |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=Railway Age |date=2 December 2014}}</ref>

==Usage== The line is primarily used for freight, especially of intermodal freight transport, due to its close proximity and rail connections to the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. In the 1980s, Southern Pacific pioneered the carrying of intermodal containers on double-stack trains on the Sunset Route. The route also moves finished automobiles, grain, and other non-intermodal freight.<ref name=FastFreightGoldenState>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206639566}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Fast freight on Golden State |publication-date=November 2001 |pages=34–40, 47–53 |volume=61 |number=11 |first=Fred W. |last=Frailey}}</ref>

In 1998, the Los Angeles to El Paso section of the Sunset Route was hosting about 33 trains per day.<ref name=Frailey/> By 2007, 45 trains daily were operating through Maricopa, Arizona,<ref name=Giumette>{{cite news |last1=Giumette |first1=Joe |title=Union Pacific moving ahead with double track plans |url=https://www.inmaricopa.com/union-pacific-moving-ahead-with-double-track-plans/ |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=inMaricopa |date=14 November 2007}}</ref> 55 daily trains were running in 2015, and 90 were projected after the full completion of the second track on the Los Angeles to El Paso section.<ref name=Tully/> However, by 2019 the number of daily trains between Los Angeles and El Paso had dropped to 39, and the section east of El Paso in the Trans-Pecos region was hosting 12 trains per day.<ref name=Frailey>{{cite news |title=Whatever happened to UP? |url=https://cs.trains.com/trn/b/fred-frailey/archive/2019/10/20/whatever-happened-to-up.aspx |first=Fred |last=Frailey |date=October 20, 2019 |work=Trains |access-date=January 2, 2025}}</ref> In June 2024, the daily traffic in Wellton, Arizona was 28 trains (14 in each direction), of which a majority were intermodal freight trains, about a quarter were mixed freight trains, and 6% carried automobiles. The reduced number of trains were somewhat offset by increasingly large train lengths; several of the longest trains observed were at least {{convert|18,000|ft}} in length.<ref name=TrainsMag20240624>{{cite magazine |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=RailState shines spotlight on Union Pacific and BNSF train length in Southwest |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/railstate-shines-spotlight-on-union-pacific-and-bnsf-train-length-in-southwest/ |url-access=limited |date=24 June 2024 |first=Bill |last=Stephens |access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref>

The Amtrak ''Sunset Limited'' operates three round-trips weekly over the entirety of the route, and the ''Texas Eagle'' from Chicago is attached between San Antonio and Los Angeles. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a grant through its Corridor ID Program to increase the frequency of the ''Sunset Limited'' to full daily round-trip service. The program also issued grants to develop state-supported passenger routes between San Antonio and Houston, in the Phoenix–Tucson Corridor (using Sunset Route track between Picacho, Arizona and Tucson), and in the Coachella Valley Rail Corridor (using Sunset Route track between Colton, California and Coachella, California).<ref name=FRA_CID>{{cite press release |title=FY22 Corridor Identification and Development Program Selections |url=https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/fy22-CID-program-selections |access-date=January 3, 2025 |author=U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration |pages=5, 7, 9, 16 |date=December 8, 2023}}</ref>

==Western double-track project== When Southern Pacific Railroad merged with Union Pacific in 1996, the operating plan that was filed along with the merger application stipulated that one of the first major investments would be to double-track the Sunset Route between Los Angeles and El Paso.<ref name=Kaufman>{{cite news |title=Union Pacific's conundrum |department=Commentary |url=https://www.joc.com/article/union-pacifics-conundrum-5660949 |url-access=limited |access-date=January 4, 2025 |first=Lawrence H. |last=Kaufman |publication-date=June 20, 2005 |id={{Gale|A133682825}} |page=31 |volume=6 |number=25 |work=The Journal of Commerce |issn=1542-3867}}</ref> At the time of the merger, only about {{convert|245|km|order=flip}}, or approximately 20% of the route, were double-tracked.<ref name=Lustig/>{{sfn|Connell|2008|p=8}} However, the combined company's efforts to expand double-trackage between Los Angeles and El Paso were soon delayed in favor of more profitable investments on Union Pacific's pre-existing lines north of the Sunset Route to improve coal-hauling capacity or to better handle mixed-freight trains along the Central Corridor.<ref name=Kaufman/> Building on Southern Pacific's successful efforts in the 1980s to revive the Golden State Route from near disuse,<ref name=FastFreightGoldenState/> the merged company invested hundreds of million US dollars more to make extra improvements to the Golden State Route, and it spent similar amounts to rehabilitate the Texas and Pacific line from similar inactivity. Because of these updates, daily traffic increased on the Texas and Pacific line from 2 trains in 1996 to 19 trains in 2004. Both lines funneled additional trains onto the Sunset Route's Los Angeles–El Paso section, which exacerbated the traffic meltdown that occurred there in 2003–2004 after Union Pacific underestimated the strong economic recovery from the early 2000s recession.<ref name=RisingPhoenixWingedShield>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|206633221}} |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Rising phoenix on a winged shield |publication-date=February 2005 |pages=30–43 |volume=65 |number=2 |first=Fred W. |last=Frailey}}</ref>

Work to add the second track picked up in the mid-2000s,<ref name=Giumette />{{sfn|Connell|2008|pp=13–14}} and by late 2007, Union Pacific was targeting the complete double-tracking of the {{convert|757|mi|km|adj=mid}} Los Angeles–El Paso section by the end of 2010.<ref name=Gaub>{{cite news |work=East Valley Tribune |oclc=839895974 |title=Union Pacific plans to double-track across Arizona in '08 |url=https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/union-pacific-plans-to-double-track-across-arizona-in-08/article_40fee120-b5bb-5202-964b-a4b61d5326b3.html |date=November 16, 2007 |first=Adam |last=Gaub |access-date=January 4, 2025}}</ref>{{sfn|Connell|2008|p=17}} By 2012, 72% of that section, or {{convert|547|mi}}, would have two tracks, including the entire section between Tucson and El Paso. Union Pacific no longer provided a specific timeline for full completion of the second track, though.<ref name=Petrillo>{{cite news |last1=Petrillo |first1=Alan M. |title=Union Pacific double track work hits Northwest Tucson |url=https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/news/article_27ee17e6-3e6a-11e2-8096-0019bb2963f4.html |access-date=9 August 2021 |newspaper=The Northwest Explorer |date=5 December 2012}}</ref> {{as of|2015}}, the double-tracking project reached 80% completion.<ref name=Tully>{{cite magazine |magazine=Fortune |issn=0738-5587 |title=Profit engine on the rails |url=https://fortune.com/2015/06/04/union-pacific-railroad/ |date=June 4, 2015 |first=Shawn |last=Tully |volume=171 |number=8 |pages=210–214, 216, 218, 220 |access-date=January 5, 2025}}</ref> In 2024, Union Pacific announced the resumption of work to add the second main line on the remaining {{convert|127|mi}} of single-track railway.<ref name=Stephens>{{cite magazine |magazine=Trains |issn=0041-0934 |title=Union Pacific outlines volume growth plans and sets three-year earnings target |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/union-pacific-outlines-volume-growth-plans-and-sets-three-year-earnings-target/ |first=Bill |last=Stephens |date=September 19, 2024 |access-date=January 5, 2025}}</ref><ref name=2024InvestorDay>{{cite AV media |title=Union Pacific Corporation's 2024 Investor Day |location=Dallas, Texas |transcript=Union Pacific Live Investor Roadshow |transcript-url=https://investor.unionpacific.com/static-files/3b3e8a20-0fbd-4800-bb71-9182957af334#page=16 |date=September 19, 2024 |page=16}}</ref>

The new trackage would allow for maximum speeds of {{convert|70|mph}} for freight trains. It would incorporate concrete sleeper railroad ties, a track spacing of {{convert|20|ft|m|0}}, and a rail weight of {{convert|141|lb/yd}},<ref name=Lustig>{{cite magazine |id={{Gale|A269692139}} |last=Lustig |first=David |title=Expansion supports intermodal growth |magazine=Railway Gazette International |volume=167 |number=9 |publication-date=September 2011 |pages=36–42 |oclc=755015940 |issn=0373-5346}}</ref>{{sfn|Connell|2008|p=24}} which are Union Pacific's standards for tracks supporting heavy axle loads and for new double-track construction.<ref name=Magnificent7>{{cite magazine |magazine=Railway Age |issn=0033-8826 |title=The Magnificent 7: Union Pacific steps up to the challenge |volume=205 |number=9 |publication-date=September 2004 |pages=37–61 |id={{ProQuest|203770089}} |first=William C. |last=Vantuono |oclc=97622420}}</ref>

==Subdivisions== {{Yuma Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Gila Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Lordsburg Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Valentine Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Sanderson Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Del Rio Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Glidden Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Lafayette Subdivision|collapse=y}} {{Terminal Subdivision|collapse=y}} The Union Pacific has divided the Sunset Route into these subdivisions for operational purposes: *Yuma Subdivision *Gila Subdivision *Lordsburg Subdivision *Valentine Subdivision *Sanderson Subdivision *Del Rio Subdivision *Glidden Subdivision *Houston Subdivision *Lafayette Subdivision *Terminal Subdivision

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite conference |title=Expanding Capacity on Union Pacific's Sunset Route |url=https://railtec.illinois.edu/wp/wp-content/uploads/pdf-archive/DAC_Univ-IL_Sunset_finalpdf.pdf |date=March 28, 2008 |first=David |last=Connell |publisher=Union Pacific |access-date=January 2, 2025}} * {{cite book |last=Hofsommer |first=Donovan L. |title=The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985 |url={{GBurl|BsRvIUwLwFwC}} |date=1986 |publisher=Texas A & M University Press |isbn=9781603441278 |oclc=13333145}} * {{cite book |title=Wayside Notes Along the Sunset Route, Eastward from San Francisco |year=1904 |author=Southern Pacific Company |url={{GBUrl|C4E9AQAAMAAJ}} |via=Google Books |oclc=58904846}} * {{cite book |title=Wayside Notes Along the Sunset Route, West Bound |year=1911 |author=Southern Pacific Company |url={{GBUrl|zacpAQAAIAAJ}} |via=Google Books}} {{refend}}

Category:Union Pacific Railroad lines Category:Rail infrastructure in California Category:Rail infrastructure in Arizona Category:Rail infrastructure in New Mexico Category:Rail infrastructure in Texas Category:Rail infrastructure in Louisiana