The Coast Daylight, originally known as the Daylight Limited, was a passenger train on the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, via SP's Coast Line. It was advertised as the "most beautiful passenger train in the world," carrying a particular red, orange, and black color scheme. The train operated from 1937 until 1974, one of the few passenger trains retained by Amtrak in 1971. Amtrak merged it with the Coast Starlight in 1974. History Southern Pacific Southern Pacific introduced the Daylight Limited on April 28, 1922. The train operated on a 13-hour schedule between the Third and Townsend Depot in San Francisco and Central Station in Los Angeles, running on Fridays and Saturdays only. In 1922 and 1923, the train ran seasonally, beginning in April and ending in November. Daily operation began in July 1923. The SP shortened the running time to 12 hours for the 1924 season. Until the late 1920s, it made no intermediate stops (except for servicing). Its 12-hour schedule was two hours shorter than any other train on its route. The streamlined Daylight began on March 21, 1937, pulled by GS-2 steam locomotives on a -hour schedule. It was the first of the Daylight series that later included the San Joaquin Daylight, Shasta Daylight, Sacramento Daylight, and Sunbeam. Coach fare San Francisco to Los Angeles was $9.47 one way; in 1938 it dropped to $6 to match Santa Fe's Golden Gates. By June 30, 1939, the streamlined Daylights had carried on for an average occupancy of 344 passengers. The Coast Daylight ran behind steam until January 7, 1955, long after most streamliners had changed to diesel. A second train, the Noon Daylight, ran the same route 1940–42 and 1946–49 with a suspension during World War II. The original Coast Daylight became the Morning Daylight during this time. In 1949 the Noon Daylight was replaced by the overnight Starlight using the same equipment. In 1956 coaches from the Starlight were added to the all-Pullman Lark and the Starlight was discontinued in 1957. Amtrak later revived the name for its Los Angeles to Seattle service known as the Coast Starlight. A 1966 study by the Stanford Research Institute found that it cost the Southern Pacific $18.41 to transport a passenger on the Coast Daylight between Los Angeles and San Francisco (), roughly twice that of air or bus service . Reasons given included