During its first few months of existence in 1971, Amtrak operated through chair car and sleeper service between San Diego and Seattle on the tri-weekly Coast Starlight. The cars operated on ex-Santa Fe San Diegans between LA and San Diego.
This photo shows one of the San Diegans backing out of Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal during its second month of operation. The consist is two Santa Fe F-units, a Santa Fe baggage car, a Santa Fe lounge, a Santa Fe chair car, two SP chair cars, and an NP sleeper. The latter three cars had arrived from Seattle on the Coast Starlight about twenty minutes earlier.
The NP 10-6 sleeper on the rear was one of two built for Oakland-Seattle through service on the Cascade. Originally two-tone gray, then red and silver, its final colors came from the Loewy-designed two-tone green color scheme for the North Coast Limited.
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