Since we have a large selection of Alco passenger equipment coming out for both UP and SP, I figured it would be wise to see what I could whip up from my skins on Diecastgalore and Magicland's passenger cars.
A few days and some google searches later, we've got 1947-accurate consists for Cities trains. Interesting to note, by 1947, the UP, SP, and C&NW only
barely had enough equipment to cobble together enough consists for daily service on the three major routes (Chicago - San Francisco, Portland, and Los Angeles). All three roads were forced to pull from their own stock of non-joint passenger equipment, and several trains (most notably the
Challenger) were canceled to provide enough equipment. This meant, however, that for a few years between 1947 and 1950, passenger train consists were relatively fixed as there was no supplementary or overflow equipment available to change the consists.
Motive power was another issue. As all three roads were only just taking delivery of new diesel motive power, and all three roads had other passenger trains to dieselize, motive power consists got... interesting between 1947 (when daily service started) and around 1950, when the roads began taking delivery of EMD E8s. Any combination of Alco passenger units, EMD F and E units, and even on occasion Fairbanks-Morse Erie Builts, could be seen at the head end of these trains as the three roads scraped the bottom of the barrel for any power they could throw together to get the trains over the road.
With that context out of the way, first up are a pair of City of San Francisco consists.
Train 101, Westbound, September 2, 1947:
Leading the train is a trio of Alco PAs.
Baggage car 5614, delivered to the UP in 1942 for the
Challenger:
Baggage-dormitory 5613, delivered in 1942 as a baggage car for the
Challenger, rebuilt in 1946 to a Baggage-dorm for
Cities service:
C&NW 48-seat coach 3421, delivered in 1937 as some of the first streamlined equipment for the
Los Angeles Challenger:
SP 44-seat coach 2491, delivered in 1937 to the SP for general service use:
SP diners 10200 and 10201, both built in 1937 for the first streamlined
Daylight consists:
Pullman 4-4-2 sleepers Angel Island, Sutro Heights, and North Beach, built for Cities backup service between 1937 and 1941. (Also omitted in this consist is another 4-4-2 sleeper,
Lakeside, which seems to have been added around November, 1947):
Following that are three Pullman 6-6-4 sleepers, American Beauty, American Heights, and American Captain, all built in 1942:
And then bringing up the markers is lounge-observation Nob Hill, built in 1937 for City of San Francisco service: