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"Sunset Route" History and the 1915
Horseless Carriage
- story
by: Sunset Route LTD
The
"Sunset
Route" was the Southern Pacific Railroad's "New Orleans
to San Francisco" train route. The S&P Railroad coined the name
"Apache Trail" and "Apacheland" in 1914 as an advertising campaign
for the upcoming San Francisco Exposition in 1915... the name stuck
ever since. Prior to 1914 the Apache Trail was also known as the
Roosevelt to Mesa Road.
 The
Southern Pacific was one of the
first coast to coast railroads and played a major role in attracting
tourists from all over the world. Their coast to coast train ride
cost $360 per person, round trip.
The S&P "Sunset
Route"
lines offered an extended 120 mile motorcar side trip over the
Apache Trail from the Bowie/Globe exchange to Phoenix. This was an
additional $20 per person plus $4 for the Ancient Cliff Dwelling
tour as outlined in the 1922-23 winter touring schedule on the
right. Not bad for a first class, coast to
coast train ride with an added motorcar tour for only $384... round
trip.
Today, the Apache Trail is still considered one of the most scenic
road trips in the United States and is the second most photographed
area in the state of Arizona.
The Apache Trail
was the only direct southern route for motorcar travelers going to
California from the east coast. The trail also happened to connect
the Southern Pacific Railroad's Bowie station to Phoenix.
The Apache Trail
premiered in travel ads for the 1915 California Exposition. The
Apache Trail Auto Line served as an extra added adventure for those
who wanted to take a motorcar trip from the Bowie/Globe station to
Chandler or Phoenix via the Apache Trail.
In 1922 the Arizona
Department of Transportation completed Route 70 (now Route 60) which
was a more direct and efficient way to connect Globe and Mesa. The
grades were not as steep as the Apache Trail and it served as a much
safer route for truckers who were hauling big, heavy loads cross
country.
Except for
Tortilla Flat,
by 1928 most of the service stations along the Apache Trail closed
due to lack of travelers. The excitement of the Apache Trail seemed
to die off by the early 1930's.
The Southern Pacific
Railroad stopped advertising the Apache Trail as a "side attraction"
in the late 1930's. By early 1942 the Southern Pacific Railroad
suspended all civilian travel and utilized the Southern Pacific railroad
and the Sunset Route for the war
effort.
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