UP’s KCLA – Kansas City-Los Angeles manifest – was short-lived attempt by the railroad to avoid the congestion of its transcontinental main across Nebraska by running a daily Kansas City- Los Angeles hotshot via Denver and the old Kansas Pacific. The train, which handled mainly auto parts, lasted only a couple years in the mid-1960s until speed restrictions and mounting labor costs ended the experiment. Here, on January 4, 1967, the KCLA is nearing the end as it arrives at Sandown Junction just east of Denver behind DD35A 73 with DD35B’s 92B and 85B. In a few months, the historic Kansas Pacific will lapse back into its familiar torpor – a daily freight either way, a few locals, seasonal wheat extras and what's left of the Portland Rose.
