The Southern Pacific launched its “Overnight Merchandise Service” in 1933 using a combination of rail and truck service for LCL deliveries. In 1935, the railroad began operating dedicated daily weekday trains. Boxcars were initially painted black with orange borders, making them easy to distinguish from the general service pool. A winged SP herald emblem was used to advertise the service and an artist mock up was made on the builder’s photo for car 9127, but it was never applied in real life. The more familiar Overnight arrow emblem began appearing in 1946. Trailer on flatcar service was added to the train consist in 1953 and the trains remained popular, running between 25 and 50 cars on average and continued well into the diesel era. In the spirit of this great service and marketing, Lionel is taking the Overnight to the next level! It’s 1953 and the Southern Pacific is competing hard with the highways for the business - so what if the train got another lift? This complete set includes an AC-9 trimmed out to match it’s consist. Freight cars include four Overnight boxcars including the proposed wing scheme on 9127 and an additional outside braced boxcar along with two Postwar style cars including one with FreightSounds. The program started with trailer service, so it only makes sense to include a special piggyback flatcar in this train. Inspired by the boxcar program, both the flat and trailers feature a special Overnight black and orange paint scheme. And a train this special deserves a matching caboose. This set includes another black beauty, complete with full VISION features. You could expand the consist with additional boxcars available separately. The train may be black as night, but you’ll enjoy this set at all hours!