It was advertised as the "most beautiful passenger train in the world,"[1][2][3][4][5] carrying a particular red, orange, and black color scheme.

The train operated on a 13-hour schedule between the Third and Townsend Depot in San Francisco and Central Station in Los Angeles, running on Fridays and Saturdays only.

Coach fare San Francisco to Los Angeles was $9.47 one way; in 1938 it dropped to $6 to match Santa Fe's Golden Gates.

[8] The Noon Daylight resumed on April 14, 1946, with timed bus connections serving Santa Cruz and Monterey.

The Coast Daylight ran behind steam until January 7, 1955, long after most streamliners had changed to diesel.

A 1966 study by the Stanford Research Institute found that it cost the Southern Pacific $18.41 to transport a passenger on the Coast Daylight between Los Angeles and San Francisco (equivalent to $173 in 2023), roughly twice that of air or bus service.

Reasons given included the labor-intensiveness of rail service, and the fact that a single consist could make only one trip per day.

[14] On November 14, Amtrak extended the Oakland–Los Angeles train to San Diego, renumbered it to #12/13, and renamed it Coast Daylight.

[16] On June 10, 1973, Amtrak began running the combined Coast Daylight/Starlight daily for the summer months.

[17] Positive response led to Amtrak to retain this service, and the Coast Daylight name was dropped on May 19, 1974.

[18] Amtrak has worked on plans for resuming Coast Daylight service from San Francisco to Los Angeles since the early 1990s.

[19] A review of the possibility of service restoration was made on August 14, 2014; the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) organized and hosted a meeting between the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency and the Coast Rail Coordinating Council (CRCC), where substantial progress was made toward identifying which specific policy initiatives would be given priority so that restoration of the Coast Daylight service might be effectuated before the end of the decade.

[20] A plan by Chicago-based Corridor Capital would involve the use of ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level cars and EMD F59PHI locomotives in a top-and-tail formation.

The parlor-observation car seated 10 in the rear, rounded-off observation area and a further 23 in the adjoining parlor section.