The Lark was an overnight passenger train of the Southern Pacific Company on the 470-mile (760 km) run between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The train's namesake, though neither nocturnal nor native to the New World, has historically symbolized the arrival of a new day, mainly through Chaucer (The Knight's Tale of The Canterbury Tales) and Shakespeare's sonnets which describe the lark's singing at first light.

[5] During World War II, coaches were added to the train along with 500-series 6-section, 6-roomette, 4-double bedroom cars reassigned from Overland Route service to the Oakland Lark.

On July 15, 1957, the Lark was combined with the Starlight, an overnight chair car train.

[6][7] The 1960s saw the removal of the triple-unit diner/lounge and the replacement of the two-tone gray color scheme by silver with a red stripe.

The "Daylight" colors were also gone from the locomotives, replaced by dark gray with a red nose.

[8] Stations in parentheses:[9] The SP assigned streamlined GS-3 and GS-4 4-8-4 "Northern" steam locomotives painted in the Daylight colors of two shades of orange.

During its final months, the train was powered by EMD SDP45 hood units painted dark gray with red nose.