Kairo, your recollection is not of a Connie, but rather an Electra. PSA operated a fleet of Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft until they were replaced by Boeing B727 aircraft in the early 1970s. A handful of Electras (4?) were "un-retired" a few years later, providing service to South Lake Tahoe (TVL) and eventually RNO...
...as a PSA new hire in 1975 I enjoyed working those airplanes, but that opinion was not universally shared. The airplane was loud, the cargo bays cramped, and the huge props intimidated anyone within 50ft of the airplane when everything was powered up. They were popular with the flight crews, and we all enjoyed the occasional weekend ski trips to Heavenly or North Shore.The Electra represented a big leap forward from the reciprocating engine powered Connies and DC-7s of the previous generation. Its time in the US domestic market was brief, as the jets quickly replaced anything with props in all but the regional markets. However,its US Navy brother, the P-3
"The Midnight Flyer" was the marketing name for those cheap late night flights that you recall. These were actually mail flights, underwritten by the State of California. Two flights operated six (?) days a week, one southbound from SMF, the northbound from LAX, crossing in SFO. The bellies were stuffed with mail with barely enough room for passenger luggage. We were legally allowed to strap mail into passenger seats only on those flights, but fortunately that didn't occur frequently.
The replacement aircraft for the delayed flight that you remember would have been a Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop...in the mid 1970s PSA operated a small number of "unretired" Electras from SFO and BUR to TVL and RNO. They really weren't that old by today's standards, just obsolete. They were still a good match to markets like South Lake Tahoe and Reno. A Good Airplane.
A few of us old PSA'ers still survive after all the mergers over the decades. Our co-workers refer to us as Raisins, as in Califor