City of Portland (train)
The City of Portland was a luxury night train between Portland (Oregon) and Chicago operated from 1935 to 1971 by the Union Pacific Railroad in cooperation with Chicago & North Western (from 1955 with Milwaukee Road ) . The westbound train operated under no. 105, train no. 106 drove east.
One day after the Union Pacific presented its first seven-part streamlined train to the public on the occasion of the “Portland Rose” festival, the M-10001 of the “City of Portland” began service on June 6, 1935, as the first diesel-electric transcontinental night train the 3,656 km long route. Since the UP had no routes of its own east of Omaha, the train to and from Chicago was operated in cooperation with Chicago & North Western (C&NW). Although the previous travel times were reduced by almost 20 hours, only five vehicle rotations per month were possible with just one train unit. Nevertheless, the "City of Portland" was 39 hours and 45 minutes not only the first streamlined train with Pullman - sleeping car service , but also as the fastest to travel between the Pacific Coast and Chicago.
Shortly after the start of operations, the new train was damaged during a flank journey and returned after repairs on January 26, 1936 in a different paint scheme. On March 28, 1939, the Union Pacific took the M-10001 out of service.
First, the Union Pacific continued the “City of Portland” with the M-10002, originally procured for the “City of Los Angeles” in May 1936, until August 1941, after which a train composition operated by two EMD E3 diesel locomotives took over the service of the “City” of Portland ". The car train consisted of articulated cars from the former M-10004 multiple unit, in which four former M-10002 intermediate cars were gradually returned to the "City of Portland" circuit between October 1941 and February 1946. The last 15-part wagon unit retired from the "City of Portland" on February 23, 1947, when the Union Pacific expanded the timetable with new diesel locomotive-hauled passenger wagons to include a daily long-distance train connection from Chicago to the Pacific.
In late October 1955, traffic east of Omaha passed from C&NW to Milwaukee Road . In the same year, the “City of Portland” (alongside the “City of Los Angeles”) was the only long-distance train to receive the UP “Astra Dome Car” - observation cars that were also designed as full-fledged dining cars. With the transition of passenger trains to Amtrak , the "City of Portland" ended on May 1, 1971.
Picture gallery
The M-10001 as the “City of Portland” streamlined train in its original livery from 1934/1935
The M-10001 as the streamlined "City of Portland" in its modified livery from 1936
After the Second World War, the "City of Portland" was hauled by EMD E-series diesel locomotives ...
... and was one of the few Union Pacific passenger trains with an “Astra Observation Dome Car”.
literature
- G. Freeman Allen: The fastest trains in the world - the fast traffic in the past, present and future . franck, 1980, ISBN 3-440-04856-X .
- W. David Randall, William G. Anderson: The Official Pullman-Standard Library - Vol. 13 Union Pacific 1933-1937 . RPC Publications Inc., 1993