Union Pacific Heritage Fleet

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on July 13, 2024.

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Overview

A roster listing of Union Pacific's steel passenger cars after 1971, including the excursion fleet used with the steam locomotives and other special operations, and other cars operated after the startup of Amtrak in May 1971.

Other than officer cars, Union Pacific did not use a tool car, or other cars dedicated to the steam program until 1981, when they started making longer trips and needed to carry more supplies. This includes cars used for the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days train. That first car in 1981 was a 6300-series baggage car with virtually no external changes from its regular-service days. The same car (UPP 6334, "Art Lockman") is still in use today.

The following index and roster listing of Union Pacific's steel business and executive cars, includes cars owned by subsidiary roads OSL, OWRR&N and LA&SL, and former C&NW, MKT, MP, and SP cars.

Unless noted, all cars are lightweight construction.

Current Heritage Fleet

The UPP reporting mark was first used in April 1986, when Business Car 100 was renumbered to Business car UPP 119, and Arden had its first number applied, as UPP 100. Other early uses were in July 1987 on much of the steam program equipment. The UPP reporting mark was officially registered with AAR in January 1994.

Car Name To Car Number Cross Reference -- Cross reference of Business car and Heritage fleet car names to car numbers.

UPP Number Roster -- A listing of the current Heritage Fleet

The following index should be used by locating the car name/number within the range of names/numbers in the two left-hand columns, then clicking on the file name in the far right-hand column.

Starting Group	Ending Group	File
Business "Arden"	Business UPP 115	heritage-fleet-1
Business 116	Sleeper 1610	heritage-fleet-2
Exhibit 1869	Tool Car 904304 "Art Lockman"	heritage-fleet-3
Former C&NW, MKT, MP, and SP cars	Coach ATAX 4623 Canada Discovery Train Mexico Sale Miscellaneous Consists	heritage-fleet-misc
Water Cars		water-cars

UPP Numbers (1986)

The first use of UPP appears to be in April 1986 (for UPP 119, ex UP business car 100), and in July 1987 (for the 200 and 300 series cars).

Due to much confusion stemming from the difficult integration of the UP's COIN car tracking computer system with MP's TCS car tracking computer system after the UP/MP merger, a source with UP reported that they first started using the UPP initials to make the UP-owned passenger cars more obvious in the computer listings. Certain MP guys hated UP's whole concept of operating a large fleet of passenger equipment. So much in fact, that they were able to sell off about half of the fleet before someone high enough on the UP side was able to stop the sell-off, hence all the cars that were sold to Mexico in 1987. The pro-passenger guys went into the new TCS system and added UPP to all of *their* passenger cars so they could track them quicker. It's quite a story of corporate insider intrigue.

A similar story took place on the 120 locomotives that the MP guys leased (some say, gave) to Mexico in 1989 as a quick way to get them off the motive power books to improve failure reporting numbers. The UP guys wanted to get them back and at least be able to sell them off, whereas the MP guys would have been happy to have them all simply disappear. The UPM, MPM, and MKM initials were initiated to denote the Mexico lease units, much like the UPP initials had been created for the passenger fleet.

1986-1987 Sale To Mexico

1988-1989 Upgrade

Beginning in July 1988 and continuing in 90-day completion cycles for each car through the end of November 1989, 12 cars in the Heritage Fleet were put through an upgrade program in the Omaha car shop. Originally, each car was to be renumbered upon completion, but this was not the case. Upon completion, each car received the new UPP reporting mark, but retained its original number. The planned but unused UPP number is shown in italics. Included were: "Cabarton" UP 202, Mechanical Staff Car; UP 5468, Coach (UPP 304); UP 5473, Coach (UPP 305); UP 5480, Coach (UPP 306); UP 5483, Coach (UPP 307); UP 5486, Coach (UPP 308); UP 6203, Lounge (UPP 303); UP 4808, Diner (UPP 300); UP 4810, Diner (UPP 301); UP 9005, Diner (UPP 9005); UP 5714, Baggage (UPP 310); UP 5779, Baggage (UPP 311); UP 210, Mobile Lab car (UPP 204). Cars that did not already have electric heat, had the feature installed. (from an internal Union Pacific document)

Dome Cars in October 1990

Union Pacific purchased three dome cars lettered and numbered as KCS 21, 22 and 19. These are the former UP 7001, UP 7015, and UP 8008. All three had been sold to Auto Train in 1972, becoming AT 701, 709, and 807, respectively. They were sold in 1981 to the leasing and credit subsidiary of Kansas City Southern Industries, and were renumbered as KCS numbers. This equipment remained in Auto Train's white red-maroon scheme after purchase from Auto Train and remained parked in Kansas City, Missouri, near the Mid America Car shops. After purchase by Union Pacific, Mid America Car readied the cars for movement and interchange to Council Bluffs, Iowa, on October 21, 1990. They are currently [October 1990] at Omaha car shops being stripped and readied for sheet metal and corrosion control. Once body work is completed, cars will be refurbished and returned to UP service. Estimate is for UP 8008 being finished in 1991 and UP 7001 and 7015 being finished in 1992. (Car Notes, George R. Cockle, October 25, 1990)

Heritage Fleet Cabooses

There have been three cabooses specifically assigned to UP's Heritage Fleet.

UP 25749 -- Built in October 1975; UP's last cupola caboose; ; used in regular end-of-train service until the end of caboose operations in the mid-1980s; stored at Cheyenne, Wyoming, until about 2000, then donated to the City of Campbell, Texas; still there as of September 2012.

UPP 24567 -- Built in November 1967 as CRI&P 17149; to UP 24567 in April 1980; used in regular end-of-train service until the end of caboose operations in the mid-1980s; preserved as part of the steam program at Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 2013, UP 24567 was donated to Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Southern California Chapter, and moved to Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona, California, at the same time that UP 4-8-8-4 4014 was removed. The actual move took place in January 2014.

UPP 25809 -- Built in May 1979; used in regular end-of-train service until the end of caboose operations in the mid-1980s; retained by UP for special switching moves; converted in August 2009 to snow bus service; body modified by enclosing "porches" for special service moving crews to remote locations during bad weather; assigned initially to Green River, Wyoming; moved to Cheyenne by late 2013 (also used in Denver area during 2016). UP 25809 was changed to UPP 25809 and assigned to UP's Heritage fleet at Cheyenne in 2019 to replace previous caboose 24567, which was donated to the Pomona museum in 2014 along with other equipment; UPP 25809 is used with UP 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" 4014.

Donation to RRHMA, 2022

On April 28, 2022 Union Pacific and Railroading Heritage of Midwest America made a joint announcement that several pieces of equipment would be donated to RRHMA, and moved to the RRHMA site in Silvis, Illinois, in late summer 2022.

Magazine Article

Union Pacific Business Cars, The Lightweight Era 1952-1990, By David A. Seidel. The Streamliner, Volume 25, Number 1, Winter 2011 (23 pages, with photos and equipment diagrams)

Other Information

Kitchen Stoves

David Seidel wrote in August 2023:

In the last number of years, the kitchen stoves in Union Pacific passenger equipment has been going through an upgrading being converted to all electrical stoves; the electrical cabinets have to be upgraded with bigger back generators and transformers.

A short history on the stove fuel used in Union Pacific passenger equipment: Up to around 1980 the pressed (sawdust) wood logs were still used; after the pressed wood logs were becoming unavailable, the stoves were switched to propane. When the head end power conversation began in 1991, the propane stoves were retained.

At the present time the remaining propane fueled stoves in diner "City of Portland" has not been replaced. The kitchen in this car is used mainly for refrigeration and food set up with no need for cooking as it is used (for additional table space) in conjunction with a regular diner.

Electrical conversation has been done in diners "City of Los Angeles", "City of Denver" and "Overland"; crew car "Willie James"; rear end inspection cars "Fox River" and "Idaho"; and the business car "Lincoln".

In the rest of the business cars cooking with the stoves are rare (as they are used in consists with a regular upgraded diner) with only the refrigeration used; however, the propane connections are still in use on the business cars "Cheyenne", "Feather River" and "St Louis".

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