Union Pacific Streamliner 2nd Train

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This page was last updated on May 15, 2023.

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(Portions of this Streamliner timeline are included as part of the larger UP Passenger Service Timeline)

2nd Train (M-10001)

M-10001 (two versions: 1934 and 1935-1939, )

M-10001 Timeline

Dates Service
October 2, 1934 Delivered to UP at Omaha
October 5, 1934 to October 19, 1934 Test runs, Omaha to Los Angeles
October 22, 1934 to October 25, 1934 Speed run, Los Angeles to New York City
October 25, 1934 to November 18, 1934 Eastern states tour, New York City to St. Louis
December 1934 Returned to Pullman for revision
May 1935 Returned to service after modification; new power unit; air conditioning
June 5, 1935 to July 24, 1935 City of Portland (as the first revision of the Second Train)
July 24, 1935 to March 3, 1936 (out of service, derailment damage and revisions)
March 3, 1936 to June 1939 City of Portland (as the second revision of the Second Train)
June 1939 to August 1941 (removed from service and stored)
August 1941 Trainset sold for scrap

M-10001 (1934)

Tapered sides, 10'-3" overall height (same as M-10000)

October 2, 1934
M-10001 was delivered as a six-unit (later seven-unit), fully-articulated train; returned to Pullman for improvements in December 1934.

M-10001 first had a 900 horsepower V-12 Winton engine.

M-10001 900 HP motor; rebuilt to 1200 HP in 1935
12200 RPO-baggage
E.H. Harriman 10 section-1 compartment, 1 bedroom (to Kitchen Diner, lounge 10300 in 1935)
Abraham Lincoln 10 section-1 compartment, 1 bedroom
Oregon Trail 8 section-1 compartment, 1 bedroom
10402 54 seat buffet-coach

Delivery and Speed Run

October 22-25, 1934
The six-unit consist M-10001 (locomotive and five cars) traveled coast-to-coast from Los Angeles to New York in a record-breaking run traveling the 3,250 miles in 56 hours 55 minutes; on the Union Pacific mainline between Cheyenne and Omaha (508 miles) it had an average speed of 82.7 MPH with many stretches averaging over 100 MPH. One was the long standing speed record between Dix and Potter (9 miles) in 4 minutes 30 seconds or 120 MPH.

(The later twin trains "City of Denver" operated for years on the fastest schedule in regular service in the country--Denver to Chicago (1,048 miles) in a total time of 16 hours including eight station stops for an average of 65.5 MPH.)

The Associated Press news stories published on October 24, 1934 in numerous newspapers across the nation referred to the M-10001 and its train as the "Canary Bolt," a nickname that was never used again in any published source, or in any railroad documentation.

National Tour

21 cities in 25 days, traveling over six railroads

December 1934
After several weeks of evaluation and redesigning, M-10001 was returned to Pullman for improvements, including a more powerful 1200 horsepower engine to replace its original 900 horsepower engine (which was installed in M-10002).

May 1935
Sleeper E. H. Harriman, delivered in October 1934 as part of the 2nd Train, was remodeled as a Kitchen Diner Lounge in May 1935, and included as part of the revised 2nd Train.

2nd Train (M-10001) [Revised]

M-10001 (1935 to 1939)

The revised 2nd Train, with M-10001 as its motive power, was accepted by Union Pacific on May 23, 1935 at the Pullman plant, then it ran to the C&NW Station in Chicago for display, after which it ran to Omaha.

(Previous reports show that the second power unit was rebuilt from the first, but research in Pullman documents has found that an entirely new power unit was constructed, and was originally the power unit of the planned but canceled third train. -- Pullman Specifications Letter, "Second Union Pacific Streamlined Train Changes", December 13, 1934, with updates to January 10, 1935)

The power unit of the revised M-10001 train had a 1200 horsepower V-16 Winton engine. The power unit was 12 feet longer and had four windows instead of three windows.

(The power unit of the first M-10001 train was rebuilt as the booster unit of the M-10002 train, completed in May 1936.)

Other modifications to the train at that time included the "humps" on the roofs at every-other articulation joint. Those "humps" were for air conditioning ducts to air condition the trailing car, and the under floor ducts were capped off. Apparently the "humps" were not liked (or didn't work well enough), and they were removed in the Fall of 1935, when the train was reworked again after the broken axle derailment in July. (Dick Harley, email dated March 6, 2012)

M-10001 1200 HP (power equipment used in December 1939 in new carbody, numbered as CD-07-C)
12200 RPO-baggage
10300 Kitchen Diner, lounge (from sleeper E.H. Harriman in 1935)
Overland Trail (new car) 8 section, 1 compartment, 1 bedroom
Abraham Lincoln 10 section, 1 compartment, 1 bedroom
Oregon Trail 8 section-1 compartment, 1 bedroom
10402 54 seat buffet-coach

May 23, 1935
The revised M-10001 (more horsepower, with added car) was accepted by Union Pacific at the Pullman plant, then it ran to the C&NW Station in Chicago for display, after which it ran to Omaha

UP's M-10001 was on public display as shown below:

June 4, 1935
M-10001 and its six-car train was christened as "City of Portland" on June 4th, at a ceremony at Portland, Oregon. (Ranks and Kratville, Union Pacific Streamliners, 1974, pages 82)

June 6, 1935
M-10001 departed Portland, Oregon, bound for Chicago, on the inaugural run of the "City of Portland". (Kratville and Ranks, Motive Power of the Union Pacific, 1960, page 218; Railway Age, Volume 98, Number 23, June 8, 1935, page 875; Ranks and Kratville, Union Pacific Streamliners, 1974, pages 82 and 343)

July 24, 1935
M-10001 was out of service from July 24, 1935 to February 6, 1936 due to a derailment at Nugget, Wyoming, on July 24, 1935 due to a broken axle. The M-10001 and the entire 2nd Train were removed from revenue service until February 6, 1936 pending a move to Pullman in Chicago for an investigation and remedy for the broken axle. Test runs were made in Nebraska on January 29-31, 1936, and a positioning move was made on February 1st to position the train in Portland for the resumption of service on February 6th. A steam-powered train with standard equipment protected the schedule of the 38 round trips that were annulled during the period the 2nd Train was out of service. (Thomas R. Lee, "Union Pacific's M-10000 and the Early Streamliner Period 1934-1941," page 83-84)

During the repairs, UP and Pullman took the opportunity to revise the train again. A few of the spotting features of the February 1936 revised train included a square vent between the first and second of the four windows on the side of the power unit, a new paint scheme, removal of the RPO section, and removal of humped covers for air conditioning ducts on carbody articulations.

M-10001 remained in City of Portland service from February 1936 to June 1939, when it was taken out of service. The entire trainset was sold for scrap in August 1941.

June 1939
The entire M-10001 train was removed from service and stored; replaced in City of Portland service by M-10002, which had been replaced in City of Los Angeles service in August 1938.

December 1939
The power equipment from M-10001 was removed and installed in a new car body, numbered CD-07-C for service on City of Denver

August 13, 1941
The empty car body of M-10001, and all of the articulated cars were sold for scrap.

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