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Union Pacific's Streamliners (excerpts)

By Joe Welsh

(Return to UP Passenger Index Page)

Excerpts for Joe Welsh's "Union Pacific Streamliners."

[pages 108-123]

In 1949, CB&Q, D&RGW, and WP inaugurated the California Zephyr between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. The beautiful new streamliner boasted five dome cars. Santa Fe received dome lounges in 1950 for its premier Super Chief between Chicago and Los Angeles. Northern Pacific reequipped its North Coast Limited between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest in 1954 with dome coaches and dome sleepers. Then, in 1955, Great Northern reequipped its premier Empire Builder with dome coaches and full-length dome lounges.

UP also ordered domes from American Car and Foundry in 1953 for its through City trains. The order was amended over time, and by its arrival in 1955 it comprised 10 dome coaches, 15 dome observation cars, and 10 dome diners. The City of Portland received one of each type for its five trainsets, while the new Challenger streamliner received five dome coaches and five dome observations. The City of Los Angeles was originally assigned five dome observations and five dome diners. UP stopped using its famous "Streamliners" moniker and began using the term "Domeliners" to describe its trains so equipped.

Shortly after they arrived, the dome observation cars assigned to the Challenger were shifted to the City of St. Louis. In 1958, six more dome coaches arrived to equip the City of St. Louis. Built to ACF's design, Pullman-Standard completed them. Five of the cars were owned by UP, while a sixth was owned by the Wabash.

The signature cars of the fleet were the UP dome diners. No other railroad in North America rostered dome dining cars, and the experience of dining above rooftop level with a bird's eye view of the American West was unparalleled. The cars contained booth seating for 18 upstairs under glass; downstairs another 18 seats were available at round tables -- something different from a typical railroad diner, which usually offered seating at square tables or booths. Beneath the dome was a small dining area with two tables that seated a total of 10 passengers. In October 1956, the dome observation cars were remodeled with blanked-out rear windows and the addition of diaphragms to allow them to be operated in mid-train service.

Compared to its City fleet running mates, the City of Denver seemed to languish. Well into the 1950s the train still operated with its original 1936 equipment, albeit renovated in 1947-1948. The City of Denver had been competing with one of the most famous and successful trains in America, the Burlington's Denver Zephyr, but that train, too, was also still running with its 1936 equipment. Finally, on January 15, 1953, the two prewar City of Denver trainsets were pulled out of service. Two makeup trains covered the route until January 1954, when the railroad introduced a new consist, comprising both rebuilt and new equipment.

But despite the new equipment, there was little respite for the City of Denver in the battle for revenues. Burlington reequipped its Denver Zephyr in October 1956, adding domes to the train's consist. One of the most profitable trains in the country, the reequipped Zephyr cost nearly $9 million. Among its most innovative features was a new Budd-built car called a Slumbercoach with 24 single rooms and eight double rooms that offered budget sleeping-car space at a small fee over the coach fare. In response, Pennsylvania Railroad 21-roomette sleepers Bedford Inn and Coatesville Inn were painted UP Armour yellow. They operated on the City of Denver with their rooms sold as Slumbercoach space. Despite offering a full-sized roomette (larger than the Budd car spaces) at a cost of only $7.50 over the coach fare, the service lasted only from October 1956 to April 1957 on the UP.

Originally devoid of domes, the City of Denver finally began carrying them in January 1958 when Milwaukee Road full-length Super Domes were part of the train for a year. They were displaced when one of the Chicago-Minneapolis Hiawathas, was combined with the Olympian Hiawatha.

The presence of Milwaukee Road domes on the City of Denver was evidence of a major shift in the operation of the City fleet that had occurred on October 30, 1955. Long-time partner C&NW had struggled financially for much of its life. By the mid-1950s, the railroad was beginning to take a dim view of its intercity passenger train operations and obligations because they had become a money-losing proposition for the road. The joint operators of the Overland fleet -- C&NW, UP, and SP -- shared the cost of the operation by maintaining equalization accounts designed to ensure that the partners equitably divided expenses. C&NW's deficit with the UP on this account was $1.1 million by 1954, a debt that was projected to double by 1955. UP offered payment terms to C&NW to bring the debt current, but C&NW wrote back that it could no longer afford to operate these through passenger trains.

Like any terminal railroad, the financially beleaguered C&NW had had to shoulder significant terminal expenses related to switching and the operation of facilities. Eventually, because of the discussions and the North Western's situation, Union Pacific chose to abandon operations over the C&NW and instead partner with the Milwaukee Road, which was in far better physical condition at that time. It was the rekindling of a relationship that had existed prior to World War I. But it was no love affair. UP would have to spend considerable effort ensuring that Milwaukee Road's operation of the City fleet met its own high standards.

Like many railroads elsewhere in the nation, and despite running a passenger fleet second to none, the UP experienced a significant decline in passenger revenues as Americans took to the air and the highway in ever-increasing numbers. Between 1952 and 1962, UP passenger earnings dropped from $39.9 million to $27.5 million, about a 30 percent decline in revenue. The railroad strove to remain competitive, adding new equipment and tweaking its train offerings. It also made other changes to encourage ridership and to cut costs to meet the bottom line. For example, in 1954 the extra fares were removed from the City of Los Angeles and the City of San Francisco. They were the last such extra fares charged on the UP. Selected Pullman car lines were also eliminated from the City of Portland, City of St. Louis, and City of Los Angeles.

On January 9,1955, despite the protest of partner Wabash Railroad, trains 11 and 12, the Idahoan, no longer carried through cars. The train had carried through City of St. Louis cars between Green River, Wyoming, and Portland, Oregon, and it had also carried cars destined beyond Portland to Seattle. With the change, the City of St. Louis became strictly a St. Louis-Los Angeles train with other through cars only for Oakland. Due to this cessation of through cars, all direct passenger service between St. Louis and the Pacific Northwest came to an end.

Even the flagship of the fleet wasn't immune to change. On June 2, 1956, the City of Los Angeles began operation as an all-Pullman Domeliner during the summer months and in peak mid-winter holiday periods; its running mate, the Challenger, became an all-coach Domeliner. The splitting of the two trains to accommodate summertime demand belied the economic circumstances surrounding the City fleet. At other times in off-peak months, beginning in 1956, both trains ran combined as one train. The practice of combining the two trains in off-peak periods continued until the coming of Amtrak in 1971.

More changes were on the horizon. In January 1959, the westbound City of Denver was combined with the City of Portland. The move resulted in the City of Portland visiting Denver. By September 1967, the City of Portland no longer visited Denver, running instead via Cheyenne, while the City of Denver cars split off the combined train at North Platte, Nebraska, operating to Denver separately. With the City of Portland's domes in the consist of the combined train, the Milwaukee Super Domes were removed from the City of Denver in 1959. Then, in September 1960, the City of San Francisco and the City of Los Angeles were consolidated, except during peak summertime periods. The same month saw the end of separate operation of trains Nos. 107 and 108; thenceforth the Challenger would always be combined with the City of Los Angeles or run as a separate section of trains Nos. 103 and 104. The City of St. Louis' Oakland cars began being carried by the City of San Francisco west of Ogden in 1962. In April 1964, the St. Louis train was combined with the City of Los Angeles west of Ogden. The result was that a City of St. Louis no longer ran west of Ogden.

But even into the mid-1960s, UP's passenger offerings were impressive when compared to other roads. The City of Los Angeles' summertime operations in that period still included an all-Pullman first section and an all-coach second section -- the Challenger Domeliner. By the summer of 1965, this rarity was one of only four all-Pullman or all-first-class trains still running in the country. The others were the prestigious Broadway Limited and the Panama Limited, which were carded year-round as all-first-class trains. The Super Chief frequently operated as an all-Pullman train, separated from its all-coach companion, the El Capitan, in the summer months and at Christmas time.

With the decision by the post office to terminate much of the carriage of mail by rail, a significant source of revenue that had been a major reason for operating passenger trains dried up. By January 1967, Railway Post Office cars had ceased operating between Los Angeles and Ogden on the Domeliner fleet. In October 1967, the post office discontinued operation of RPOs on SP's streamliners. Between 1967 and 1968, UP-route passenger revenues dropped nearly 20 percent. The following year revenues dropped more than 20 percent more. For some time, the UP fleet had been undergoing extensive consolidations, enabling the railroad to cut costs. In late 1967, using Cheyenne, Wyoming, as the pivot point, the entire UP City fleet was shuffled, split, or recombined before heading west or east.

With the loss of postal revenues, and with DC 8s and 707s leaving contrails at 30,000 feet over Sherman Hill on their direct four-hour flights from Chicago to the West Coast, it was only a matter of time until further drastic consolidations and changes occurred. Dome diners, the UP's signature car, came off the City of Portland in 1968 -- by now the train typically carried only two sleepers, both 10-6s.

In September of the same year, the now-combined City of Sait Francisco-City of St. Louis was merged with the City of Los Angeles-Challenger on a portion of its route. By June 1968, the City of St. Louis had become the City of Kansas City. Wabash successor, the Norfolk and Western, which took over the operation of the train when it merged with the Wabash in 1964, eventually ceased to carry City cars east of Kansas City. A Los Angeles-St. Louis sleeper lasted until April 29, 1968, while the through-St. Louis-Los Angeles and Oakland coaches lasted somewhat longer. N&W still provided a connection between St. Louis and Kansas City, but the direct City train service to St. Louis was gone.

Impacted by the steady decline in rail patronage, on January 1,1969, the Pullman Company ceased operating sleeping cars in the United States. The sizable UP sleeper fleet was now operated and staffed by the participating railroads (Pullman's maintenance of cars continued until August 1969). In September 1969, the combined City of Portland-City of Denver was combined with the City of San Francisco-City of Kansas City-City of Los Angeles-Challenger east of Green River, Wyoming. With affection or irony, railroad fans dubbed the massive train the "City of Everywhere." It sometimes ran 27 cars long on portions of its route.

The City of San Francisco began operating on a tri-weekly schedule early in 1970. Dome diners came off the flagship City of Los Angeles the same year. The cars were labor intensive, requiring more crew than a normal diner, but to many they distinguished the City fleet, and their passing was noticed. But maintaining luxury cars like dome diners was harder to defend to the railroad's upper management. In 1970, UP passenger revenues were only a third of what they'd been when the Domeliner fleet had been created in 1955. The company, which earned $30 million in passenger revenues in 1955, was now receiving just $9.75 million.

[end page 123]

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