Union Pacific Dome Dining Car #7011 "Missouri River Eagle"

Union Pacific Dome Dining Car #7011, Missouri River Eagle, was originally built by Pullman-Standard in November 1958 as Dome Coach #7012. It was part of Pullman-Standard's last group of dome cars: five for Union Pacific's City of St. Louis (including #7015, also in this train) and one of the same design for the Wabash railroad. In June 1972, the car was sold to AutoTrain for use between Virginia and Florida, becoming AutoTrain #708. After AutoTrain shut down in April 1981, the car was sold to the James E. Strates Shows circus in December 1981, later to Kasten Rail Car in 1984 and eventually to the Hartwell Lowe Corporation of Yucca Valley, California as HLCX #1898, Marion Mattison. In 1988, the car was sold to Scenic Rail Tours and was rebuilt by Northern Rail Car into Dome Dining Car #7011, Mountain View, in 1989. Scenic Rail Tours was bought out by Transcisco Tours in October 1990, and the car was renamed Emerald Bay. Transcisco Tours went bankrupt and the car was returned to Northern Rail Car in August 1991, who immediately leased it to the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago for Michigan Wine Country Dinner Train service. In May 1993, Northern Rail Car sold the car to Union Pacific and it became #7011 and was named Missouri River Eagle after the Missouri Pacific Railroad's first, and last operating, diesel-powered streamliner, which operated from St. Louis to Omaha from March 1940 to September 1965, when the route was cut back from Omaha to Kansas City. Service on the shorter route continued until April 1971.

Union Pacific did originally own a Dome Coach of this design with the number 7011. That car is currently in Mexico. This car was originally #7012.

Union Pacific 44-Seat Coach #5468 "Katy Flyer"

Union Pacific 44-Seat Coach #5468, Katy Flyer, was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954. It has remained in Union Pacific service ever since. It was given the name Columbine in 1989 after the Union Pacific train that ran between Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado from 1929 to 1950, then renamed City of San Francisco in 1992 after the jointly operated Union Pacific/Southern Pacific/Chicago & North Western streamliner that ran between Chicago and Oakland, California from June 1936 to April 1971. In 1993 it was renamed Katy Flyer, after the Missouri-Kansas-Texas train that ran between St. Louis, Missouri and Galveston, Texas from 1896 to 1961.

Union Pacific 44-Seat Coach #5436 "City of Salina"

Union Pacific 44-Seat Coach #5486, City of Salina, was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954. It has remained in Union Pacific service ever since. It was given the name Challenger in 1989, after Union Pacific's all-coach Challenger train that ran between Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California from May 1936 to April 1971, and was renamed City of Salina in 1992, after Union Pacific's first streamliner and America's first high-speed, internal-combustion passenger train, which operated between Kansas City, Topeka and Salina, Kansas from January 1935 to December 1941.

Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 in Portland, Oregon, in 1995

Union Pacific's articulated 4-6-6-4 Challenger steam locomotive #3985 came to Portland, Oregon, on September 26, 1995. It was built by the American Locomotive Company in July 1943 as part of Union Pacific's 4664-4 Class, the railroad's fourth group of Challengers. It was retired in July 1962 and retained for the railroad's permanent collection. It was placed on display next to the depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

In September 1979, the Challenger was removed from display for restoration to operation. It was reinstated to the Union Pacific roster in March 1981 and returned to service in April 1981. It was converted from coal to oil in July 1990. The locomotive has an operating weight of 633,500 pounds (1,070,000 pounds with tender), with 407,500 pounds on the drivers.

The Challenger's cars were left at Union Station while it was serviced and displayed across the river at Albina Yard. Many of these cars would have visited Union Station many times while in regular passenger service with the Union Pacific prior to Amtrak's creation in 1971. As Union Pacific's merger with the Chicago & North Western had occurred earlier in the year, the train also included two cars from the C&NW fleet.

The train included the following cars:

• UP Coach #5486 City of Salina
• UP Coach #5468 Katy Flyer
• UP Dome Diner #7011 Missouri River Eagle
• UP Power Car #208
• UP Dome Coach #7015 Challenger
• UP Dome Diner #8008 City of Portland
• C&NW Full Dome #421 Powder River
• UP Dome Lounge #9009 City of San Francisco
• C&NW Inspection Car #420 Fox River

Each of these cars will be covered in its own post.

Burlington Northern Full Dome Observation Car BNA #24 Glacier View

Glacier View was originally built by the Budd Company in 1955 as a full dome-lounge car for the Great Northern’s Empire Builder. It was originally Great Northern #1390, and was always named Glacier View. It it notable for having been painted in an experimental version of Burlington Northern Cascade Green paint scheme in 1968, two years before the merger. When the Great Northern was merged into Burlington Northern in March 1970, it became Burlington Northern #1390.

When Amtrak took over passenger rail service in 1971, the car became Amtrak #9360. It was retired by Amtrak in April 1981, and Burlington Northern re-acquired it in 1983. It was rebuilt by Burlington Northern’s Como Shops in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a fully-equipped kitchen and dining area for 22 people, a dome observation area with 16 swivel lounge chairs under the dome, and a two-level theater-style seating area with full glass end observation window.

This was one of the first cars to be painted in the new “executive” dark green and cream colors in 1993.

Burlington Northern Lounge Car BNA #10 Como

Como was originally built by American Car & Foundry in 1951 as a 60-seat coach for the Great Northern’s Empire Builder. It was originally Great Northern #1209, and was unnamed. With 60 seats, this car was used as a “short coach” for passengers who were not traveling very far. When the Great Northern was merged into Burlington Northern in March 1970, it became Burlington Northern #6012.

When Amtrak took over passenger rail service in 1971, this car was retained by Burlington Northern for company use. It was rebuilt by Burlington Northern’s Como Shops in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1977 as lounge car #10 and was named Como, and its mechanical systems were modernized in 1982-1983 by Burlington Northern’s freight car shop in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Burlington Northern Bi-Level Car BNA #32 Flathead River

Flathead River was originally built by Pullman-Standard in 1955 as a 145-seat bi-level gallery coach for the Southern Pacific’s commuter service in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was originally Southern Pacific #3701. After the commuter service was taken over by Caltrain in 1985, all of the Southern Pacific gallery cars were replaced with new equipment and sold to Tillamook Railcar in 1986.

In 1992, this car was sold to Transcisco Tours, where it was rebuilt as #800534 and was named Lake Tahoe. It was purchased by Burlington Northern in 1994 and renamed Flathead River.