I once downloaded scans of this booklet from the Smithsonian‘s web site, but the scans were missing two pages. I posted a PDF of those scans here anyway, but I’ve now acquired a copy of my own. Of course, the two missing pages were blank, but it is nice to have a complete copy.

Click image to download a 3.2-MB PDF of this 28-page booklet.

As I noted before, the Copper King was originally a baggage car built for the first City of San Francisco. As Union Pacific expanded its streamliner fleet, it converted the baggage car into an observation car for the City of Los Angeles, and it first entered service in July of 1938. Later it saw use on the City of Portland and City of Denver before being scrapped in 1958.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any color photos of the car’s interior. The booklet says it was designed by Marie Harriman, the second wife of Union Pacific President Averell Harriman and an art collector who also designed some of the public rooms at the Sun Valley resort. In fact, it was probably really designed by Walt Kuhn, an artist who was supported by the Harrimans, though with Marie Harriman’s input.

The Copper King had a 41-seat lounge paneled in copper sheets below eye level lit by 29 circular polaroid windows, leading to a “shimmering” interior, according to the 1941 City of Portland booklet. Today’s booklet, however, has only one page about the car while most of the rest focuses on the history, properties, and uses of copper. Presumably the booklet was given to people who were already enjoying the car and so it didn’t need to tell them how it shimmered.