Superficially, this looks a lot like yesterday’s brochure about Portland. However, it appears to have been written by a different member of Great Northern’s marketing team. Instead of suggesting a ten-day tour, this brochure focuses on Seattle’s rapid growth, mild … Continue reading
This brochure starts out aiming to sell Portland as a location for conventions but ends up suggesting a ten-day tour of the Portland area. The tour includes four days in Portland, two on the Columbia River Highway and Mt. Hood, … Continue reading
In 1925, Chicago had twelve times as many people as St. Paul — 3 million people vs. a quarter million. But in the late 1920s St. Paul Union Depot (SPUD), which was completed in 1924, hosted almost as many trains … Continue reading
Just a week ago, we saw an issue of West, Southern Pacific’s periodical for travel agents, that featured the Shasta Dam under construction. It wasn’t dated but I estimated it was from 1941. Click image to download a 3.6-MB PDF … Continue reading
The title of this issue of West is “Many Thanks” and page 2 specifically is headlined, “To a sailor at Pearl Harbor” while page 3 is headlined “To the newspapers.” But in fact, this issue doesn’t thank the sailor or … Continue reading
This undated issue of Southern Pacific’s West bulletin to travel agents features the “new San Joaquin Daylight.” Since that train was inaugurated on July 4, 1941, this must have been published that summer. Click image to download a 4.4-MB PDF … Continue reading
Dam construction created lots of business for railroads, so Southern Pacific was happy to hype Shasta Dam, whose construction began in 1937 and continued through 1944. It is clearly incomplete in these photos, which were probably taken in around 1940 … Continue reading
This issue of West isn’t dated, but it was published in time to advertise the December 15 inauguration of the streamlined Arizona Limited, which would place it near the end of 1940. To promote the train, the periodical advertises wintertime … Continue reading
This issue of Southern Pacific’s West contains almost no clue about when it was published. I’ve so far identified eighteen different issues of this publication, four of which appear to be from 1940, six from 1941, and four from 1942. … Continue reading
The main railroad exhibit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair was “Railroads on Parade,” a rehash of similar shows at the 1927 Baltimore & Ohio Centennial pageant and the 1933-1934 Chicago Century of Progress exposition. As a side show, … Continue reading
