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Union Pacific April 1942 Timetable

Posted on December 8, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Until the creation of Amtrak, the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Union Pacific “pooled” their passenger trains between Portland and Seattle. The trains were run mostly on tracks built by Northern Pacific but under some form of joint ownership. For most of those years, one train ran overnight and three trains operated in daytime service. The railroad that ran the overnight train changed from time to time according to the pool agreement.

Click image to download an 43.9-MB PDF of this 64-page timetable.

The train numbers shifted frequently but in 1942, Union Pacific’s daytime trains were numbered 458 southbound and 561 northbound. The companion train numbers, 459 and 562, were operated by one of the other railroads, which was especially odd because the other railroads used a different train station from Union Pacific in Seattle. Continue reading →

Union Pacific 1941 Calendar

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

This 1941 calendar completes my collection of UP calendars between 1940 and 1996, the years they came out in this format. This calendar is 12-1/2″x22-3/4″, the same size as most other UP calendars during those years. However, my 1942, 1943, 1944, 1947, and 1948 calendars are 10″x18″. This may have been a concession to wartime paper shortages, but I have seen both sizes for 1949 and 1950, so it is possible UP published both sizes until 1950, after which it used only the larger size.

Click image to download an 15.0-MB PDF of this calendar.

The photographs in this calendar are certainly beautiful, but they focus on the natural resources of the Union Pacific West, not its tourist attractions. Most photos show crops, livestock, timber, or mining. One photo shows a Union Pacific freight train and one shows the Sun Valley opera house, but there are no photos of passenger trains. Continue reading →

One of the Greatest Attractions in America

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

When completed in 1936, Boulder Dam was the largest concrete structure ever built. This generated feelings of national pride and the Union Pacific happily took advantage of this by encouraging people to stopover in Las Vegas so they could tour the dam. Of course, people going to or from California who wanted to tour the dam had to take a Union Pacific train rather than, say, the Chief or Golden State Limited.

Click image to download a 4.4-MB PDF of this brochure.

As noted in yesterday’s 1935 Challenger brochure, eastbound passengers could step off the Los Angeles Limited in Las Vegas at 5:45 am, take a bus tour to the dam, and then continue their journey on the Pacific Limited at 5:45 pm, adding just $1.75 (for the bus tour) to the cost of their trip. Westbound, the Pacific Limited arrived at 12:05 pm and the Los Angeles Limited departed at 9:30 pm, allowing plenty of time for a dam tour. By 1940, when today’s brochure was issued, slight changes in schedules allowed westbound passengers even more time for the tour. Continue reading →

Union Pacific’s Big 3 National Park Vacations

Posted on December 5, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

The cover’s reference to “plenty to shoot at” means with a camera. “Wherever you turn from wherever you are a new picture presents itself in the Utah-Arizona national parks,” says the inside of this 1936 brochure. I’d have to agree: while Yellowstone is more famous, its most incredible features are limited to a few spots in the park: Mammoth, Norris, Fire Hole-Old Faithful, and Canyon. By comparison, Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon are almost overwhelming with scenery anywhere you look.

Click image to download a 2.4-MB PDF of this brochure.

Inside are colorful photos of Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon. However, the brochure is aimed not at potential vacationers but at ticket agents looking for places to send their “patrons.” In promoting escorted tours, the back page encourages agents to get a “copy of the 1936 Zion Red Book” if they didn’t already have one. Continue reading →

Union Pacific Challenger in 1935

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Union Pacific introduced the Challenger, its low-cost train to Los Angeles, in June, 1935. This brochure must have been issued about that time or soon after. Although it is undated, times shown in the brochure for trains arriving in Las Vegas match those of UP’s 1935 timetables. The brochure doesn’t mention a lounge car that was added to in April 1936, confirming that it was issued before then.

Click image to download a 4.2-MB PDF of this brochure.

The train carried coaches and tourist sleepers but not first-class Pullmans, which went on the Los Angeles Limited. Later brochures emphasized the economical nature of the train, but this one emphasized “luxurious comfort,” suggesting that UP hadn’t yet figured out the best way to market it. Continue reading →

UP Soap Wrappers

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Whoever collected the stationery presented over the last three days also brought home these soap wrappers that advertise Union Pacific’s “Cedar City Gateway” to the southern Utah parks. The first wrapper once contained “Colgate’s Floating Soap,” obviously Colgate’s answer to Ivory Soap (which was “so pure it floats”).

Click image to download an 368-KB PDF of this soap wrapper.

The second, slightly smaller, wrapper once held a small bar of “Cashmere Bouquet Toilet Soap.” Though I suspect these wrappers are at least 90 years old, they, or at least this one, still have a very fragrant bouquet. Continue reading →

Zion Lodge Stationery

Posted on December 2, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

Here is the stationery for guests at the Zion National Park Lodge. Unlike the Bryce and Grand Canyon lodge stationery, the picture of the Great White Throne on this letterhead does not match any of the Union Pacific menu cards that I have found. That suggests I may be missing one, or that the menu cards (at least one of which does show the Great White Throne from a different angle) don’t always match the letterheads.

Click image to download an 186-KB PDF of this stationery.

This letterhead is also arranged differently from the other two, with the picture on the right instead of the left. The picture is also surrounded by not one but two blue lines. I suppose these differences represent some creativity on the part of UP lodge planners, but I still think the Grand Canyon lodge letterhead is poorly arranged. Continue reading →

Grand Canyon Lodge Stationery

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

This stationery is the same vintage as yesterday’s and, like yesterday’s, features a picture that is also found on a menu card from 1929. Instead of an oval yellow line around the picture, this one features more elaborate red and blue lines, the red and blue of the UP logo. The picture and return address are also arranged a little differently on the page, unfortunately reducing the area available for writing a letter.

Click image to download an 132-KB PDF of this stationery.

The menu card says that the picture is supposed to represent sunset at the North Rim of the Canyon. The colors on the stationery are certainly sunsety, but those on the menu card aren’t. It is likely that the original black-and-white photo was taken in mid-day when sunlight would penetrate deep into the canyon and then any sunset colors were added by the colorists. Continue reading →

Bryce Canyon Lodge Stationery

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

This pretty piece of stationery features a picture of the Temple of Osiris, which we know because the same picture was used on a Union Pacific menu card in 1929. The picture is a colorized black-and-white photo and doesn’t really match the colors found in Bryce Canyon, but it is not too far off. Note the delicate yellow oval around the picture reminiscent of the yellow UP streamliners would wear in the late 1930s.

Click image to download an 123-KB PDF of this stationery.

Though the menu was from 1929, UP continued to use this menu through about 1934. After that, it switched to menu cards that were the same size but with no picture on the opposite side from the menu itself. For reasons I’ll reveal in a few days, I would date this stationery to around 1935, but it could be from a couple of years before or after that. Continue reading →

Grand Canyon Menu in Alvarado Hotel

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Train LoverNovember 14, 2023

In the 1950s, Fred Harvey operated close to 20 restaurants in its hotels, train stations, and other buildings ranging from Cleveland to Los Angeles. This is one of a series of nine menus “featuring some of
the more prominent Fred Harvey hotels, restaurants and sightseeing tours.” These menus were used in many of the restaurants to cross-publicize Fred Harvey facilities, but none were used in Santa Fe dining cars.

Click image to download a 1.8-MB PDF of this menu.

This menu features the Grand Canyon, where Fred Harvey operations “are among the largest enterprises of the company.” These included El Tovar Hotel, Bright Angel Lodge, Hopi House, the Watchtower, Hermit’s Rest, and Phantom Ranch. I believe that all of these offered food services except for Hopi House and the Watchtower. Continue reading →