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The cover story in this issue of the Bulletin is the first train ride of two little girls who happened to be the daughters of a photographer–so there are plenty of photographs in the story. At the same time, the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific inaugurated the Cascade in 1927 in commemoration of the completion of the Natron Cutoff over the Oregon Cascade Mountains. This route was considerably shorter than the Siskiyou route the railroad had been using between Portland and the San … Continue reading
If the photo on this menu cover looks familiar, it’s because it was taken from a popular photo spot, the Vista House on Crown Point on Oregon’s Columbia River Highway. Union Pacific used at least … Continue reading
This attractive beach scene looks somewhat staged. For one thing it shows a man in a bathing suit holding a surf board. Apparently, people do surf Lake Tahoe, but only in windy conditions when a wet suit is a necessity. … Continue reading
This 1948 menu for an unspecified train suggests that the end of the war allowed Southern Pacific to offer a greater variety of meals. The table d’hôte side has six different entrées (compared with just three in a 1944 menu), … Continue reading
We’ve seen the Rock Island’s booklet about the Golden State. Here is Southern Pacific’s brochure about the same train. Perhaps it is a brochure rather than a 16-page booklet because SP was less enthusiastic about running the train. Click image … Continue reading
Though the front of this menu shows a field of poppies in California, the back has an extensive and humorous discussion of the state of Texas. This is unusual in this menu series, whose backs sometimes have beverage menus but … Continue reading
It’s 1946, and the Southern Pacific is clearly off of wartime rationing as this menu has far more options than yesterday’s 1943 menu. These include four table d’hôte dinners (fish, braised beef, chicken marengo, and lamb), two plate dinners (halibut … Continue reading
We’ve seen this cover before on a 1940 menu marked for the San Joaquin. This 1943 menu doesn’t say what train it was used on (which is more common for this menu series), but it offered a remarkably limited selection … Continue reading
Most menus in this series don’t identify the train they were used on, but this one says it was for the Beaver, Southern Pacific’s overnight economy train between Portland and Oakland. Probably inspired by the Challengers, this train began operating … Continue reading