The Scenic Northwest circa 1925

Posted on by November 5, 2019
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This 48-page booklet is undated, but the cover highlights “The New Oriental Limited,” which dates it to 1924 or later. We’ve seen a 1927 edition of the same booklet with a color cover, so this one would have to be from sometime around 1924 to 1926.

Click image to download a 56.7-MB PDF of this 48-page booklet. Update: If you have trouble downloading this large file, here are medium (22-MB) and small (7-MB) versions that are lower in resolution but still readable.

Five of the first six pages of the interior of this and the 1927 booklets present photos of the new Oriental Limited. Most of the photos in the 1927 booklet are different from this one, though some are repeated and a few are flipped to make them look different. Notably, a photo showing the rear platform of the train in the 1927 booklet has the Oriental Limited drumhead, with the rocky mountain goat in the center, but this booklet has the drumhead blacked out with the words “Oriental Limited” added. This implies railway didn’t actually have a photo of the real drumhead to use when it designed this booklet, suggesting it is from 1924. Continue reading →

SP&S 1960 Calendar

Posted on by August 12, 2019
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This calendar photo memorializes one of the hot spots of the Deschutes River Railroad War. James J. Hill’s Spokane, Portland & Seattle and Edward Harriman’s Union Pacific were racing to extend their lines from the Columbia River to Bend, Oregon. For much of the distance, Hill’s Oregon Trunk was on one side of the river while Harriman’s Des Chutes Railroad was on the other.

Click image to download a 3.2-MB PDF of this calendar.

At one spot, however, the engineers building both railroads decided to tunnel through a hill to avoid having to follow the river’s sharp bend. This forced the Oregon Trunk to cross the river twice — giving the spot its name of Twin Crossings — and, as described in a book about the war, the crews building the two tunnels got into a few fights. Eventually, the two railroads agreed to share the tracks, and the Des Chutes Railroad tunnel around the Twin Crossings has been blocked. Continue reading →

SP&S 750 Proposed Color Scheme

Posted on by December 11, 2023
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This is an original watercolor painting by General Motors artist Harry Bockewitz showing the proposed color scheme for E7 locomotives that the manufacturer was hoping to sell to the railroad. The paint design is nearly identical to the F3 locomotives that SP&S had purchased from GM in 1947. In 1948, SP&S bought a single E7 locomotive from GM, but it wasn’t delivered in this color scheme. Update: See below.


Click image to download a 2.6-MB PDF of this painting.

The SP&S favored Alcos for freight service as it replaced its steam locomotives with Diesels. But for passenger locomotives it bought from GM, including two F3s purchased in 1947. When co-parent Great Northern streamlined the Empire Builder and powered it with E7 locomotives, it apparently asked the North Bank Road to provide matching equipment for the Portland-Spokane leg of the Empire Builder‘s route. Continue reading →

Silver Age Anniversary Covers

Posted on by November 2, 2019
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The first cover today commemorates the 30th anniversary of the first run of the California Zephyr. Postmarked March 17, 1979, in Bond, Colorado, the envelope includes a printed note saying that it was carried from Denver to Bond on the Rio Grande Zephyr. The first revenue run of the California Zephyr was actually on March 20, 1949.


Click image to download a 144-KB PDF of this cover.

The first run of Rock Island’s Rocky Mountain Rocket took place on November 12, 1939, so its 40th anniversary was just a few months after the Cal Zephyr’s 30th. To commemorate that anniversary, this postal cover was issued at the July 7-8 Mile High Railfair in Denver. Continue reading →

Rio Grande Zephyr Covers

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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Someone took a round trip on the Rio Grande Zephyr in February, 1978 and mailed out these covers. Unlike yesterday’s covers, there’s no indication on the envelopes of which was westbound and which was eastbound. Both were contributed by John D’Aloia.


Click image to download a 93-KB PDF of this cover.

By a curious coincidence, I took my first trip on the Rio Grande Zephyr less than a year after that. I was on an epic, 49-day train trip covering almost all of the routes served by VIA and Amtrak. The trip began the day after Thanksgiving, 1978, and continued into 1979. Continue reading →

The Last Day of Railway Postal Service

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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The Postal Service ended most railway post office contracts in 1967, which brought about the end of the Silver Age of passenger trains as most railroads ran RPOs with passenger trains and depended on the income from RPOs to supplement passenger revenue. But apparently the Postal Service kept a few RPOs going between New York and Washington until June 30, 1977, by which time passenger trains were run by Amtrak.


Click image to download a 160-KB PDF of this cover.

The 13 cents worth of postage on this cover are provided by a 10 cent stamp commemorating 200 years of Postal Service (only about 140 years of which involved railroads) plus a 3 cent stamp, first issued in 1952 (when first class postage was 3 cents), commemorating 125 years of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Continue reading →

Bicentennial Covers

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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Although the American Freedom Train that was put together for the Bicentennial used two different steam locomotives at different times, the one that made the lasting impression — and that is still active today — was the Southern Pacific 4449. That locomotive is the one that is depicted on the cancellation stamp used on this cover — whose stamp was cancelled even though the envelope has no mailing address.


Click image to download a 128-KB PDF of this cover.

John D’Aloia provided the scans of this cover as well as of a ticket stub for a ride on the Freedom Train. I hope he got to go and enjoyed the ride. Continue reading →

White Pass & Yukon 75th Anniversary

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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The White Pass & Yukon, truly one of the most scenic narrow-gauge lines in the world, was completed in July, 1900 and celebrated its 75th anniversary with this cover. Although the railway begins in Skagway, Alaska, it is mostly a Canadian railroad as only the first 15 miles of its 110-mile route are in the United States.


Click image to download a 182-KB PDF of this cover.

I was at the White Pass & Yukon’s centennial celebration. People were asked to come in period dress, so I dressed as James J. Hill. The White Pass people thought that was appropriate as Hill had apparently made an early investment in the railroad. Continue reading →

First Trip of the 1948 20th Century Limited

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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In September, 1948, New York Central invited General Dwight Eisenhower to inaugurate the postwar 20th Century Limited, which consisted of all-new passenger cars pulled by nearly new Diesel locomotives. The railroad printed up this “First Trip” envelope to be hand cancelled on board the train’s railway post office.


Click image to download a 145-KB PDF of this cover.

Stamp collectors call envelopes like this “covers,” which is just an archaic word for “envelope.” Scans of this cover and several others that I’ll present in the next few days are from the collection of Streamliner Memories reader John D’Aloia. Continue reading →

Chicago Union Depot

Posted on by August 21, 2019
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Before Chicago Union Station opened in 1925, there was Chicago Union Depot, which opened in 1881. The depot served joint owners Pennsylvania, Burlington, Chicago & Alton, and what is now called the Milwaukee Road but was then called the St. Paul Road.

Click image to download a 389-KB PDF of this postcard.

These railroads had tracks between the Chicago River and Canal Street. Union Depot was a long, narrow building that stretched between Madison Street on the north and Adams on the south on the same side of Canal Street as the tracks. Continue reading →