The description on the back of this postcard says “Santa Fe streamliner ascending Raton Pass, New Mexico.” At more than 7,600 feet, Raton Pass was the highest point on the Santa Fe Railroad. Since the pass is almost exactly on … Continue reading
In the 1880s, the Santa Fe reached Los Angeles by building a line through Cajon Pass over the mountains that separate Barstow from San Bernardino and Los Angeles. The pass actually separates the San Gabriel Mountains on the northwest from … Continue reading
In 1926, the Chief replaced the California Limited as Santa Fe’s premiere train, with a faster schedule, extra fare, and, of course, an all-Pullman consist. The Indian images used to promote the train later inspired the warbonnet paint scheme used … Continue reading
As previously noted, despite celebrating its 75th anniversary in 1925, the Burlington Route declared that its 100th anniversary was in 1949. Here is a postcard noting that “Burlington was first to operate a railway postoffice car; first to inaugurate a … Continue reading
When Burlington replaced the 1936 Twin Cities Zephyr (the trains of the gods and goddesses) with the vista-dome Twin Cities Zephyr in 1947, it put the 1936 trains to work between Chicago and Lincoln, via Omaha. The re-christened Nebraska Zephyr … Continue reading
The fourth Zephyr built, after the original Zephyr and the Twin Zephyrs, was the Mark Twain Zephyr, which operated between St. Louis and Burlington, Iowa via Hannibal (Samuel Clemens hometown). Burlington had not yet started to name all its stainless-steel … Continue reading
Is it possible to find a more uninspiring photo of Olympic National Park, an area known for its glacially-carved peaks, giant old-growth trees, and stunning sea coast? Except for one tree on the left whose true size is unknown for … Continue reading
NP’s postcard of the Columbia River Gorge was taken from the same spot as, but several decades later than, the Union Pacific postcard presented here a few weeks ago. The two-lane highway visible on the cover of the 1959 UP … Continue reading
Timberline Lodge is an unforgettable building, so important to the Northwest that Southern Pacific even based the lounge car on the Shasta Daylight on the timber-framed structure’s interior. Northern Pacific tries to capture the place in this postcard, but whoever … Continue reading
The Columbine was a Union Pacific-Chicago & North Western train between Chicago and Denver that operated from 1929 to 1950. For a few years it was the premiere train on the route, but was eclipsed by the City of Denver … Continue reading
