For the winter of 1925-26, Canadian Pacific decided to begin its round-the-world tour in early December rather than mid-January. It may have been reluctant to do this in 1924 and 1925 because it feared some potential passengers would not want … Continue reading
After the Great War, Canadian Pacific Ocean Services’ first priority was to add to its empress fleet in Atlantic service. First, it renamed the Alsatian, a ship of its recently acquired Allan Line, the Empress of France. The largest of … Continue reading
When Donald Smith drove Canadian Pacific’s last spike in 1885, the city of Vancouver did not yet exist and Port Moody, the railroad’s original terminus, housed only about 250 people. All of British Columbia held about 50,000 residents, half of … Continue reading
In 1961, passenger service was declining on many railroads, but Seaboard still offered four trains a day between New York and Florida. The Silver Meteor went to Miami and St. Petersburg, the Silver Star and Palmland went primarily to Miami … Continue reading
This booklet is 12 pages longer than yesterday’s, and most of it is spent lauding the virtues of tropical beaches, warm ocean waters, and fabulous resorts. The booklet includes several photos of streamlined trains but doesn’t list any names of … Continue reading
The 19th-century timetables recently presented here revealed that passenger train speeds in the 1870s averaged about 18 miles per hour including stops. Two decades later, the New York Central was running a passenger train that averaged more than 50 miles … Continue reading
The Chicago-Twin Cities corridor was served by a remarkable number of railroads. In addition to the St. Paul, North Western, and Burlington, the Wisconsin Central (later Soo Line), Minneapolis & St. Louis, Chicago Great Western, and Rock Island all attempted … Continue reading
In 1862, the first steam locomotive in Minnesota arrived in St. Paul, then a bustling frontier town of about 12,000 people. But the locomotive didn’t arrive by rail. Thanks to St. Anthony Falls, which were 16 to 20 feet high, … Continue reading
In April, 1900, the fastest Burlington and Union Pacific Chicago-Denver trains were speeded up to about 27-1/2 hours. That was a big improvement over 1890, when the fastest trains were over 30 hours, and an even bigger improvement over 1882, … Continue reading
In 1905, the St. Paul Road (which is what people called the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul in the early 20th century) reported earnings of nearly $50 million against operating costs of $32 million, which made it one of the … Continue reading
