Coaches
City of Salina
The City of Salina was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954 as 44-seat coach No. 5486. It was named the City of Salina in 1992.
The nation’s first high-speed train set, powered by an internal combustion engine, the City of Salina was a complete three-car set. It included the locomotive and mail car, a coach, and a coach with buffet service in the rear of the car. Passengers could eat at their seats using tray tables very similar to those used on airliners.
The idea of a single train car containing both the power unit and seating had been advanced by Union Pacific’s W. R. McKeen just after the turn of the century. His streamlined motor cars, powered by a gasoline engine, were revolutionary.
The City of Salina was purchased from the Pullman Company in 1933. It was finished in early 1934 and sent on a nationwide tour. During the summer of 1934, it was exhibited at the Chicago Century of Progress exhibition. Once in revenue service in the fall of 1934, it ran between Kansas City, Missouri, and Salina, Kansas, as the Kansas Streamliner. In March 1936, when “city” names were to be given to the new streamlined trains, it was renamed City of Salina. It made one round trip daily between Kansas City and Topeka, Kansas, and between Kansas City and Salina.
Because it was considered experimental, the City of Salina was quickly depreciated. There also was some problem with deterioration of the aluminum underbody. The set was scrapped for war material in 1942.
Katy Flyer
The Katy Flyer was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954 as 44-seat coach No. 5468. It was renamed the Katy Flyer in 1993.
In 1896, the Missouri Kansas & Texas Railroad announced the inauguration of the Katy Flyer, with service between St. Louis, Missouri, and southwest Texas. By 1905, “The Fast Train to St. Louis” raced between Galveston, Texas, and St. Louis in about 37 hours. The Flyer carried a boiler-buffet-sleeper for the convenience of those passengers who wished to have their meals served aboard the train. Other passengers were permitted to detrain at Parsons, McAlester or Dallas, Texas, to eat at the company-owned dining station where “the price is only fifty cents and the railway spares no pains or expenses to please the most fastidious.”
By the mid-1920s, the Texas Special and Katy Limited were receiving most of the attention on the Katy. Nevertheless, Nos. 5 and 6 still carried the St. Louis to Galveston passengers, handling not fewer than six sleepers, many of them destined for San Antonio, Texas, which Katy proclaimed “The Winter Playground of America.” In 1936, for the Texas centennial, the temporarily renamed Katy Centennial Flyer carried tourists to a variety of celebrations on the Katy’s service area.
By the end of World War II, the Katy Flyer was on a downward slide, meal services were cut back, and by 1961 the train name disappeared, with Nos. 5 and 6 offering only coach service. All passenger service ended June 30, 1965. Nonetheless, Katy and its passenger train service played an important role in opening and promoting the Texas Southwest. No Katy train was more prominent in this effort than the Katy Flyer.
Portland Rose
The Portland Rose was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954 as 44-seat coach No. 5473. It was renamed the Portland Rose in 1990.
This coach was named after the train Portland Rose, which began service between Chicago, Illinois, and Portland, Oregon, on September 12, 1930. The Portland Rose was heralded as “A Triumph in Train Comfort.” The train had its own china pattern and specially decorated club observation car, the Portland Club. This car featured a radio, soda fountain, maid service, hairdresser, barber, valet and bath. The rose was the decorative motif for this train. The soft, deep pink of "Madame Caroline Testout," the official rose of Portland, was the prevailing color. Through the Columbia River Gorge, between The Dalles and Portland, an open top observation car was added on the rear of the train.
In 1941, the Portland Rose took on a Challenger section with meal prices of 35 cents for breakfast, 40 cents for lunch and 50 cents for dinner. The entire train was air-conditioned, but the luxury accommodations were found on the streamliner City of Portland and the Portland Rose. This second section ran 10 minutes behind and combined with the Portland Rose at Green River, Wyoming, to finish the trip to Portland. When streamliner City of Portland began daily operation on February 15, 1947, the Portland Rose was re-routed to run between Denver, Colorado, and Portland. On January 10, 1954, service was extended to Kansas City, Missouri, replacing Pony Express trains between Kansas City and Denver. Portland Rose service ended May 1, 1971.
Sunshine Special
The Sunshine Special was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954 as 44-seat coach No. 5480. It was named Sunshine Special in 1989.
The train Sunshine Special made its first trip on December 5, 1915, providing, at the time, through service over the Missouri Pacific Lines and the Texas and Pacific Railway between St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio, Texas. By 1924, the route of the Sunshine Special had been extended to Shreveport, Louisiana; Laredo and El Paso, Texas; and Los Angeles, California.
In 1929, through service was extended to New Orleans, Louisiana, and to Corpus Christi and Brownsville, Texas. Two more significant developments occurred a year later when the Southwest’s first deluxe lounge-observation cars were added to the Sunshine consist, and through sleeping cars were placed in daily service between St. Louis and Mexico City, Mexico. The Sunshine Special also was among the first trains to offer the comfort of air-conditioning in 1933. Deluxe dining lounge cars also were added then.
The Sunshine Special was replaced by the Texas Eagle on August 15, 1948, and was last listed in the December 1961 timetable.
Texas Eagle
The Texas Eagle was built by American Car & Foundry in 1954 as 44-seat coach No. 5483. It was named the Texas Eagle in 1990.
On August 15, 1948, a new train, the streamlined, diesel-powered Texas Eagle took over the Sunshine Special’s number and route, inheriting a tradition of travel leadership in the Southwest that dated back to 1915. There were several Texas Eagles operating on the Missouri Pacific Lines. The West Texas Eagle ran from St. Louis, Missouri, to El Paso, Texas. The South Texas Eagle ran from St. Louis to Galveston, Texas, and on to San Antonio, Texas, where it connected with the Aztec Eagle to Mexico City, Mexico. At Houston, Texas, the South Texas Eagle connected with the Valley Eagle to and from Corpus Christi, and Brownsville, Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley.
The Texas Eagles were painted a combination of Cerulean Blue and Dove Gray, similar to the other Missouri Pacific streamliners. On September 22, 1970, all passenger service in Texas was discontinued and on May 1, 1971, the service from St. Louis to Texarkana, Texas was ended.