Dome Diners
City of Portland
The City of Portland, No. 8008, was one of ten dome diners built by American Car & Foundry in 1955. Union Pacific reacquired the car in 1990 and rebuilt it for excursion service. The car was named City of Portland after the famous streamliner passenger train.
Chicago, Illinois to Portland, Oregon, streamliner passenger service began in June 1936, as a seven-car train operating every third day. It was the second streamlined train to be put in service. The train was delivered to Union Pacific in the fall of 1934, but it was so revolutionary, it was sent on a national tour to promote this new concept of a seven-articulated-car train. The train included the 1,200 horsepower power unit, a baggage-railway post office, three sleepers, a 54-seat coach buffet and diner lounge.
The train was dubbed by some reporters as the “Flying Banana” or the “Saffron Whiz,” because of the bright yellow paint scheme that has become a Union Pacific tradition. The City of Portland set the long distance speed record between Los Angeles, California, and New York City, New York, making the run in 56 hours and 55 minutes, a record that still stands. It may have made the trip faster, but the New York Central would not allow it to pass its passenger train, 20th Century Limited, between Chicago and New York. The City of Portland also set several shorter distance speed records, including 120 mph in some flat stretches of the Platte Valley in Nebraska. The City of Portland remained in service until 1971, though many different styles of passenger cars were used through the years.
Colorado Eagle
The Colorado Eagle was built by American Car & Foundry in 1955 as dome diner No. 8004. It was reacquired by Union Pacific in 1993 and named the Colorado Eagle.
The Colorado Eagle streamliner began service on the Missouri Pacific Railroad on June 21, 1942. It replaced the Scenic Limited between St. Louis and Denver. The stainless- steel train was built by the Budd Company and painted blue and gray to match the other Eagle trains.
The first dome coaches were acquired by Missouri Pacific in June, 1948, and assigned to the Colorado Eagle. The dining cars on the Colorado Eagle were the only streamlined dining cars on the Missouri Pacific to carry names. Unlike the other Eagle trains, the sleeping cars on the Colorado Eagle were named for rivers rather than having an Eagle prefix.
The train consisted of a dome coach, three sleepers, a flat coach, grill-coach and a diner lounge. The name was dropped in February 1964, and the train was taken out of service in April 1966.
Missouri River Eagle
The Missouri River Eagle was built by Pullman Standard in 1958 as dome coach No. 7011. In 1993, it was named the Missouri River Eagle, after a Missouri Pacific Railroad passenger train.
The car was converted to a dome diner in the mid-1980s by Transico, an excurson train operator. UP repurchased the car in the early 1990s.
The Missouri River Eagle was the first, and last, diesel streamliner passenger train on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. It began regular service March 10, 1940, operating between St. Louis, Missouri, through Kansas City, Missouri, and Omaha, Nebraska. Two six-car train sets were built by the American Car & Foundry. The rail cars were constructed of aluminum alloy and styled by Raymond Loewy, a noted industrial designer. A 2,000-horsepower locomotive pulled a mail/storage car, mail/baggage car, standard coach (with restrooms at each end), deluxe coach (with restroom/lounge at each end), diner/bar/lounge car and rounded-end parlor/observation car. Each car was painted in three shades of gray and blue, with yellow striping and aluminum trim.
One of the features of these passenger cars was the wide, double-pane picture windows, which provided passengers with a better view, new in railroad coach construction. Air conditioning, indirect fluorescent lighting and carpeting made the Eagle a most attractive symbol of deluxe railroad travel.
The Kansas City-to-Omaha segment of the route was discontinued in September 1965. The St. Louis-to-Kansas City train remained in service until May 1, 1971, when, with the advent of Amtrak, the United States government operated passenger train service.