Union Pacific Page |
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Back in the mid-1960s I was a young grad student at the University of
Wyoming in Laramie. Given that Laramie had poor air service and a great
railroad running through town I often rode Union Pacific trains to my
family home in the East, changing trains in Chicago. Later, when I
lived in California I occasionally used the Union Pacific for business
trips to the college for which I did admissions work in the Midwest. I
was also able to photograph it as I traveled around the west by car and
plane for work and pleasure.
More recently the UP has been known for its anti-passenger
attitudes -- sticking
Amtrak trains in the hole, gumming up commuter service in Los Angeles
and the Bay Area -- an over-expansion that has created freight
bottlenecks and deteriorating infrastructure -- though there are signs
of improvement due to enormous political pressure. Back when I knew it
the
UP was something else: an efficient, passenger friendly, community
focused organization. As companies like the Southern Pacific threw
their
passenger trains into a hopeless downward spiral, the Western Pacific
killed the California Zephyr, and Eastern Railroads came to resemble
the Delta Airlines of today, the UP maintained a high quality of
service, albeit increasingly depleted of amenities in the immediate
years before Amtrak. Here are some photos and assorted advertisements,
menus and ticket covers from my collection. As Amtrak struggles and
demand for passenger service increases I often wonder what would happen
if UP threw itself back into the people business, drawing on its
wonderful tradition as a company that helped bind America together.
Wishful thinking in my lifetime I fear. But hope springs eternal.
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The
above photos of the City of Los Angeles heading into Los Angeles out in
the smoggy countryside near Riverside in the late 1960s shows the
essence of Domeliner grace and power in its last years. Sadly, both the
Domeliner and countryside are long gone.
Laramie in the early 60s was a beehive of activity on both freight and
passenger fronts. It had a graceful and attractive station that is
currently being preserved. Here are interior and exterior views in
September, 2005.
Laramie's signboard in the summer of
1964 shows a lot of interesting action, including a City of Los
Angeles-City of San Francisco split into 20 car coach and sleeper
sections. The next photos show this train and the highly disciplined
Pullman porters who shined shoes and looked after first-class
passengers in a style long lost in American intercity-rail.
Look to the right behind the first dome car and you can see one of the
mail-express-passenger trains that plied the rails between Laramie and
Omaha.
My
personal favorite was UP's City of Portland - City of Denver, which ran
between Chicago and Portland, Oregon, through Denver. It was
well-equiped until the late-1960s with sleepers, lounges and a
wonderful dome diner. I would get up very early and get the forward
seat to enjoy breakfast pulling into Denver early in the morning. Here
are a few shots of that train.
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Below is coach ticket and shot of the
train arriving in Chicago.
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