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  • Historic (1959) passenger operations vic Seattle

  • Tell us where you were and what you saw!
Tell us where you were and what you saw!

Moderator: David Benton

 #152148  by John_Perkowski
 
Before we packed off the thread about the Coast Starlight being the Cascade/Lark redux, Dan Langdon had asked about historic Seattle-Portland service.

I have in my collection a Oct 25, 1959 SP public timetable.

Here is what was out there:

Southbound

GN Pool Train 460
Dp Seattle King St 805A
Arr Portland 1220

NP Pool 408
Dp Seattle King St 1230P
Arr Portland 430P
Note: The Pullmans on the Cascade ran on this train from Seattle to Portland, then were switched into their primary consist for the run to the Bay area.

UP Pool Train 458
Dp Seattle Union Sta 500P
Arr Portland 915P

Northbound
UP 457
Depart Portland 9AM
Arr Seattle Union 1PM
Note: The Pullmans on the Cascade were switched out of their primary consist into this run for the last leg to Seattle.

NP 407
Depart Portland 530PM
Arr Seattle 930PM

GN 401
Depart Portland 1145PM
Arr Seattle King St 600AM

Portland to Spokane service:
3 round trips daily (UP and SP&S shared)

Seattle to Vancouver BC
3 round trips daily (all GN)

We've talked a bit over the years about this being a regional corridor service. Hope the historical perspective helps.

John Perkowski

 #152209  by updrumcorpsguy
 
Thanks for the info! interstingly enough, the SEA-PDX schedule is not that different from today. I wish we had multiple departures to Vancouver and Spokane, however,.

You wouldn't happen to have the departure and arrival times of the Shasta Daylight and overnight PDX-OAK train, would you? I'm assuming they ran the same route as the Starlight, so the intermediate station stops aren't important. I am just interested in the overall departure/arrivel in PDX and OAK

 #152282  by John_Perkowski
 
Dan,

SB, the Shasta Daylight left Portland at 745A, arriving at the Oakland Mole at 1040OM

NB, it left the Mole at 8AM and arrived in Portland at 1125PM.

SB, The Cascade left Portland at 445PM, arriving at the Oakland Mole at 820AM.

NB, it left the Mole at 435PM and arrived in Portland at 815AM.

As a contrast, when (if) on the advertised, Amtrak 11 SB departs Portland at 225PM and arrives in Jack London Square at 835AM ... a lengthening of 2 hours 35 minutes over the SP times in 1959.

14 NB departs Oakland Jack London Square at 947PM and arrives in Portland at 3:40PM. That's a lengthening of 2 hours 13 minutes over the SP times in 1959.

Almost 50 years, new generations of Diesels, and new cars ... and Amtrak runs slower than the SP. 730 miles in 15 hours 40 minutes is about 46 MPH. The same distance in 17 hours 53 minutes is not quite 41 MPH.

I may not be a HSR advocate, but slowing down a conventional train on perfectly good track is just not acceptable.

John Perkowski

 #152356  by updrumcorpsguy
 
Thanks for the info! Yes, it is a bummer that the trains have actually slowed over the last 50 years, but it's part of the Union Pacific's "Back to the Future" mentality. Rumor in Omaha is that they are going to introduce a 19th century dress code next .

Insider tip: buy coal stocks ;-)