North Coast Limited vs Mainstreeter

[nanaimo73]

What were the differences between these two NP trains ? Did they operate as two trains over the CB&Q from Chicago to St.Paul ? When Amtrak started BN was running trains through Butte and Helena. Was one of these still called the North Coast Limited and the other the Mainstreeter ?

[SSW9389]

The North Coast Limited #25&26 operated via Helena, while the Mainstreeter #1&2 operated via Butte. Each NP train had a separeate CB&Q connection at St. Paul. Burlington #25&26 were the connections for NP #25&26. Burlington #47&24 connected with NP #1&2. Data from 10/68 Official Guide.

[nanaimo73]

Thank you.

[passengerfan]

The North Coast Limited was the premier train and when its schedule was speeded up to 45 hours the Mainstreeter was born to operate on the old NCL schedule. For most of its existence the Mainstrreeeter was heavyweight with just a few lightweight cars.eventually the Mainstreeter was fully streamlined using hand me down equipment from the NCL the only new cars built for the Mainstreeter were the Holiday Lounge cars added in 1956.. The Mainstreeter was interesting as it carried parlor car passengers for the daytime portions of its trip across Montana and North Dakota. The only other train that carried both sleeping car passengers and parlor car passengers that I am aware of were the Denver Zephyrs. In later years the NCL and Empire Builder along with the Morning Zephyr were combined between St. Paul and Chicago. The Mainstreeter, Western Star and Blackhawk were combined between the same points. In its final years of service the Mainstreeter carried 56-seat leg rest coaches Diner Lounge Cars and a single slumbercoach for both crew dormitory space and passengers. The sleeping cars were gone full dining cars and after the mail contracts were lost only a single baggage car.

[Anonymous]

Actually, the North Coast LImited went through Butte and the Mainstreeter went through Helena. I have a 1956 Official Guide with this routing. I rode the NCL in 1969 and we went through Butte ... what a great trip. It was my favorite dome experience.

[ValorStorm]

ForrestRump is correct. Also, the Mainstreeter was not "born to operate on the old NCL schedule." Technically the Alaskan was "reincarnated" to do so, with a name change to "Mainstreeter." Otherwise, very valuable information from passengerfan.

[agentatascadero]

Responding to Passengerfan: It was Not only DZ and Mainstreeter which carried both Parlors and Pullmans...I don't have my Guide open for reference, but there was the Panama with Parlors on both the north and south ends, there were a number of secondary trains, mostly in Canada I think, which carried Pullmans and a Diner-lounge-parlor car, the Rock Island also mixed parlors and Pullmans. How about the B&O Blue line, probably all NJ to DC trains carried parlors. There is PRR, especially NYC-DC, these trains were heavy with both. I would imagine New York Central had numerous examples. Many roads with diner-lounges sold their lounge seats as parlor space. SP 27-28 briefly carried a parlor-obs Oakland-Reno. I believe some of the Seattle-Portland pool trains, which carried interline Pullmans, also were Parlor equipped. Then there is Montreal-Toronto; several corridor trains with Parlors, carried interline Pullmans. The SP Del Monte, always Parlor equipped, once carried Pullmans, LA-Pacific Grove, I think. If one goes back to the steam era, there would be too many examples to list, but these are what come immediately to my mind.

[agentatascadero]

Oops, more Parlor and Pullman trains: The Abe and The Ann on the Alton, The Colorado Eagle. I would imagine C&NW and Milwaukee ran Parlors on their overnights from the north into Chicago from Milwaukee. The Olympian carried a Parlor Chicago all the way to twin cities, but I would agree that DZ and Mainstreeter were the only transcontinentals to regularly carry Parlors the entire route.

[passengerfan]

agentatascaderoYou were absolutely correct about the Panama an others sometimes I suffer from CRS as I get older.

[VerMontanan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ValorStorm

Also, the Mainstreeter was not "born to operate on the old NCL schedule." Technically the Alaskan was "reincarnated" to do so, with a name change to "Mainstreeter." Otherwise, very valuable information from passengerfan.

This is 100 percent incorrect. The original post was correct.

Not only did the Mainstreeter run on the North Coast Limited's old schedule, it even retained its numbers (1 and 2). The North Coast Limited was speeded up in November of 1952, and when it was (to compete with the Empire Builder and Olympian Hiawatha), it received its new numbers, 25 and 26. The Mainstreeter was born at the same moment. The Mainstreeter retained the old North Coast Limited schedule until the late 1960s when it, too, was placed on a faster schedule.

The Alaskan and Mainstreeter had absolutely nothing in common. The Alaskan's numbers (3 and 4) were different, and operated on a schedule even slower than the North Coast Limited (and later the Mainstreeter). While the Mainstreeter was never considered a "streamliner" as such, its debut in 1952 was a far cry from the Alaskan. While the Mainstreeter operated from Chicago (with CB&Q) to Seattle with sleeping, lounge, and dining cars, the Alaskan was an odd train. Westbound, it operated from St. Paul only to Spokane; Eastbound it sat in Glendive, Montana over 8 hours to depart (in 1952) at 920 AM and provide North Dakota with daytime passenger service as required (then) by North Dakota state law. The Alaskan had no onboard meal service and sleeping car service only between St. Paul and Mandan and between Billings and Spokane....not continuously.

Both the North Coast Limited and Mainstreeter survived until Amtrak Day, 1971. The NP attempted to discontinue the Mainstreeter numerous times beginning in 1967, but was never successful. At the time of their discontinuance, the North Coast Limited still operated via Butte and the Mainstreeter via Helena.

[Anonymous]

Hi

A note from an NP vet. The North Coast Limited was the great train of the NP, with vista-domes, many sleepers, a small number of head end cars, and stops at only the major cities and at crew change points. The Mainstreeter did not have domes, occasionally carried heavyweight cars, had many more head end cars, accepted employees and rail families traveling on pass (something that required some string pulling on the NCL) and stopped at all county seats and some fairly small towns. Both were very good trains. The Mainstreeter was up for abandonment in the last several years of NP existence, and it became much shorter after the mail was yanked in 1967.