"Union" passenger stations on the UP in the '50s - advice appreciated

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I'm embarking on a project to model UP in the 1950's. I am very interested in the great name trains of the era, both UP and other railroads.

My dream would be UP freight plus UP streamliners and maybe one of AT&SF's name trains plus the California Zephyr. (BLI's HO Zephyrs have sparked my interest in this again)

Did any cities on the UP main lines feature "Union" stations in the 1950's that would have hosted passenger trains from various roads, especially the above mentioned ones?

Many thanks in advance, Ryan in South Africa

[dehusman]

Denver, Kansas City.

Dave H.

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by uysr

Hi all,

I'm embarking on a project to model UP in the 1950's. I am very interested in the great name trains of the era, both UP and other railroads.

My dream would be UP freight plus UP streamliners and maybe one of AT&SF's name trains plus the California Zephyr. (BLI's HO Zephyrs have sparked my interest in this again)

Did any cities on the UP main lines feature "Union" stations in the 1950's that would have hosted passenger trains from various roads, especially the above mentioned ones?

Many thanks in advance, Ryan in South Africa

Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal. It hosted trains of the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific.

Andre

[passengerfan]

Seattle Union Station featured UNion Pacifics first domelner and the Milwaukee Roads Olympian Hiawatha under juice and just under the fouth Ave Voiaduct was King St. Station that featured the GN and NP and many of their streamliners. If operating the UP into Seattles Union Station is was perfectly normal for the arriving train to have four SP sleeping cars destined to Seattle from Oakland. They departed the next day from King St. Station on the NP train to Portland where they rejoined the Cascade for Oakland.

[Anonymous]

Dave, Andre, Passengerfan,

thanks for the suggestions. So it seems my dream my be feasible...

Of the various centres you have mentioned, Denver seems the closest to my area of interest. So I will be investigating that more thoroughly.

Are there any websites or books that you can recommend for more info of the type you guys have posted here?

Thanks in advance, Ryan

[dehusman]

Official railway guides give the passenger schedules for the whole country. Check e-bay for one in your timeframe.

Check out the various historical societies for each railroad.

Morning Sun publishes various railroad books which may have something you are interested in.

Dave H.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Strictly speaking, Chicago Union Station is off-line but power on the City of LA/SF and the City of Portland/Denver used to operate through to Chicago over MILW until about the mid-1960's. They came into the north platforms of CUS alongside MILW power also painted in UP colors.

[jecorbett]

I grew up in Omaha and there were two railroad stations south of downtown on the west side of the Missouri river. They were the Burlington and Union stations which faced each other on opposite sides of the network of tracks which served the parallel lines. Union Station was on the north side of the tracks and the Burlington on the south side. Our family always rode the Burlington to and from Chicago so I am more familar with that station. I do remember picking up my grandparents one time at the Union Station, having arrived from Milwaukee but I was way too young to remember any useful information about either the station or the railroad they rode to Omaha (probably via Chicago). On page 1034 of the 2006 Walthers catalog, a print of Omaha Union Station is offered. When I first saw Walthers Union Station kit it immediately reminded me of Omaha's Union Station and later when they came out with platforms for that station, they show them with the name Omaha on the platform ends so the resemblence may not be just coincidental. The Walthers kit looks very much like a compressed version of Omaha Union Station.

The print they offer shows Union Station looking westward from the Missouri river side of the station. Burlington Station would be just to the left of the picture. There are two yellow diesels shown which may represent City of San Francisco/Los Angeles power since this is where the those trains would have been transferred between the UP and the CN&W. There also appears to be a streamlined Hiawatha steamer in the picture although it is hard to tell for sure. The diesel to the far left appears to be a CB&Q which would make sense since it is on the Burlington side.

[Anonymous]

jecorbett,

Thanks for the time you have taken to post on this and my other thread. It has been most useful to me. I will endeavor to obtain a copy of The Overland Route.

I am interested in the Omaha area and if a decent station kit is available, that's a bonus.

For my modelling purposes I am also seriously considering a point - to -point layout representing Laramie to Borie (with of course Sherman Hill and Hermosa in between). Cheyenne would be represented with hidden staging.

I fancy the year will need to be 1950 or '51 - in other words before the easier 3rd main line was constructed. If I model after the 3rd line was constructed it will overly complicate the track plan (space is limited) and will largely eliminate the need for helpers which I think will be an interesting layout feature.

From the books I do have there seems to be a quite a bit of passenger traffic on this line, but I'm not sure how much passenger operations there were at Laramie. Oh and of course its only UP, so no Super Chief or Zephyrs. Hmmm. Tough choices.

On the Laramie to Borie stretch, based on some maps I presume there were some bridges over rivers, but I cant find any info on this. Perhaps the book you recommended.

Hmmm. Still pondering all these things.

Thanks, Ryan

[chljohns]

The Walthers kit is actually a compressed version of the Burlington Station in Omaha. The Omaha Union Station is a more boxy looking structure without the columns the Burlington Station has.

As others have pointed out, the only place you're going to see Santa Fe, UP and the CZ is in Chicago (different stations), Denver (no Santa Fe big name trains), and Oakland. Kansas City is also a possibility, (no CZ but other Burlington trains).

Chris