No. 10026 M-10001 "City of Portland" Diesel Powered Streamlined Passenger Train

Union Pacific Railroad

Early in 1933, the Union Pacific signed a contract with Pullman-Standard for North America’s first streamliner. The three-car lightweight aluminum speedster stretched 204 feet and weighed but 85 tons, about the same as a standard all-steel Pullman car.  Designated the M-10000,”The Streamliner” (see No. 10574), the train ran on four two-axle trucks with the lead set containing a 12-cylinder distillate engine  producing 600 horsepower.  Introduced in February, 1934, the M-10000 was clocked at speeds of 111 mph and made front page news everywhere it went on a 68-day 12,625-mile cross-country tour, which introduced America to UP’s bright new “canary yellow” and “golden brown” paint scheme. This was the first application of what later became known as “Armour yellow” on Union Pacific equipment, a color which served UP throughout its life from 1934. Entering local service between Kansas City, Topeka and Salina, Kansas, in January, 1935, the train was formally renamed “City of Salina” in early 1936.  Due to its limited 116 passenger seating, non-diesel power, and the inflexible nature of an articulated consist, the M-10000 had only a six-year life span (see No. 10349).
 
Confident long before the successful multi-city tour of the M-10000 had begun, UP ordered a longer, larger, similar train from Pullman-Standard, even before “The Streamliner”was completed.  Finished in the fall of 1934, diesel oil replaced distillate fuel for power, and the articulated yellow and brown train stretched to 375 feet, or six cars, including the custom-built power unit and three sleepers, the consist called the M-10001. The Electro-Motive Winton diesel engine produced 900 horsepower.
 
The M-10000 was America’s first streamlined train, but only by two months.  In April, 1934, Burlington’s “Zephyr” (See No. 10239) was unveiled with a five-week Eastern city tour, followed by installation at the Chicago “Century of Progress” Exposition.  It could travel at speeds approaching 112 mph, and generated much publicity for Burlington.
 
In October, 1934, when UP arranged a transcontinental speed run for its new M-10001 streamliner, traveling from Los Angeles to New York (3,284 miles) in record time (just under 57 hours), reaching speeds of up to 120 mph, UP was back in the headlines.
 
Finally, in June, 1935, the M-10001, now named the “City of Portland,” settled down to a five-round-trips-per-month schedule between Chicago and Portland. The train was now expanded to seven cars, with the power car’s horsepower increased to 1200 hp. One hundred eighteen coach and Pullman passengers could ride in the Pullman-Standard lightweight aluminum cars, not including the diner/lounge, which seated 40. Travel time was reduced by 20 hours between the two cities, via Omaha, Cheyenne, and Salt Lake, the trip now taking less than 40 hours (2271 miles). It was America’s first transcontinental streamliner and the first to offer sleeper and full dining car service. The M-10001 trainset operated on the Chicago-Portland route until June, 1939, when it was replaced by the eleven-car M-10002 “City of Los Angeles” equipment (see No. 10352). The M-10001 trainset was then scrapped in 1941, followed by the M-10002 in 1942, with the arrival of new equipment (M-10004)(see No. 10265).
 
The introduction of new locomotives and rolling stock after World War II (including “Astra Domes” in the mid-1950s) changed the look of the train considerably (it had been lengthened to sixteen cars by the end of the war), but it remained one of UP’s top three streamliners, along with the “City of Los Angeles” and  “City of San Francisco.” The train continued to operate until the arrival of underfunded Amtrak in 1971, when it was terminated. For a later “Dome”-equipped version of the “City of Portland,” please see No. 10635.
 
No. 10026 represents an accurate model by Pride Lines of the pre-war Armour yellow and golden brown “City of Portland” streamliner in “0" gauge. It is a six-car train. The “City of Portland” was the second of many Union Pacific “City” trains. To refer to other trains in the “City” fleet, please see Nos. 10349 “City of Salina” (the first “City” train), 10029 “City of Denver,” 10265 “City of San Francisco,” and 10212 and 10352 “City of Los Angeles.”
 
Finally, let’s review the concept of “streamlining” as an art form. Its origin as an international trend can be traced back to the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, which formally introduced Art Deco as a major decorative style, embracing every area of the decorative arts. This included furniture, jewelry, painting and graphics, bookbinding, glass, ceramics, and ushered in the newly established profession of Industrial Design.
 
As an international exhibition, it was intended to honor the Allies of World War I. The new Soviet Union was invited, as were the new republics of Austria and Hungary, along with the many European countries that fought against Germany, which was not invited. Asian attendees included Japan and Indo-China, and North Africa and French West Africa had Pavilions. Britain, Spain, and Italy were represented, but, curiously, the United States declined to participate on the grounds that there was no modern art in America (President Herbert Hoover’s explanation).
 
It was not a historical exhibition, celebrating achievements of the past, but a forward-looking one, emphasizing the theme “modern.” This evolved into the “Moderne” and “Modernism” movements in the United States in the dark Depression days of the 1930s, when everyone was looking for something exciting to jump-start America’s national pride and, of course, the economy.
 
The Century of Progress Exposition held in Chicago in 1933-34 bolstered America’s optimism and helped popularize the emerging Art Deco-inspired movement that became known as “streamlining”—shapes were simple, clean, rounded, smooth, and chic, straight lines and graceful curves, with no clutter of excess ornamentation.  Soon, newly established industrial designers were streamlining everything: toasters, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, clocks, washing machines, automobiles, commercial and residential buildings, and, naturally, passenger trains. As a matter of fact, America’s first two internal-combustion-powered lightweight streamlined trains were stars at the Century of Progress fair. Together, Union Pacific Railroad’s M-10000 “The Streamliner” (see No.  10574) and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad’s “Zephyr” (see No. 10239) would revolutionize rail passenger travel, and a new era in land transportation would be off and running.
 
Following the two pioneering streamliners, introduced in 1934, other railroads were quick to follow with their own streamliners. In 1935, the Alton Railroad introduced the “Abraham Lincoln” (see No.10728), the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad the “Royal Blue” (see No. 10258), the Boston & Maine Railroad the “Flying Yankee” (see No. 10036), the Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad the “Rebel” (see No. 10725), and the Milwaukee Road the “Hiawatha” (see No. 10734). In 1936, there were Illinois Central Railroad’s “Green Diamond” (see No.10032) and New York Central Railroad’s “Mercury” (see No. 10200). These were the early streamliners; soon no progressive railroad could be without one—they were sleek, fast, clean, comfortable, and brightly colored, with beautifully designed exteriors and interiors, exciting to see and ride on.  The streamlining era has been with us ever since, through World War II and the arrival of Amtrak in 1971. Even today, there’s nothing like a thrilling ride on Amtrak’s new streamlined “Acela Express” on the Northeast Corridor, at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour (see No. 10638).