North Coast Limited
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The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It commenced service on April 29, 1900 served briefly as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, and ceased operation the day before Amtrak began service (May 1, 1971). The Chicago Union Station to St. Paul leg of the train's route was operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad along its Mississippi River mainline through Wisconsin. The train also had a Portland section which split off the Seattle section at Pasco, Washington and was operated by NP subsidiary Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway between Pasco and Portland.
For much of its history, the North Coast Limited was particularly noted for its dining car service which ranked among the best in the railroad passenger business.
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[edit] Heavyweight North Coast Limited
Inaugurated on April 29, 1900, between St.Paul, Minnesota, and Puget Sound, the North Coast Limited was one of the first named trains in the United States. Initially the Northern Pacific launched the train as a summer-only service but due to its popularity service was expanded to a year-round daily operation in 1902. The North Coast Limited operated as Number 1 westbound and Number 2 eastbound.
In 1909 the train was re-equipped with new heavyweight cars constructed by Pullman-Standard and added a Portland section which operated via the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway between Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon.
On December 17, 1911, service was also extended east of St. Paul directly into Chicago over the Chicago and North Western Railway. In 1918 the Chicago to St. Paul leg was shifted to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad via that roads' Mississippi River mainline, a route that persisted until 1971. With the change in carriers the eastern terminus of the train changed from Chicago's Northwestern Station to Union Station.
On May 14, 1930 the North Coast Limited was again re-equipped with a new heavyweight steel equipment. The new trains were launched with cars that featured rubber roller bearings, brass windows, barber and valet services, a barber shop, separate bath and shower facilities for men and women, a soda fountain and radios on-board. Parlor cars were also added to the consist for the daylight portions of the run.
[edit] The Streamlined Vista-Dome North Coast Limited
In 1946 the Northern Pacific board of directors authorized the purchase of new streamlined equipment for the railroad, beginning with the North Coast Limited. The new train began service in 1952. From 1952-1970 this was truly one of the world's finest trains. Everything was streamlined and upgraded. Tables in the dining car were set with fresh flowers and linen table cloths. The luxury train crew included a stewardess who was also registered nurse. The trains' two-tone green paint scheme and Lewis and Clark-themed interiors were designed by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. The Streamlined North Coast Limited operated daily as Northern Pacific train Number 25 westbound and Number 26 eastbound. Train Numbers 1 and 2 were re-assigned to a secondary Chicago-Seattle service named the Mainstreeter, which took its name from the Northern Pacific advertising slogan "Main Street of the Northwest."
In 1954 Northern Pacific Railway introduced the dome car to the consist and renamed their flagship train, "The Vista-Dome North Coast Limited."
The scenic route went west across Northern Illinois to the Mississippi River at Savanna, and then more or less followed the Mississippi through La Crosse, Wisconsin, St. Paul, and Minneapolis in Minnesota as far as Little Falls, Minnesota. North Dakota cities served includes Fargo, Bismarck, and Dickinson. Crossing Montana, the train passed through Glendive, Billings, Livingston, Bozeman, Butte, and Missoula. Passing though Sandpoint, Idaho, the train made stops at Spokane, Pasco, Yakima, and East Auburn (a stop for Tacoma) before terminating at the King Street Station in Seattle. The trip from Chicago's Union Station to Seattle was just under two days, taking about 45 hours.
The original train ceased operation with the Amtrak takeover. The last train operated on April 30, 1971, exactly seventy-one years and one day after the inaugural run.
[edit] Amtrak North Coast Hiawatha
On June 5, 1971 service was reinstated over much of the former North Coast Limited route by Amtrak as the North Coast Hiawatha. the train's name was an amalgam of North Coast Limited and Olympian Hiawatha, the Milwaukee Road's former pacific northwest train. The train was combined with the Amtrak Empire Builder between Chicago and Minneapolis and between Spokane and Seattle (at the time the Empire Builder used the former North Coast Limited route between Spokane and Seattle, via Yakima) and operated three days per week. On November 14, 1971, the North Coast Hiawatha began operating as a separate train from Chicago to Spokane (and daily between Chicago and Minneapolis on former Milwaukee Road trackage). It still combined with the Empire Builder between Spokane and Seattle. On June 11, 1973, the North Coast Hiawatha began operating as a separate train (still tri-weekly, except during some summer and holiday periods) all the way from Chicago to Seattle; the segment between Spokane and Seattle used was the former Empire Builder route via Cascade Tunnel.
The North Coast Limited was the Northern Pacific's flagship train and the Northern Pacific itself was built along the trail first blazed by Lewis and Clark.
Much of the route today is not served by passenger train, through Amtrak's Empire Builder does run on some of the same trackage in its St. Paul-Moorhead and Sandpoint-Pasco segments. The lone remaining Chicago to Seattle/Portland passenger train today is Amtrak's Empire Builder which primarily traverses much of the former Great Northern route west of St. Paul, Minnesota via Grand Forks and Minot, ND; Havre, Whitefish, and Glacier National Park in Montana; and Wenatchee and Everett in Washington State.
[edit] Books
- Dining Car to the Pacific: The "Famously Good" Food of the Northern Pacific Railway published by Minnesota Historical Society Press 1990.
- The Vista-Dome North Coast Limited by William R. Kuebler, Jr., published by Oso Publishing Company Inc., 2004
