Mainstreeter

The Mainstreeter was a passenger train on the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago, Illinois, and the Pacific Northwest from 1952 to 1971. When the North Coast Limited got a faster schedule in November 1952 the Mainstreeter was introduced, running roughly on the North Coast's old schedule but via Helena. Unlike the North Coast the Mainstreeter was not a true streamliner as it carried both new lightweight and traditional heavyweight coaches. It replaced another train, the Alaskan. The name referred to the Northern Pacific's slogan, "Main Street of the Northwest." While Amtrak did not retain the train as part of its initial route structure, it created a new train named the North Coast Hiawatha several months afterwards. That train ran until 1979.

Mainstreeter
The Holiday Lounge on the Mainstreeter.
Overview
Service typeInter-city rail
StatusDiscontinued
LocaleWestern United States
PredecessorAlaskan
First serviceNovember 15, 1952[1]
Last serviceApril 30, 1971
SuccessorNorth Coast Hiawatha
Former operator(s)Northern Pacific Railway
Route
StartChicago, Illinois
EndSeattle, Washington
Distance travelled2,228 miles (3,586 km)
On-board services
Sleeping arrangementsSleeping cars
Baggage facilitiesBaggage car
Technical
Timetable number(s)1, 2

Equipment

Unlike many other trains the Mainstreeter did not have specific sets of equipment built for it. Cars that were specific to included the so-called "Holiday Lounges," a set of five parlor-buffet lounges built by Pullman-Standard and delivered in July 1956. The Northern Pacific numbered these cars 487–491.[2]:237 The June 1960 Official Guide of the Railways listed the following for westbound #1:[3]:940

  • Holiday Lounge (St. Paul–Seattle)
  • Sleeping car (Chicago–Seattle)
  • Sleeping car (Chicago–Seattle)
  • Sleeper-buffet-lounge (Spokane–Portland)
  • Dining car (St. Paul–Pasco)
  • Various coaches

The two sleeping cars had 8 duplex roomettes, 6 roomettes, 3 double bedrooms and a compartment. These were built by Pullman-Standard in 1948 for the North Coast Limited.[2]:235

References
  1. Strauss, John F. (Jr.) (2001). Northern Pacific Pictorial Volume 5 — Domes, RDCs and Slumbercoaches. La Mirada, California: Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 1-885614-45-4.
  2. Wayner, Robert J., ed. (1972). Car Names, Numbers and Consists. New York: Wayner Publications. OCLC 8848690.
  3. Official Guide of the Railways. New York: National Railway Publication Co. June 1960. OCLC 6340864.
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