City of Portland, Union Pacific Streamliner

In the spring of 1935 a single flash of brilliant Armour Yellow westbound on Union Pacific’s main line eclipsed every conventional way to measure time across the continent. The world’s first streamlined sleeping car train slashed travel between Chicago and the West Coast by almost a full day. The City of Portland made five round trips, nearly 23,000 miles every month, month after month at an average of 57 miles per hour, all stops included. The advent of The City of Portland was a bright spot on the railroad passenger train scene in the middle of the Depression.

This stunning production accentuates the beauty of the great gorge of the Columbia River and the magnificent yellow bullet that whistled for more than 200 miles along its edge. Includes footage of 8444 paced at arms length at high speed, down the gorge into the sunset. It follows trains across the Blue Mountains, over the mountains from Pocatello to Granger, and Cheyenne with night shots at Sidney, North Platte, Grand Island and Omaha. The Great Plains are soft with new green and the freshly turned earth of Iowa is a dark, moist brown. Finally, you travel right into the lower level of Union Station Chicago.

Narration. Sunday River Productions programs may feature Color film, B&W film, Music, Dubbed Sound and still photos.