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I am not a UP modeler, but wanted to run a UP domeliner because so many of the prototype cars are available. Kato’s smoothside cars are based on UP prototypes, and many other UP cars are available from American Model Builders kits. Starting in 1946, the first City of St. Louis ran from St. Louis to Salt Lake City via Kansas City and Denver as trains 9 and 10 daily. The St. Louis to Kansas City portion was on Wabash rails. Most of the cars were then switched in Cheyenne to the City of Los Angeles (trains 103 and 104) or to the City of San Francisco (SP trains 101 or 102). Starting in 1951 the train ran from St. Louis to Los Angeles direct, but passengers could transfer or stay in sleepers bound for Oakland or Denver. Starting in 1969 the train originated in Kansas City and was renamed for that city. This consist represents a train from Kansas City to Denver between 1958 and 1969. Two published consists I have found are on page 512 of Ranks and Kratville’s The Union Pacific Streamliners and page 69 of Wayner’s Passenger train consists 1923-1973.
The power for long UP trains like the City of St. Louis in the domeliner era consisted of three E8 units. Generally UP used an A and two B units, but substitutions were made as necessary. Here I use a Kato A and B unit (top) and a Model Power A unit.
The head end cars had an RPO /baggage-mail car. The CSL often used an 80’ car with a 30’ RPO compartment in the 5801-5810 series (Pullman 1941), but I represent the RPO with a Kato model of an 80’ car with a 60’ RPO compartment in the 5900-5902 series (ACF 1949). I do not know when or how often UP used cars with 60’ RPO compartments. Two baggage cars were often at the head end. They stored passenger baggage, storage mail rented by the post office, and express shipments. During the domeliner era cars were often from the 5631-5663 series (81’, ACF, 1954), 5664-5678 series (71’, ACF, 1957), or 5711-5745 series (71’, ACF, 1957). The Kato models above can be from either of the last two 71’ runs.
There were generally five coaches, all of which originated in St. Louis. The first two continued to Oakland and the last three, including the dome coach, terminated in Los Angeles. The single-level coaches (with reclining chairs) in the 5401-5445 series were a PS product of 1950. This coach series is the prototype for the Kato models shown. The dome coach was built by PS in 1958 expressly for the CSL train in the 7010-7015 series. Kato chose this dome coach as the prototype for its model car. It is nearly identical to the ten dome coaches (7000-7009) built for UP by AC&F in 1955. The UP was forced to add dome cars by competitive pressure from the other western roads, who added dome cars in the mid 1950s. The Kato model is prototypical for UP City trains, except for the City of San Francisco that did not have any UP dome cars. The main level sat 36 passengers, the dome sat 24, and a men’s and women’s lounge was under the dome.
The first car following the coaches was a car to provide a lounge and/or low coast meals to coach passengers. A typical car used in this position of the consist on the CSL was the dormitory-buffet-lounge from ACF (1949) in the 6100-6105 series. Another car used in this position (which is more typical of the City of San Francisco and City of Los Angeles) is a lunch counter-lounge. The model above is an American Model Builders kit of the lunch counter-lounge built for UP by ACF in the 4000-4003 series in 1953. The side without windows is the lunch counter food service area. There are pictures of this car on pages 448, 454 and 455 of The Union Pacific Streamliners. The center car of this section is the 48-seat diner in the 4800-4816 series built by ACF in 1949. This diner was typical of all the city trains and is the prototype for the Kato model shown. The next car in the food/lounge section is the dome-buffet-lounge, which joined the train in Kansas City and proceeded to Los Angeles. The prototype dome-lounges were built in 1955 by ACF in the 9000-9014 series, and had rounded observation ends but also an end door so they could be used as a mid-train lounge. The CSL consist listings I have show the lounge in mid-train following the diner, and not as a rear train observation. This mid-train position probably facilitated removing the last sleeper from the end of the train in Denver, and the next two sleepers from the end in Cheyenne bound for Oakland. I don’t have a model of this car, so another PS 1958 dome coach is a substitute.
The first car in the sleeper section of the CSL was a 10 roomette /6 double bedroom car in the Pacific series from Budd. Fifty of these corrugated cars were built for the UP in 1950. The custom painted Kato model of the Budd sleeper (shown here) matches the UP car very closely except for the full-length letterboard on the prototype. The next sleeper is a 6 section /6 roomette /4 double bedroom PS car of 1956 in the National series. The National cars were built expressly for the upgrading of the CSL train. While the room complement of the National cars is similar to the 1942 American series, the National cars have the bedroom section in the middle and the American cars have the roomette section in the center of the car. The small upper berth windows mark the more economical Pullman sections on both cars. The model is an American Model Builders kit lettered for “National Frontier”. The next car is from the American series (6 section /6 roomette /4 double bedroom ACF cars of 1942). These models are Kato smoothside sleepers (American Consulate and American Captain). Kato used the ACF 6/6/4 sleeper as its prototype. Between the two American series cars, UP often included a 12 roomette /4 bedroom car from the Western series built by ACF. In 1950, the UP acquired 12 of these cars, the Wabash got 4 and the CNW two. I don’t own a model of a Western series car, so a re-lettered Rivarossi 10/6 car (with a similar appearance at first glance) serves a stand in.
Of the 3 locomotives and 16 cars in this train, the RPO, dormitory lounge, dome lounge and Western series sleeper are stand-in cars with degrees of similarity to the prototype. The remaining 12 cars and all locomotives are prototypical models, of which only one is a kit.
Randall, David, From Zephyr to Amtrak, Prototype Publications, 1972.
Ranks, Harold E. and William W. Kratville, The Union Pacific Streamliners, Kratville publications, 1974.
Wayner, Robert J., Passenger train consists 1923-1973, Wayner Publications.
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