Berwyn, Illinois, 19 April 1970
Yes, folks, it's Burlington Northern who brought you this show -barely. The BN hadn't been in existence for much more than a month, and Amtrak was a little more than a year in the future. So this is really BN's eastbound "Morning Zephyr"/"Empire Builder"/"North Coast Limited", a combination of three trains down from Minneapolis/Saint Paul on the former CB&Q mainline. The "Morning Zephyr" was the "Q" contribution originating in Minneapolis; the "Empire Builder" from the former Great Northern, originating in Seattle; the "North Coast Limited" a former Northern Pacific train that also originated in Seattle. Both the GN and the NP trains included sections that originated in Portland; the NP Portland section combined with the Seattle section in Pasco, while the GN Portland section was combined with the Seattle section in Spokane. The former Spokane Portland & Seattle component of BN brought those Portland sections over to Pasco and Spokane. Imagine the coordination involved! And it all now passes the "LaVergne" depot at the west end of the Q's Cicero Yard, and only a few miles from Chicago Union Station. Those vista dome passengers are getting an eyeful of Chicagoland Springtime rain, but are probably happy they're not in those former "Q" orange maintenance of way cars on the right!
Berwyn, Illinois, 19 April 1970
Yes, folks, it's Burlington Northern who brought you this show -barely. The BN hadn't been in existence for much more than a month, and Amtrak was a little more than a year in the future. So this is really BN's eastbound "Morning Zephyr"/"Empire Builder"/"North Coast Limited", a combination of three trains down from Minneapolis/Saint Paul on the former CB&Q mainline. The "Morning Zephyr" was the "Q" contribution originating in Minneapolis; the "Empire Builder" from the former Great Northern, originating in Seattle; the "North Coast Limited" a former Northern Pacific train that also originated in Seattle. Both the GN and the NP trains included sections that originated in Portland; the NP Portland section combined with the Seattle section in Pasco, while the GN Portland section was combined with the Seattle section in Spokane. The former Spokane Portland & Seattle component of BN brought those Portland sections over to Pasco and Spokane. Imagine the coordination involved! And it all now passes the "LaVergne" depot at the west end of the Q's Cicero Yard, and only a few miles from Chicago Union Station. Those vista dome passengers are getting an eyeful of Chicagoland Springtime rain, but are probably happy they're not in those former "Q" orange maintenance of way cars on the right!