North Coast Limited

The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service (May 1, 1971), arrived at their destinations.Until the rail line was completed to Vancouver, WA in 1908 and the swing Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge was constructed between Vancouver and Portland, the train was put on a specially constructed railroad ferry which crossed the Columbia River between Goble, Oregon and Kalama, Washington.In June 1929 the fastest trains on NP, GN and the Milwaukee started running on a 63-hour westward schedule and 61-1/4 hours eastward, still with no extra fare.At the same time, it made the North Coast Limited an all-Pullman train, including Pullman parlor cars for part of the route but no tourist sleepers or coaches.Due to the Depression, this didn't last long, and by 1931 the Pacific/Atlantic Express was off the timetable and tourist sleepers and coaches were back on the 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.In 1954 the Northern Pacific introduced dome cars to the consist and advertised it as "the Vista-Dome North Coast Limited."Declining ridership and continuing red ink led the train to be jointly operated with the Great Northern's Empire Builder between Chicago and Minneapolis.Much of the route today is not served by passenger trains, though 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.
NP 300 (later renumbered 386), pulling the first North Coast Limited train on April 29, 1900, near Portland, Oregon . [ 1 ] Photo by George M. Weister of the Angelus Studio. [ 2 ] [ 3 ]
The train and route in 1911.
As the Vista-Dome North Coast Limited, with its onboard stewardess-nurse.
The North Coast Hiawatha at Yakima, Washington in August 1971.
Northern Pacific RailwayChicago, IllinoisSeattle, WashingtonPortland Union StationColumbia RiverBridgeOregonWashingtonVancouver, WashingtonBingen-White SalmonWishramKing Street StationAuburnTacomaStampede Pass TunnelSpokaneMontanaPacific TimeMountain TimeMissoulaHelenaBozemanBozeman PassLivingstonGardinerBillingsMiles CityGlendiveNorth DakotaMissouri RiverCentral TimeBismarckMinnesotaStaplesDuluthSuperiorMinneapolisChicago Burlington & QuincySaint Paul Union DepotWisconsinWinona JunctionWinonaIllinoisEast DubuqueDubuqueAuroraChicago Union Stationnamed passenger trainBismarck, North DakotaBurlington Northern RailroadGreat Northern RailwayChicago, Burlington and Quincy RailroadMississippi RiverSpokane, Portland and Seattle RailwayPortland, OregonSt. Paul, MinnesotaPuget SoundSchenectady Locomotive WorksVancouver, WABurlington Northern Railroad BridgeGoble, OregonKalama, WashingtonCape HornPullman-StandardChicago and North Western RailwayUnion StationNorthwestern Stationstreamlined equipmentMainstreeterLewis and ClarkRaymond Loewydome carsslumbercoachsleeping carBurlingtonSavanna, IllinoisLa Crosse, WisconsinLittle Falls, MinnesotaDickinsonSandpointYakimaEast AuburnSeattleGreat NorthernEmpire BuilderChicago, Burlington and QuincyTwin Cities ZephyrsNorth Coast HiawathaYakima, WashingtonAmtrakOlympian HiawathaMilwaukee RoadHomestake PassMontana Rail Linkhead-end carssleeping carsdining carobservation carlibraryStampede PassSeattle King Street StationMBI Publishing CompanyThe Pacific Northwest QuarterlyThe Journal of Library HistoryUniversity of Minnesota PressKalmbach Publishing