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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 type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Western United States
Predecessor	Alaskan
First service	November 15, 1952[1]
Last service	April 30, 1971
Successor	North Coast Hiawatha
Former operator(s)	Northern Pacific Railway
Route
Termini	Chicago, Illinois Seattle, Washington
Distance travelled	2,228 miles (3,586 km)
On-board services
Sleeping arrangements	Sleeping cars
Baggage facilities	Baggage car
Technical
Timetable number(s)	1, 2
Route map v t e Legend 2301 mi 3703 km Portland Union Station Columbia River Bridge Oregon Washington 2291 mi 3687 km Vancouver, Washington 2247 mi 3616 km Stevenson 2225 mi 3581 km Bingen–White Salmon 2195 mi 3533 km Wishram To Portland via SP&S 2319 mi 3732 km Seattle King Street Station Stampede Pass Tunnel 2195 mi 3533 km Ellensburg 2158 mi 3473 km Yakima 2069 mi 3330 km Pasco 1923 mi 3095 km Spokane Washington Idaho Idaho Montana Pacific Time Mountain Time 1893 mi 3046 km Athol 1665 mi 2680 km Missoula 1597 mi 2570 km Garrison Helena 1545 mi 2486 km Butte 1474 mi 2372 km Logan Helena 1450 mi 2334 km Bozeman Bozeman Pass Tunnel 1425 mi 2293 km Livingston Gardiner 1310 mi 2108 km Billings 1208 mi 1944 km Forsyth 1163 mi 1872 km Miles City 1084 mi 1745 km Glendive Montana North Dakota 979 mi 1576 km Dickinson 878 mi 1413 km Mandan Missouri River Mountain Time Central Time 873 mi 1405 km Bismarck 771 mi 1241 km Jamestown 679 mi 1093 km Fargo North Dakota Minnesota 568 mi 914 km Staples To Duluth/Superior via NP trains 57/58 438 mi 705 km Minneapolis Northern Pacific Chicago Burlington & Quincy 427 mi 687 km St. Paul Union Depot Minnesota Wisconsin 326 mi 525 km Winona Junction Winona 297 mi 478 km La Crosse 239 mi 385 km Prairie du Chien Wisconsin Illinois 184 mi 296 km East Dubuque Dubuque 38 mi 61 km Aurora 0 Chicago Union Station

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

External links

• Mainstreeter on American Rails.com

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