Pioneer (train)

Pioneer

The final Pioneer at Green River, Wyoming in May 1997
Overview
Service type Inter-city rail
Status Discontinued
Locale Western United States
First service June 7, 1977 (1977-06-07)
Last service May 10, 1997 (1997-05-10)
Former operator(s) Amtrak
Route
Start Chicago, Illinois
End Seattle, Washington
Distance travelled 2,662 miles (4,284 km)
Service frequency Three days per week
Train number(s) 25/26
On-board services
Class(es)
  • First class (sleepers)
  • Reserved coach
Sleeping arrangements
  • Bedrooms
  • Roomettes
Catering facilities
Observation facilities Sightseer lounge
Technical
Rolling stock Superliners
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Pioneer was a passenger train run by Amtrak from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois via Portland, Oregon; Boise, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; and other intermediate points.

History

Postcard depiction of the M-10001 trainset in 1939.
1977 map of the Pioneer route
The Pioneer at The Dalles in August 1977

In the 1960s two Union Pacific Railroad streamliners provided service to Portland, Oregon via Boise, Idaho: the City of Portland (from Chicago) and the Portland Rose (from Kansas City, Missouri). The City of Portland had an illustrious pedigree: the first streamlined train with sleeping cars and the first streamliner in service between Chicago and the West Coast. Amtrak did not retain either train in 1971, preferring the Empire Builder for Chicago-Pacific Northwest service. Train travel between the Pacific Northwest and Denver now required going either west to California or east to Chicago.

Amtrak sought to fill this gap in 1977 with the introduction of the Pioneer between Seattle and Salt Lake City.[1] The all-coach train operated on a daily 24-hour schedule with connections available in Ogden, Utah with the San Francisco Zephyr (Chicago–San Francisco). Meal service was provided in an on-board cafe, one of the then-new Amfleet "Am-dinettes." Coaches were all-reserved except between Portland and Seattle, where the Pioneer supplemented existing corridor service. In early 1977, Amtrak authorized approximately $500,000 to improve 13 stations along the route in Utah, Idaho and Oregon. Work included installation of passenger shelters, platforms and rehabilitation of existing stations.[2] Regular service began on June 7.[3][4]

The Pioneer began exchanging a Seattle–Chicago through coach with the San Francisco Zephyr on April 26, 1981; this was supplemented by a through sleeping car on October 31, 1982. The decision in 1983 by the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to join Amtrak shifted the Zephyr south to the Moffat Tunnel Route. Amtrak renamed that train the California Zephyr; the interchange point shifted to the Pioneer's terminus in Salt Lake City. Also operating with the two trains was the Desert Wind, which served Los Angeles.[5]:143–144

On June 17, 1991, the Pioneer began splitting from the California Zephyr in Denver, Colorado and proceeding over the Union Pacific's Overland Route in Wyoming, which had last seen service in 1983. A bus at Ogden provided a connection to Salt Lake City. Two considerations prompted this change. The combined California Zephyr/Desert Wind/Pioneer consisted of 16 Superliner cars, the longest such train Amtrak had ever operated. It required no fewer than four EMD F40PH diesel locomotives to haul the combined train through the Rocky Mountains between Denver and Salt Lake City. Having the Pioneer separate earlier reduced the load. Further, the faster running time over the Overland Route allowed a more reasonable departure time from Seattle. The Pioneer began running thrice-weekly west of Denver on November 4, 1993.[5]:148–150

In January 1997 Amtrak announced that the Pioneer would end May 10, 1997 when a Congressionally-funded mandate to keep it operating expired. States affected were given until March 15 to submit funding proposals to keep the train operating.[6] While visiting Pendleton, Oregon on February 22 Amtrak President Thomas M. Downs said the Pioneer could be converted to a coach-only Chicago–Portland mail-and-express train operating on an all-Union Pacific routing through Iowa and Wyoming (but missing Ogden) if interested states could provide about $4.8 million to fund the existing operation through that October when the new train could start.[7]

By the March 15 deadline state funding had not been secured although the requested funding package had been reduced. Instead of seeking $4.8 million, Amtrak asked the Oregon legislature for $2.9 million in loan guarantees, which would have resulted in triweekly service between Portland and Salt Lake City through the October startup of a daily mixed train carrying express freight and passengers between Chicago and Portland via Omaha, Cheyenne, and Ogden. Oregon refused to provide the loan guarantees because it found Amtrak's collateral (ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level cars) unacceptable.[8] On April 10 Union Pacific told Amtrak that the proposed express train would require $56 million in capital improvements.[9] On May 10, 1997 the Pioneer made its last run.[10] It was reported in the December 1998 issue of Trains that a Chicago-Portland replacement for the Pioneer via Omaha and Cheyenne had been postponed.[11]

Equipment

Superliner cars on the Pioneer in 1997

The original all-coach Pioneer had Amfleet coaches and a lounge. Amtrak added a Heritage Fleet sleeping car in 1978. With the start of through service with the San Francisco Zephyr in 1981 the Pioneer received bi-level Superliner coaches, but the single-level sleeping car and lounge remained until 1982, when the train went all-Superliner.[5]:155

Service restoration

In accordance with the Passenger Rail Improvement Act of 2008 Amtrak evaluated the possibility of restoring service to the Pioneer and other discontinued long-distance routes. Amtrak considered four options for a restored Pioneer, all of which would have through service to Chicago via the California Zephyr:[12]

EndpointsRouteEstimated ridershipRevenuesOperating costsOperating lossFarebox recoveryCapital costs
Salt Lake CitySeattleRio Grande Route102,000$11.6m$36.6m$25.0m31.7%$373.9m
DenverSeattleOverland Route111,000$13.1m$46.2m$33.1m28.4%$469.8m
Salt Lake CityPortlandRio Grande Route82,000$7.6m$35.9m$28.3m21.2%$370.5m
DenverPortlandOverland Route95,000$9.2m$44.7m$35.5m20.6%$484.8m

According to the study the projected farebox recovery ratio was "significantly lower than the average fare box recovery for Amtrak long distance trains in FY2008 (51.8%). Fare box recovery for the two Seattle options (Options 1 and 2) is lower than all but one of Amtrak's 15 existing long distance routes, and the Portland options have a lower fare box recovery than any Amtrak long distance route." Amtrak projected lower ridership than in the mid-1990s owing to the proliferation of low-cost air travel between Seattle and Salt Lake City (particularly Southwest Airlines).[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Pioneer Inaugural Run Brings Out The People". Amtrak NEWS 4 (11). 15 June 1977. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "New Route's Station Work Set". Amtrak NEWS 4 (3). 15 February 1977. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Inaugural Run Introduces Pioneer To Boise Route Cities". Amtrak NEWS. 4 (10): 1. June 1977. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ Amtrak (June 22, 1977). "National Train Timetables".
  5. 1 2 3 Sanders, Craig (2006). Amtrak in the Heartland. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34705-X. OCLC 61499942.
  6. ↑ Johnston, Bob (April 1997). "Amtrak's countdown to confusion". Trains: 16.
  7. ↑ Johnston, Bob (May 1997). "Amtrak, in dire straits again, needs champions". Trains: 17.
  8. ↑ Johnston, Bob (June 1997). "Amtrak goes down to the wire on train-offs". Trains: 16.
  9. ↑ Johnston, Bob (July 1997). "Union Pacific, Amtrak at odds over Pioneer". Trains: 16–17.
  10. ↑ Johnston, Bob (August 1997). "The Pioneer's last stand". Trains: 24–26.
  11. ↑ Johnston, Bob (December 1998). "Amtrak's mail-and-express balancing act". Trains: 27.
  12. 1 2 Amtrak (16 Oct 2009). "Pioneer Route Passenger Rail Study" (PDF). Retrieved 1 May 2011.

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