The ''Portland Rose'' (renamed from ''Portland Limited'' in 1930) was a named passenger train that featured through-service to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. It was operated by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, but sections of the train scheduled east of Omaha operated over the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

before 1955, and after over

the Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced financi ...

Features

The ''Portland Limited'' featured a lady's lounge, men's club, sightseeing salon, library, barbershop, and bath with shower which remained intact through the entire route. Renamed ''Portland Rose'' in 1930, the train was assigned

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

passenger equipment, but was regularly upgraded with streamlined equipment in line with the premiere " city trains". The 1930s service continued these features, adding a fully equipped

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

, a radio, and a glass-enclosed sun parlor.

Service changes and demise

The 1935 introduction of the '' City of Portland'' replaced the ''Portland Rose'' as the premier Union Pacific train to the Northwest, but the ''Rose'' remained important and operated through to the establishment of Amtrak in 1971. In 1937, the year that Union Pacific introduced the Chicago–

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

discount tourist-class train, '' The Challenger'', ''Portland Rose'' split sections at Omaha, one through section to Chicago over the

CNW The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

, the other through to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

over the Wabash. A section of ''Challenger'' sleepers were at that time exchanged between the ''Portland Rose'' and ''The Challenger'' (San Francisco #87/88) at Green River. In 1942,

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

, then became the east terminus of the ''Pacific Rose'', (temporarily designated as trains 11/12) with a through section carried between there and Chicago by the ''

Los Angeles Limited The ''Los Angeles Limited'' was a named passenger train in the United States. It was operated by the Union Pacific Railroad from 1905 to 1954. History Beginning in 1905 the ''Los Angeles Limited'' was the flagship train of the Union Pacific ...

'' (trains #1/2), and another section via Denver and through Kansas to Kansas City and St. Louis carried by the ''City of St. Louis''. With the demise of the ''Pony Express'', with which it had been combined east of Denver, the ''Portland Rose'' operated under that name alone from Portland to St. Louis as trains 17/18 by way of Cheyenne and Denver. But by 1964, the ''Portland Rose'' terminated in Kansas City and in late 1969, service was curtailed to Denver. In continuous service from its inception, the ''Rose'' outlasted some other more premiere Union Pacific trains until 1971, when

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

took over the nation's passenger services.

Gallery

File:Portland Limited brochure Union Pacific 1928.JPG, ''Portland Limited'' brochure, 1923 File:Union Pacific Railroad Portland Rose dining car.JPG, Inaugural ''Portland Rose'' decor of the 1930s heavyweight era dining car File:Union Pacific Railroad Portland Rose club car.JPG, ''Portland Rose'' heavyweight club car, c. 1930s File:5 Miscellaneous Union Pacific from Roger Puta (27419513820).jpg, ''Portland Rose'' track sign at

Denver Union Station Denver Union Station is the main railway station and central transportation hub in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 17th and Wynkoop Streets in the present-day LoDo district and includes the historic station house, a modern open-air train sh ...

Legacy

As part of the

Union Pacific Heritage Fleet The Union Pacific heritage fleet includes commemorative and historic equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The fleet currently consists of two historic steam locomotives, three historic diesel locomotives, seventeen modern diesel locomot ...

, 44-seat coach No. 5473 was renamed the ''Portland Rose'' in 1990.

References

{{Milwaukee Road named trains Passenger trains of the Union Pacific Railroad Passenger trains of the Chicago and North Western Railway Passenger trains of the Milwaukee Road Named passenger trains of the United States Railway services introduced in 1923 Night trains of the United States Railway services discontinued in 1971