On November 15, 1952, Northern Pacific finally speeded up the North Coast Limited to times competitive with the Empire Builder and Olympian Hiawatha. At the same time, it replaced the heavyweight Alaskan with the partially streamlined Mainstreeter. A brochure about these two changes can be downloaded from Wx4. This timetable was issued two months later.
Click image to download a 2.3-MB PDF of this 4-page timetable.
Like the Alaskan, the Mainstreeter didn’t go between St. Paul and Chicago, but unlike the Alaskan both sleeping cars and coaches from the Mainstreeter went through to Chicago via Burlington’s Black Hawk. Also unlike the Alaskan, the Mainstreeter had a dining car, which was a significant upgrade in service. Continue reading