Cascadian (train)

Not to be confused with Amtrak Cascades or Cascade (train).

The Cascadian was an American named train of the Great Northern Railway on its route between Seattle and Spokane, Washington. The service was short-lived, lasting five years between 1954 and 1959.

Cascadian

Photo of the coach segment of the combination coach/cafe cars
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Washington
First service	August 15, 1954 (1954-08-15)
Last service	August 15, 1959 (1959-08-15)
Former operator(s)	Great Northern Railway
Route
Termini	King Street Station, Seattle, Washington Spokane station
Distance travelled	330 miles (530 km)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	5/6
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map Empire Builder Spokane Fort Wright Fairchild Espanola Waukon Edwall Bluestem Harrington Mohler Lamona Odessa Irby Marlin Wilson Creek Stratford Adrian Soap Lake Ephrata Naylor Winchester Quincy Trinidad Columbia River Voltage Rock Island Malaga Wenatchee Monitor Cashmere Dryden Peshastin Leavenworth Chumstick Winton Merritt Berne Cascade Tunnel Scenic Skyhomish Grotto Baring Index Reiter Gold Bar Sultan Monroe Snohomish Everett Mukilteo Edmonds Richland Beach Seattle

History

The Cascadian was officially listed as a streamliner on August 15, 1954. The Great Northern Railway operated a daylight train between Seattle and Spokane that traversed the Cascade Mountains through the Cascade Tunnel. It then descended the eastern slopes through the Cashmere – Wenatchee apple growing region before crossing the Columbia River and climbing up to the high Columbia plateau and the wheat fields of the Inland Empire. The Cascadian was a slow all-stops local train that required nine hours in either direction for the 330 miles (531 km) between Seattle and Spokane. Most passengers between these points traveled in the Empire Builder or Western Star overnight. The Cascadian made its last run on August 15, 1959.

Rolling stock

Each of the two train sets consisted of a baggage-storage-mail car, a baggage 30’ railway post office car — both generally heavyweights but painted in the Empire Builder dark-green and orange color scheme. Next came prewar 58 seat Luxury Coaches in the 938–943 class with up to three being assigned to each consist on the busiest days. When the Cascadian was officially listed as a streamliner on August 15, 1954 it was when the railroad added the café-coach cars to the Cascadians. These cars, originally heavyweights, had recently been remodeled and streamlined by GN shops in Minneapolis and carried the markers for the Cascadians. These cars featured 18 revenue coach seats and a café with seating for sixteen. The Cascadian was powered by either EMD F-units or passenger-equipped GP units between Seattle and Scenic, and between Wenatchee and Spokane. Between Scenic and Wenatchee was the electrified district of the Great Northern Railway and electric locomotives were assigned as power in this area until the electrified zone was discontinued in 1956. At that time, whatever power assigned in Spokane or Seattle ran through.

Train consists

Consist 1	Car type	Consist 2
273A	EMD F7A 1,500 hp (1.12 MW) diesel passenger cab unit	274A
273B	EMD F7A 1,500 hp diesel passenger cab unit	274B
52	Baggage 30’ railway post office car	53
262	Baggage express storage mail car	263
938	58-Revenue seat coach	939
940	58-Revenue seat coach	941
942	58-Revenue seat coach	943
1060	18-Revenue seat coach 16-seat café	1061