In this fifth report on the former LA Limited passenger train, the UP has now changed the train's name to the Challenger Streamliner. I'll be using information kindly supplied again by UP researcher Jeff Koeller, as follows:
Union Pacific’s Challenger Streamliner 1954-1955
Introduction
The new Challenger Streamliner began Chicago-Los Angeles service as Union Pacific train Nos. 107 and 108 on January 10, 1954, featuring the fastest westbound schedule for all UP trains to the Pacific Coast: 39 1/2 hours, “One-Night en route.” The eastbound schedule to Chicago was 39 3/4 hours, second morning arrival, the same as other UP Coast streamliners.
Many writers have previously touted the Challenger Streamliner as a replacement train for the long-standing Los Angeles Limited; however, the new train was essentially a Los Angeles Limited that had been upgraded to full streamliner status with a new schedule and a new train name. In planning for this upgrading, the railroad’s “bucket list” might have looked like this:
- Utilize the existing five consist rotation but with all-lightweight passenger equipment
- Expand the number of coaches and replace the 1937-built UP 5300-5327 series cars, along with the C&NW coach-lounge car, with new 44-seat leg rest coaches
- Reduce the number of sleeping cars: 1) transfer the two Coast-to-Coast sleepers to the City of Los Angeles; 2) transfer the Minneapolis-St. Paul sleeper to the COLA; and 3) discontinue the Chicago to Los Angeles Line 337 heavyweight 14 section sleeper, effective 1-9-54
- Retain the two Chicago-Los Angeles sleeping cars for first class passengers
- Inaugurate a time-saving schedule: increase speed by reducing train length and limit intermediate stops (six on C&NW, nine on UP, and four on LA&SL, along with four conditional stops)
- Minimize passenger costs with no extra fare and budget priced meals
- Create a more marketable train name
The new train name, Challenger Streamliner, would have been familiar to many UP patrons who could remember the highly popular The Challenger economy trains that operated, often in two sections, between Chicago and Los Angeles from 1935 to May 14, 1947, and between Chicago and San Francisco from 1937 to September 30, 1947. But the 1954 Challenger Streamliner, being equipped entirely with lightweight equipment, bore little resemblance to the earlier secondary trains that consisted of a mixture of heavyweight and lightweight cars and Tourist sleepers.
Train 108 “coming” at Devore on 1-10-54
Photographer Bill Middleton was on hand at Devore, California, on January 10, 1954, to record the first eastbound trip of the new Challenger Streamliner. This photo shows the train “coming” into view with sparkling clean UP E8 units 942-932B-937 heading up the train. Behind the engines are a baggage-express car and an articulated dormitory-kitchen/diner.
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Train 108 “going away” at Devore on 1-10-54
Photos showing a train’s entire consist are rare, but in this “going away” view, the new Challenger Streamliner’s 11-car consist is nicely displayed as it crosses the dry Cajon Creek riverbed just west of Devore. From right-to-left can be seen Western and American-class sleepers, built by AC&F in 1949 and 1950. Ahead of the sleepers is a UP 5000-5006 series cafe-lounge car, preceded by four UP leg rest coaches, then a UP 1516-class club-lounge car trailing the DK-Diner, with the B-E car at the head end. Both photos, WD Middleton.
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Train 108 End-of-Train Sleeper at Summit on 1-10-54
Master rail photographer Bob Hale also shot several photos of the Challenger Streamliner on its inaugural trip as it came through Summit, California, on 1-10-54. This view illustrates the drumhead, marker lamps, and Mars red warning light on the Western-class sleeper running in end-of-train service. The Challenger Streamliner consists typically did not include an observation car, until April 1955, after the new dome-obs-lounge cars had been delivered. RO Hale photo, MD McCarter coll.
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Passenger Car Types and Details
The initial Challenger Streamliner consists had a baggage-express car at the head end, followed by the dorm-kitchen/diner and then a club-lounge car. Next came the coaches, typically four per consist, with a cafe-lounge car and the two Pullman sleepers bringing up the rear.
The coaches were taken from a general pool of Union Pacific 44-seat leg rest coaches built by Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co. in 1949 (series 5400-5449) and by American Car & Foundry Co. in 1953 (series 5450-5457). Also, from January through September 1954, AC&F added 30 more coaches to the pool (series 5438-5487).
Train 107 in Rainbow Canyon on 4-15-54
The westbound Challenger Streamliner, No. 107, is approaching Boyd, Nevada, in the picturesque Rainbow Canyon on April 15, 1954. Located south of Caliente, the canyon was a favorite location for Union Pacific publicity photographers. A change in operational practice is evident in today’s train as the sleeping cars have been moved to the head end, just behind the baggage-express car. The first sleeper is a 1942 American-class car with most of its center skirting removed. Next is a Pacific-class sleeper which replaced the Line 4345 Western-class car on March 15, 1954. After this is an articulated UP dorm-kitchen/diner followed by a UP 1516-class club lounge and several 44-seat leg rest coaches. UPRR photo.
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Dining car service for coach passengers was provided by five sets of articulated dormitory-kitchen-dining cars (DK-Diners) that had been built in 1937 for the former Los Angeles Challenger trains, and which also operated in City of Los Angeles from May 1947-1950, as well as in the Los Angeles Limited from 1950-1954. Their continued use in the new streamliner required the venerable cars to be refurbished, including the removal of most of the original center skirting.
It’s not known how often or if UP’s Dorm-Kitchen-Diners operated over the C&NW into Chicago. The first westbound Challenger Streamliner No. 107 leaving Chicago reportedly had sleeper Pacific Waters running as a dormitory car along with UP diner 4812 (AC&F 1949). See the consist on page 33 in Patrick Dorin’s book, Union Pacific’s Challenger, An Unusual Passenger Train 1935-1971.
The relatively few photos located of the Challenger Streamliner between Chicago and Omaha usually have a C&NW diner just behind the head end sleeping cars. This car was normally in C&NW green and yellow colors (probably car 6955, PSCM 1950), but on occasion a C&NW diner in UP colors shows up from series 6956-6959 (AC&F 1949). Car 6956 is known to have operated in the train during mid-to-late 1955. In addition, a C&NW 3416-class coach-lounge car, released from Los Angeles Limited service, was placed just behind the C&NW diner, although the coach-lounge may not have run every day.
Train 108 at Hermosa Tunnel on 7-4-54
This splendid down-on view shows No. 108, the eastbound Challenger Streamliner, emerging from the east portal of Sherman Hill’s Hermosa Tunnel on Independence Day 1954. Note the American Flags, a Iong-standing UP tradition for the 4th of July holiday. This photo provides an interesting perspective of the various rooftop details on 1953-built E8 diesels 932-932B-934B, plus the nine roof vents typical of baggage-express cars in series 5631-5638 (AC&F 1953). Just behind the B-E car is an Alpine-class sleeper that replaced an American-class car in Line 4345 on June 8, 1954. The consist also has a third sleeping car running in Summer Season service between Omaha and Los Angeles in Line 4315. RH Kindig photo.
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Train 107 on the C&NW near Ames on 4-9-55
On the C&NW between Chicago and Omaha, the Challenger Streamliner operated with fewer cars and could easily be handled by a pair of EMD E-units. Here is westbound No. 107, led by C&NW E8 5028A with a trailing E7 unit, just west of Ames, Iowa, on April 9, 1955 (the photo is looking east from the Minnesota Ave overhead bridge). The 8-car consist includes a 5639-5663 series B-E car, two sleepers, and a C&NW diner in green/yellow colors, a dome coach, and two leg rest coaches, followed by a dome-obs-lounge car on the rear. At Omaha Union Station, the motive power will be changed to UP units, and the C&NW diner will be replaced with an articulated UP DK/Diner, along with the addition of another leg rest coach. WD Middleton photo.
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Train 107 in Rainbow Canyon in 1955
Another UP publicity photo taken in the Rainbow Canyon area shows No. 107, the westbound 10-car Challenger Domeliner powered by an ABB set of E8s led by engine 934. Bringing up the end-of-train markers is a new Astra Dome-Observation-Lounge car. The operation of these cars was short-lived as they were transferred to the City of St. Louis on May 9, 1955, thus ending the only period in which trains 107 and 108 had some type of observation car on the rear. From left-to-right, the consist also includes a leg rest coach, a dome coach, two more leg rest coaches, a DK/Diner, a Pacific-class sleeper and an Alpine-class sleeper, along with the B-E car at the front. UPRR photo.
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UP club-lounge cars from the Los Angeles Limited also continued to operate in the new streamliner. These were former women’s coaches, built in 1937 for the Challengers, but which had been rebuilt in 1947 to 1516-class club-lounge cars for City of Portland and City of Los Angeles daily service trains. These cars were later replaced with newer River-class club-lounge cars (AC&F 1949).
Although primarily designed for coach passengers, the new train continued to handle a pair of Chicago to Los Angeles sleeping cars, both of which previously operated in the Los Angeles Limited. These included a Pullman Line 4345 American-class sleeper (PSCM 1942 or AC&F 1950) and a Pullman Line 4346 Western-class sleeper (AC&F 1949-1950).
Food and lounge service for the Pullman passengers came from a group of UP cafe-lounge cars in series 5000-5006 (AC&F 1949). Cafe-lounge cars LA-611 and LA-612, originally built for the City of Los Angeles (PSCM 1941), were also available, along with C&NW cafe-lounge cars 7800-7802 (AC&F 1949), but these cars regularly ran in the Cities trains.
Equipment Changes
An evolution of passenger car changes on the Challenger Streamliner began with UP’s April 25, 1954 public time table. One of the leg rest coaches was now operating between Omaha and Los Angeles, and while the cafe-lounge car is not shown; that car is curiously listed under the COLA equipment section as a “Diner Lounge Car” serving the same “Budget prices meals” with the same prices as the dining cars in the Challenger Streamliner.
In the UP June 20, 1954 time table, the cafe-lounge car returns to the Challenger Streamliner in the form of a “Diner Lounge Car” operating between Omaha and Los Angeles, while at the same time, the COLA now has a Cafe-Lounge car serving the same “Challenger meals” as the dining cars in the Challenger Streamliner. Subsequently, by the November 7, 1954 time table, the Challenger Diner Lounge car is not listed.
Meanwhile, effective March 15, 1954, a Pacific-class 10 roomette-4 double bedroom sleeper (Budd 1949-1950) replaced the Western-class car in each consist. Then, on June 8, 1954, an Alpine-class 14 section sleeper (AC&F 1954) replaced the American-class car in each trainset. Around this time, the sleeping cars were re-located to the front of the train, running directly behind the baggage-express car.
Summer Season Sleeping Cars
The June 20, 1954 time table shows the Challenger Streamliner with an Omaha to Los Angeles sleeping car with “Dbl. Bdrms., Rmttes., Sections.” This is the summer season American-class sleeper that operated in Pullman Line 4315 from June 8, 1954 to September 11, 1954 (inclusive). Interestingly, the westbound car deadheaded from Chicago to Omaha, while the eastbound car ran all the way from Los Angeles to Chicago. On July 1, 1954 the extension to Chicago was dropped and the line was shortened to just Omaha-LA in both directions.
The 1955 summer season was similar, with Line 4315 being “resumed” on June 10, 1955 between Omaha and Los Angeles. The line was then extended to/from Chicago on July 1st, with the service being discontinued on September 13, 1955. Detailed information for these summer season operations came from the Pullman “History of Lines” books at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
The Challenger Domeliner
Beginning in December 1954, AC&F delivered ten Astra Dome Coaches, the first five of which were assigned to the Challenger (7000-7004) with the accompanying new title, Challenger Domeliner. Note that the Challenger also had the distinction of being the first UP train equipped with dome cars. The Chicago to Los Angeles dome coach is reflected in the January 9, 1955 public time table, along with standard leg rest coaches now operating Chicago-Los Angeles, Omaha-Los Angeles, and Las Vegas-Los Angeles.
Following the arrival of the dome coaches, AC&F delivered 15 Astra Dome Observation Lounge cars in February-March-April 1955. The last five of these cars (9010-9014) were to be in operation on the Challenger Domeliner by April 1st. The April 24, 1955 time table includes the dome observation lounge car with a note indicating it was “for sleeping car passengers;” however, since the Pullman sleepers were still operating at the head end, it would’ve been a long walk to access the dome-obs-lounge car at the rear of the train (it was the only lounge car listed in the train’s equipment section).
This rather awkward situation undoubtedly led to the dome observation lounge cars being transferred to the City of St. Louis on May 9, 1955, which was a much better fit, as the COStL handled its sleeping cars at the back of the train. After this, the Challenger Domeliner re-acquired the Omaha to Los Angeles cafe-lounge car for sleeping car passengers, and also continued to operate an Omaha to Los Angeles club-lounge for coach passengers.
Train 107 at near Creastline in 1955
Located near the eastern boarder of Nevada, Crestline, elevation 5993-feet, is the highest spot on the LA&SL route, except for the branch line to Iron Mountain. About two miles north of Crestline is Horseshoe Bend, a large 143-degree curve that allowed an entire consist to be photographed as in this view looking north. In this 1955 photo, UP E9 947 and two B-units pose with No. 107, the westbound 10-car Challenger Domeliner. After the dome-obs-lounge cars were transferred to the City of St. Louis, the Challenger Domeliner acquired a River-class club-lounge car (AC&F 1949) as shown here positioned behind the DK/Diner and ahead of the three leg rest coaches. Dome coach 7004 is on the rear of the train. UPRR photo.
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Train 108 near Laramie on 9-3-55
This photo of Train 108, the eastbound Challenger Domeliner, near Laramie, Wyoming, on September 3, 1955, shows an unusually long 14-car consist powered by E9 950 and two B-units. At the front is a baggage-express car, followed by an Alpine-class sleeper, a Pacific-class sleeper, and an Angel Island-class 2-4-4 sleeper (PSCM 1941) operating in Summer Season service. After the sleeping cars is an AC&F 1949 diner for the sleeping car passengers, with the kitchen to the rear. Next is the standard DK/Diner along with a River-class club-lounge (AC&F 1949). The last six cars include leg rest coaches and a dome coach (the second to the last car). Otto Perry photo, OP-19296
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Motive Power
The Challenger Domeliner was one of UP’s premier passenger trains, and it received the latest EMD model E8s and E9s, usually in 3-unit combinations. On the relatively flat C&NW between Chicago and Omaha, Nos. 107 and 108 were powered by 2-unit EMD diesel sets, usually in an E8-E7 lashup.
UP E9 951 at Council Bluffs on 7-4-55
As one of Union Pacific’s premier passenger trains, the Challenger Domeliner always rated the latest motive power available. Two-month old EMD E9 951 and mate are shown idling on the ready track at UP’s Council Buffs engine terminal, just prior to heading over to Omaha Union Station as power for train No. 107 on July 4th, 1955 (note the American flags). After the Domeliner arrives from Chicago via the C&NW, the UP engines (probably a 3-unit set) will replace the North Western diesels, which will go to their own Council Bluffs engine terminal for servicing.
Engine 951 is from UP’s second group of E9s, series 948-956 delivered in May-June 1955, which represent the first UP diesels with aluminum painted trucks. Equipped with a Pyle-National headlight, the unit has red classification lights displayed, perhaps indicating that the engine set is not to be moved. Lou Schmitz photo.
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Trains Moved to The Milwaukee Road
After months of negotiations with C&NW over equipment equalization and poor train performance, the Union Pacific decided to move its passenger fleet running between Chicago and Omaha to the Milwaukee Road. Chicago Union Station would become the new eastern terminal for the Challenger Domeliner and the “Cities” fleet effective October 30, 1955.
Although the future looked bright for this partnership, train consolidations began within six months, thus beginning a pattern for maintaining passenger service in light of decreasing ridership and increased operating costs. In the next installment we will look at how this affected the Challenger Domeliner consists and operations.
Many thanks to Jeff Koeller for the above article about this 1954-55 UP train!
Checking my Santa Fe Employee Timetables for 1954-55 (until Oct. 30, 1955), I find that the train (#107) came westbound through Victorville (without stopping) at 7:34 p.m., and it returned eastbound through town as #108 at 4:45 p.m. So this was a daylight train that I should try to model in HO.
Here now is my bi-weekly layout progress report from July 5, 2026:
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And here now is my bi-weekly layout progress report from July 20, 2026:
Speaking of Don, he's been working hard on building the Packing House for the cement plant scene, using the Red Wing Milling kit (I showed the cover of the kit last time). He sent me a couple of photos, first showing the kit's front side, with a loading dock:
And then showing the back side:
