Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-05-23
Bv FronkIin Snow

At long last the Nations railroads
are ready to receive vacationists
with virtually al the dream trains"
they have been promising for sew
eral years. Modern de luxe speed
sters now are operating on many
railroads and although many orders
remain yet to be completed, there
has been an acceleration Of delivery
of the new trains In recent months.
As q result Of this steady increase
in available rail passenger cars, the
summers crop of vacationists will
ind it more feasible to obtain the
precise type of accommodations they
seek, and on the day on which they
wish to use it. Interstate Com
merce Commission figures show that
Pullman travel Is down approx
mately so per cent from last year,
although of1setting this is the fact
that many Of the standard" type
Of cars are being withdrawn. Thus
the increment Of new cars does not
furnish an actual increase In the
cars in service, proportionate to the
new cars delivered to the railroads.
Western rail lines are highly OPP
timistic Of heavy travel to the re-
sorts and national parks Of the West.
Those In other regions, whether 1t
be New England, to Florida now
an accepted summer resort, Cana
da or elsewhere, believe that this
summers pleasure travel will equal.
/ if not exceed, that Of last year. In
1947 space problems, both rail and
hotel, proved to be sllfnciently acute
to discourage many erstwhile tray
elerS.
/ Rail Tours Offered.
Tours are announced by varioui
travel agents, but most railroads
will not return to the operation Of
these themselves this year. The
lines are leaving the details to travel
agents to work out. The New Ha'
ven Railroad Is an exception to this
It's pilgrim tours" are again a pop
ular form of all-expense trips. These
are being operated both on the New
Haven network of rails and In asso'
citation with other roads in that Sec
| ton. Lines include the Boston q
Maine and Canadian National. Mo-
tor coaches go beyond the railheads
to reach the Gaspe Peninsula anc
other picturesque spots on the Pill
grim tours"
The train traveller who has mo-
been west of Chicago since prevail
days will find that every line in thu
West has a new look" In one re-
spect or another.
Merely to call the roll, there are
daily departures of the Santa Fe's
streamlined Super-Chief and it!
fall-coach Ell Captain on their 39a
hour dash from Chicago to Los An.
geles. Matching that are similar
daily trains on the Overland Route
Chicago & North Western-Unior
Pacific between the same cities
and, with the addition OF the
Southern Pacific, an equally fast
sumptuous streamliner to San Fran
cisco. Portland also has its fast
trains from Chicago.
To the Puget Sound cities, Seattle
and Tacoma, the three Northern
transcontinentals all have modern
istic streamliners. The Great North.
ern's Empire. Builder, the Milwau-
KEGS Olympian and the Northern
Pacific's North Coast Limited are
now comprised Of new cars, gleam-
ing In the bright hues character
istic Of each Of these competing
routes.
New Zephyr Faster.
In the midtranscontinental field
Burlington will have its new Cali.
fornia Zephyr on a 12-hour fastel
schedule, tapping Denver. the
Rockies of Colorado, Salt Lake City
and the Feather River Canyon
mostly by daytime, in its Chicago
San Francisco run.
And to complete the picture. a