Frank Miller’s Final Ride: The Union Pacific Streamliner M-10000 Rolls Through Riverside

Railroads and railroad travel were a large part of Frank A. Miller's life. During his early life in Tomah, Wisconsin, his father, C. C. Miller, did railroad survey work. Frank joined his father in survey work when he was old enough. They often traveled by rail throughout the state.  

The year 1869 marked a major triumph in railroad travel. The transcontinental railroad was completed, joining the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad in Utah. Now, people could go from coast to coast by train in a much shorter time and much easier travel conditions. Five years later, Miller’s first grand adventure on the rails was in 1874, when the family left Tomah, Wisconsin, to move to Riverside, California. They went by rail from Chicago to Omaha, Nebraska, where they transferred to the new Union Pacific, taking them across the plains and into the mountains. Finally reaching Oakland, the family took a ferry to San Francisco and then a ship to Los Angeles.   From Los Angeles, they traveled by train to the end of the line, which at that time was Spadra, west of Pomona. From Spadra to Riverside, the family proceeded by coach. Not until 1886, when the Santa Fe reached downtown Riverside, did the city have a direct connection. 

Miller had connections with all three railroads that served Riverside. Frank and his family took many other trips by train over the years, some short to nearby locations and other places miles away. One of his next major trips by rail occurred in 1893. The Miller family joined many others in traveling to Chicago by train in 1893 for the World’s Columbia Exposition.

A final grand train adventure for Frank Miller occurred in the spring of 1934, a little over a year before his death in June 1935. 

Coming out of the Depression, upgrading from aged steam locomotives and adding speed and comfort, the railroads looked to streamlined diesel locomotives as an innovative way of upgrading and drawing back travelers.   A 1933 magazine article stated: “Super-speed railway trains are here – rivaling airplanes in swiftness, gliding along in luxurious silence, resembling trains no more than the Leviathan that looks like the flagship of Columbus. An amazing new era in railroad transportation is forcing present-style trains toward the junk pile.” 

The Union Pacific Railroad developed the M-10000 class streamliner train and sent it on a cross-country tour. Delivered in February 1934, the articulated train set consisted of a combination locomotive-baggage car powered by a diesel engine and two lightweight coach cars. 

Descriptions of this new train painted attractive pictures. One writer lavishly praised the train.

Finally, we began to have artistic railroad trains. When our trains have been artistic in the past, it has taken night, smoke, flame, fog, and speed to make them so. The new aerodynamic or streamlined train built for the Union Pacific, and now going into use, looks good even by daylight, at rest, or in motion – but especially in motion. (Riverside Independent Enterprise, March 4, 1934).

Another description was “Tomorrow’s Trains Today.” One person declared that the train resembled a huge airplane fuselage with the glistening polish of high-priced automobiles. Another less flattering depiction was that it resembled a big fat cigar. The streamliner is called a sausage train on the back of a photo. The roof and bottom of the units were painted golden brown with canary yellow sides. The train's cab was at the very top of the rounded nose, giving the engineer a view of the entire scenery in front of him. 

The 600-horsepower 12-cylinder V-type engine could reach a speed of 110 miles per hour and a cruising speed of 90 miles an hour. The design contour enabled the train to slip through the air with the least possible aerodynamic resistance. 

On its maiden voyage, the Streamline traveled to Los Angeles and was displayed on Pacific Electric tracks Exposition Boulevard near the Coliseum. Over 50,000 people toured the new train, which, at one point, extended a half-mile long. 

Before arriving in Los Angeles, the Streamline stopped in Riverside. On March 8, 1934, dignitaries from Riverside were invited to travel to Victorville, where they boarded the new train for an exhilarating trip down through the Cajon Pass and into Riverside. Among those dignitaries was Frank A. Miller of the Mission Inn, a veteran rail traveler. Others included Mayor E. B. Criddle; H. W. Hammond of the Riverside Press and Enterprise; Ira Landis, city superintendent of schools; E. Waugh, president of the Lion’s Club; R. B. Hampson, president of the Rotary Club; T. E. Gore, president of the Riverside Kiwanis Club; E. W. Porter, president of the Riverside Chamber of Commerce and F. W. Krinard of the Krinard Packing Company.  Upon arrival in Riverside, the train was on exhibit on a siding near Third Street from 1:15 to 8:00 pm.  An estimated 5000 people greeted the arrival of this special train.

Train travel had come a long way from the 1869 transcontinental engines to the many different steam locomotives that Frank Miller rode on his travels to a streamlined, sleek, speedy, brightly colored train consist. Miller witnessed and partook in this significant change over the decades of his life. How wonderful that Frank was able to go on this last trip, which ushered in a new era of locomotives.

Two years later, on May 9, 1936, a new version of the Union Pacific Streamliner, the M-10002, rolled through Riverside on its way to Los Angeles. On this occasion, the train only stopped briefly for a few minutes so that Riversiders could view the beautiful train.

Caldecott Medal winner Virginia Lee Burton wrote her first children’s book, Choo Choo, for her four-year-old son in 1937. In this story of a little steam engine who runs away, the Union Pacific Streamliner comes to the rescue and pulls the little train back to the roundhouse.