On February 15, 1927, four of the presidents of the Northwest transcontinental railroads met at the Tacoma Hotel to discuss a new "fast" train from Tacoma to Chicago. The presidents were, left to right, Charles Donnelly, Northern Pacific; Ralph Budd, Great Northern; H.E. Bryam, Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and Carl R. Gray, Union Pacific. They met with over one hundred business leaders from Tacoma, Seattle, Portland, Spokane and points between. The leaders wanted a 60 hour train from Tacoma to Chicago. Cost estimates from the railroad presidents ran from $750,000 to a million a year with little or no additional revenue. The presidents unanimously vetoed the faster train plan. (TNT 2/15/1927 p.1) BGN-093
Donnelly, Charles; Budd, Ralph; Bryam, H.E.; Gray, Carl R.; Railroad companies--1920-1930;