Anne's Travel Journal:

January 30, 1939, Continued

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Margaret and Val took us to Pasadena to get the train. We were swamped with luggage, 2 corsages & 5# candy, rain coats, etc.  Rather uneventful trip to Kansas City and St. Louis on the Santa Fe where we changed to the Pennsylvania line for Washington D.C., arriving there Friday, Feb. 3. No cold weather, but it was raining in Washington D.C. to beat the band.  We took a taxi from the Union Station to Woodward & Lorthrop’s  for a few final purchases.  We arranged with our taxi driver to give us an hour or two of sight- seeing – he was an old tour guide in Washington D.C. and knew all the places of interest.  We saw all the public buildings and the White House, where we went in for 15 minutes.  We saw the portraits of the Presidents and their wives – the portrait of Mrs. Coolidge was especially lovely.  We saw the East Room where the portraits of George and Martha Washington are hanging.  We saw the Lincoln Memorial on the way to the Capitol and wandered around there. We finally had lunch with Carl Hinshaw, our Congressman, in the restaurant for the Congressmen in the basement of the Capitol - very thrilling.  We spent an hour in the House but the Senate wasn’t in session that day.  It was a big day in spite of the rain, and we left for N.Y. on the Penn. at 2 PM.  We stayed all night at the Pennsylvania Hotel.

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The first leg of the Stillmans' journey was by railway.  This was a common method of traveling across the country in 1939 and Anne does not describe the 3-day trip.  The trip would have been made in first-class Pullman sleeper cars.  The 1930's was the era of the "Streamliners,"  high-speed lighter weight trains with tapered features to reduce air resistance.  These trains were capable of reaching speeds up to 110 mph.  First-class cars were luxurious and plush, featuring art deco motifs, sofas and arm chairs, and private toilet facilities.  There would have been domed observation cars, dining cars and possibly club cars as well. 

The Stillmans  took the Super Chief, one of the passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway that ran between Los Angeles and Kansas City, traveling through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Kansas to Missouri.  The train would have left Pasadena in the evening and arrived at Kansas City two days later, early in the morning.