Pioneer

Noble, and goes against the typical Irish stereotype.

Serving Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Ogden, Boise, Portland, Seattle, and intermediate points

Amtrak train numbers: 25 and 26

Predecessor railroad train numbers: Union Pacific 105 and 106 (City of Portland)

The closest predecessor to Amtrak's Pioneer was the Union Pacific's City of Portland, which ran from Chicago via the UP's Overland Route through Wyoming, then through Idaho and Oregon to Portland, where it connected with trains running over the Union Pacific/Northern Pacific/Great Northern Joint Line to Seattle.

The initial incarnation of the Pioneer in 1979 was as a train running between Seattle and Salt Lake City, making a connection at Ogden with the San Francisco Zephyr. A couple of years later, the Pioneer began to run as a through train to Chicago, combined with or separated from the San Francisco Zephyr at Ogden. The service continued when the San Francisco Zephyr became the California Zephyr in 1983, with the car switching now taking place in Salt Lake City.

Beginning in 1991, the switching operation for the Pioneer was moved to Denver, as the train was rerouted through Wyoming over the route that had been abandoned by the San Francisco Zephyr.

The Pioneer made its last run on May 10, 1997, a victim of one of Amtrak's periodic attempts to trim its budget, leaving Wyoming once again without Amtrak train service.

Condensed historical timetables:

           READ DOWN                                            READ UP
(1956)  (1979)  (1987)  (1994)                      (1994)  (1987)  (1979)  (1956)
 4:45P   -----   3:15P   3:05P    Dp Chicago     Ar  4:15P   4:05P   -----  11:30A
 1:10A   -----  11:30P  11:35P    Omaha              6:50A   6:55A   -----   3:15A
 -----   -----   8:50A   9:45A    Denver             9:00P   9:15P   -----   -----
 -----  10:45P  11:57P   -----    Salt Lake City     -----   6:48A   7:40A   -----
 -----  12:05A   1:00A   9:26P    Ogden              6:38A   5:13A   6:35A   -----
 9:40P   7:00A   7:32A   3:59A    Boise             11:26P  10:15P  11:10P   4:30A
 7:30A   5:30P   5:50P   2:40P    Portland          11:40A  11:00A  11:30A   5:00P
 -----   9:20P   9:40P   6:35P Ar Seattle        Dp  7:30A   7:00A   7:30A   -----

The Amtrak Train Names Project

The Pioneer series of spacecraft performed the first US exploration of the solar system. While the craft and their missions had few similarities, they all paved the way for future exploration. The program spanned 20 years and included the stunning successes of Pioneer 10 and 11.

Pioneer 0
Vehicle: Thor Able
Launch Date: 8/17/58 (by USAF, all others launched by NASA)
Mission: radiation survey of earth-moon space
Outcome: Destroyed 77 seconds after launch when first stage exploded.

Pioneer 1
Vehicle: Thor Able
Launch Date: 10/11/58
Mission: radiation survey of earth-moon space
Outcome: A programming error in its upper stage caused it to fall short of its goal. It reached an altitude of 113854 km above the Earth's surface, but fell back into the Pacific ocean two days later. It did map the extent of some of the Earth's radiation belts.

Pioneer 2
Vehicle: Thor Able
Launch Date: 11/8/58
Mission: radiation survey of earth-moon space
Outcome: The upper stage failed to ignite, causing it to reenter the atmosphere about six hours after launch.

Pioneer 3
Vehicle: Juno 2
Launch Date: 12/6/58
Mission: radiation survey of earth-moon space
Outcome: The first stage boosters cut out prematurely, but it did reach an altitude of 102,332 km and was able to return significant scientific data.

Pioneer 4
Vehicle: Juno 2
Launch Date: 3/3/59
Mission: radiation survey of earth-moon space
Outcome: Successful flyby of the Moon at a distance of 58,983 km (twice the planned altitude).

Pioneer 5
Vehicle: Thor Able
Launch Date: 3/11/60
Mission: map interplanetary magnetic fields
Outcome: Returned good data for 106 days (design life was one month), communicating from as far away as 36.2 million km. Still in solar orbit, but no longer communicating.

Pioneer 6
Vehicle: Delta E
Launch Date: 12/16/65
Mission: measure solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
Outcome: Successfully achieved solar orbit and returned significant scientific data. There was a successful contact of Pioneer 6 for about two hours on 8 December 2000 to commemorate its 35th anniversary!.

Pioneer 7
Vehicle: Delta E
Launch Date: 8/17/66
Mission: measure solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
Outcome: Successfully achieved solar orbit and returned significant scientific data. Transmitted data until September 1995, not quite 30 years.

Pioneer 8
Vehicle: Delta E
Launch Date: 12/13/67
Mission: measure solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
Outcome: Successfully achieved solar orbit and returned significant scientific data. Still in solar orbit, no longer functional.

Pioneer 9
Vehicle: Delta E
Launch Date: 11/8/68
Mission: measure solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays
Outcome: Successfully achieved solar orbit and returned significant scientific data. Still in solar orbit, no longer functional.

Pioneer E
Vehicle: Delta L
Launch Date: 8/27/69
Mission: solar radiation measurements
Outcome: Hydraulics failure on launch, destroyed by range saftey officer.

Pioneer 10
Vehicle: Atlas Centaur
Launch Date: 3/3/72
Mission: Jupiter flyby
Outcome: Approached within 200000 km on December 3, 1973, returning a great deal of scientific data. First vehicle ot leave the solar system. Still alive after more than 30 years! As of this writing, last contact with the craft was 12/5/02.

Pioneer 11
Vehicle: Atlas Centaur
Launch Date: 4/6/73
Mission: Jupiter and Saturn flyby
Outcome: Approached within 34000 km of Saturn on December 4, 1974 and approached within 21000 km of Saturn on September 1, 1979. Also left the solar system.

Pioneer 12
Vehicle: Atlas Centaur
Launch Date: 5/20/78
Mission: Venus orbiter
Outcome: Successfully orbited Venus: mapped clouds, atmosphere and ionisphere and radar mapped 93 percent of the planet's surface.

Pioneer 13
Vehicle: Atlas Centaur
Launch Date: 8/8/78
Mission: Venus multiprobe
Outcome: Successfully delivered four atmospheric probes (one large, three small) to Venus. Although not designed to survive impact, one of the small probes did and it sent back measurements from the surface for 67 minutes. The carrier vehicle burned up on entry into the atmosphere.

Source: http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Projects/pioneer/PNhome.html

Pi`o*neer" (?), n. [F. pionier, orig., a foot soldier, OF. peonier, fr. OF. peon a foot soldier, F. pion. See Pawn in chess.]

1. Mil.

A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances.

2.

One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow; as, pioneers of civilization; pioneers of reform.

© Webster 1913.

Pi`o*neer", v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Pioneered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Pioneering.]

To go before, and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.

© Webster 1913.