Throughout its history, Amtrak has tried out several types of overseas rolling stock. One of the more distinctive pieces of equipment to tour the U.S. was the Danish-built IC3 "Flexliner" diesel railcar.

Two three-car sets from the Israeli State Railways visited the U.S. and Canada for two years, including a week in May 1997 when one set ran in demonstration service in the Cascade Corridor between Portland and Eugene, Ore. Here's the set at Portland Union Station preparing to head south down the Willamette Valley.

At Portland, the IC3 set rubbed shoulders with single-level Heritage and bi-level Superliner and High-Level cars on the "Empire Builder", "Coast Starlight" and "Pioneer" trains, and with Spanish-built TALGO 200 cars in Portland-Seattle service.

The date of the photo, May 10, is significant because this was the final day of "Pioneer" service through Portland. Amtrak had discontinued the train, along with the Salt Lake City-Los Angeles "Desert Wind", as a cost-cutting move. Rail advocacy groups have since spent much effort trying to get the route restored.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, May 10, 1997.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, May 5, 2010.
Railroad: Amtrak.

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