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The ''Denver Zephyr'' was a
streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
operated by the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
between
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, and
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
. In peak years it ran to Colorado Springs. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The ''Denver Zephyr'' continued operating after the
Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...
merger in 1970. BN conveyed the train to
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
in 1971; Amtrak merged it with the Denver–Oakland '' City of San Francisco'' to form the ''
San Francisco Zephyr The ''San Francisco Zephyr'' was an Amtrak passenger train that ran between Chicago and Oakland, California, Oakland from June 1972 to July 1983, when it was renamed to the California Zephyr History From the start of Amtrak in spring 1971 unti ...
'' and dropped the "Denver" name in 1973.


The first Denver Zephyrs

The first Zephyr service to Denver began May 31, 1936, with the trainsets of the ''
Pioneer Zephyr The ''Pioneer Zephyr'' is a diesel engine, diesel-powered trainset built by the Budd Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington Route. The trainset was the second internal combustion-po ...
'' and the '' Mark Twain Zephyr'', trains 9900 and 9903. This new service was known as the ''Advance Denver Zephyr'' and operated on a 16-hour schedule. The trains did not have sleepers, but introduced hostesses called " Zephyrettes". In the meantime, after the success of the 3-car and 4-car ''Pioneer Zephyr'', '' Twin Zephyrs'', and ''Mark Twain Zephyr''s, the Burlington had ordered two pairs of longer stainless steel streamliners from the
Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...
. One pair was fully articulated 6-car trainsets used to replace the 3-car ''Twin Cities Zephyrs''. The other pair were 10-car trainsets, partly articulated, which became the Chicago-Denver ''Denver Zephyr''. Accommodations on these trains included coaches, sections, single and double rooms, and dining and lounge facilities. The
observation car An observation car/carriage/coach (in US English, often abbreviated to simply observation or obs) is a type of railroad Passenger car (rail), passenger car, generally operated in a passenger train as the rearmost carriage, with windows or a plat ...
s carried parlor seats for local travel. On October 23, 1936, one of the new ten-car trainsets made a special run nonstop Chicago to Denver in an effort to break the 1934 record of the ''Pioneer Zephyr'' between the two cities. The train went from Chicago to Denver in 12 hours, 12 minutes, and 27 seconds, at start-to-stop average of and reached between Akron and Brush in Colorado. Distance was given as via Plattsmouth direct to
Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...
, bypassing
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
on the regular route of the train. The new trainsets went into regular service 16 days later, November 8, 1936, replacing the trainsets used on the route since May. Power for the new trainsets came from the General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Each was led by a twin-engine forerunner to the E series featuring two Winton V-12 201-A diesels of each, articulated to a booster with one V-16 of for a total rating of 3000. These were bodied by Budd in shotwelded stainless steel, and designated 9906A/B "Silver King and Silver Queen" and 9907A/B "Silver Knight/Silver Princess". The train ran between Denver and Chicago overnight in 16 to 16½ hours. Within two years a dinette coach and an all-room sleeper were added. The trainsets were refurbished in the winter of 1948–49 and operated in DZ service until October 1956 when they were reassigned to the Denver–Fort Worth/Dallas ''
Texas Zephyr The ''Texas Zephyr'' was a List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger train operated by the Colorado & Southern Railway and the Fort Worth & Denver Railway (both subsidiaries of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad). The train wa ...
'' route on Burlington subsidiaries Colorado and Southern and
Fort Worth and Denver Railway The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road," was a Class I railroad, class I Rail transport in the United States, American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound infl ...
s. File:Denver Zephyr dining car 1940.JPG, Dining car in 1940. File:Denver Zephyr lounge 1940.JPG, 1940 lounge car. File:Chicago Burlington and Quincy Denver Zephyr Silver King.JPG, A colorized postcard showing a Silver King locomotive pulling 13 cars on the Burlington Route's Denver Zephyr (before 1956)


The second Denver Zephyr

Around 1953
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
began reequipping its competing '' City of Denver''. In addition, the Burlington, Denver and Rio Grande Western, and
Western Pacific Railroad The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
s had replaced their heavyweight Chicago-Oakland '' Exposition Flyer'' with a new streamlined ''
California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'' carrying Vista-domes in 1949. Both of these trains took passengers from the DZ, but ridership remained respectable. But the train's consist — semi-articulated with a unique braking, steam connection system that was incompatible with other standard equipment — meant that cars could not be added to the train proper, but had to be added ahead of the baggage car or as a separate section. These cars needed their own food service, compromising the economics of adding the additional cars. The Burlington decided in 1955 to reequip the train with more conventional non-articulated equipment. Thus was conceived the last complete streamlined train to be built for a private railroad in the United States. The new stainless steel train, also built by the Budd Company, offered all room sleeping accommodations and, in addition to a full diner, offered a Vista-dome coffee shop car called the ''Chuckwagon''. Parlor seats continued to be available in the observation car. Because of the popularity of the Denver-Chicago segment of the Vista-dome ''California Zephyr'', the new train also carried Vista-Domes. In addition, a new all room sleeping accommodation, the slumbercoach, offered private sleeping facilities, with in-room washstand and toilet, to passengers at coach fares plus a small surcharge. These cars were revolutionary in their use of fiberglass room modules. Each train carried two and they always were sold out, even up to the beginning of Amtrak. By 1959 slumbercoaches would appear on the trains of four other railroads, although three would later give them up. Between 1959 and late 1964, CB&Q's four cars and
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
’s four cars were pooled in ''Denver Zephyr'' / '' North Coast Limited'' service. The pool required tight scheduling and good timekeeping and was discontinued when NP acquired eight additional slumbercoaches second-hand. Even though only 18 of these revolutionary cars were built new, they remained popular, even after operation of rail passenger service was assumed by Amtrak, and carried passengers until the mid-1990s, when age and changes in passenger car requirements forced their retirement. The second ''Denver Zephyr'' began operation at the end of October 1956 and soon eclipsed its competitor, the Union Pacific Railroad's '' City of Denver''. As the train now had conventional equipment it could be expanded with other cars of Burlington streamlined passenger car fleet as well as leased cars. During the summer months trains of 20 or more cars were not uncommon and during that and holiday seasons, the train often split into two sections. With the 1956 reequipping the train also began to serve
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...
. Sandwiched between the diner and the Chuckwagon, the section consisted of a coach, a slumbercoach, and a sleeper. These cars ran on the Denver and Rio Grande Railway's ''Royal Gorge'' passenger train between Denver and Colorado Springs. Initially, the Chuckwagon operated with the section on to Colorado Springs, but, by the mid-1960s, to allow a longer service time between runs, the car ran only to Denver and a dome coach was substituted for the Chicago-Colorado Springs coach. On January 1, 1967, the Colorado Springs section was replaced by a bus connection. Though the number of cars were reduced during the off-season, the train ran mostly intact until September 7, 1968, when the Chuckwagon became seasonal and the observation car, with its flat end and rear-diaphragm, became a midtrain lounge during the off season. The train name was retained by Amtrak in May 1971. One consist of Denver Zephyr cars was sold to the Saudi Railways Organization, where it operated and subsequently went into storage in a yard in Eastern Saudi Arabia.


The Zephyr under Amtrak

Amtrak took over in 1971 and decided to run the ''Denver Zephyr'' daily between Chicago and Denver. The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway declined to join Amtrak, so the tri-weekly Union Pacific/ Southern Pacific '' City of San Francisco'' was diverted from
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
into Denver for combination with the ''Zephyr'' to Chicago. During the summer of 1971 the ''City'' and the ''Zephyr'' ran as separate sections (on the same schedule) between Denver and Chicago; after that summer the two trains were combined on the days the ''City'' ran. Amtrak renamed the ''City of San Francisco'' the ''
San Francisco Zephyr The ''San Francisco Zephyr'' was an Amtrak passenger train that ran between Chicago and Oakland, California, Oakland from June 1972 to July 1983, when it was renamed to the California Zephyr History From the start of Amtrak in spring 1971 unti ...
'' on June 11, 1972. The ''Denver Zephyr'' name disappeared altogether on October 26, 1973. For several years afterward the ''San Francisco Zephyr'' carried Chicago–Denver cars.


See also

Comparable streamliners of the era also serving Denver and Colorado Springs from the Midwest: * '' Rocky Mountain Rocket'' —
Rock Island Railroad The original Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At ...
* '' Colorado Eagle'' —
Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


1957 Denver Zephyr schedule at Streamliner Schedules
{{Former Amtrak routes Passenger rail transportation in Colorado Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Iowa Passenger rail transportation in Nebraska Passenger trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Transportation in Denver Midwestern United States Named passenger trains of the United States Night trains of the United States Articulated passenger trains Budd multiple units Diesel multiple units of the United States Diesel multiple units with locomotive-like power cars Former Amtrak routes Railway services introduced in 1936 Railway services discontinued in 1973 Former long distance Amtrak routes