The ''Texas Zephyr'' was a named

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...

operated by the Colorado & Southern Railway and the

Fort Worth & Denver Railway The Fort Worth and Denver Railway , nicknamed "the Denver Road", was a class I American railroad company that operated in the northern part of Texas from 1881 to 1982, and had a profound influence on the early settlement and economic development ...

(both subsidiaries of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad). The train was originally designated number 1 southbound, and number 2 northbound. Inaugurated on August 22, 1940, the streamlined train ran from

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

's Union Station to Fort Worth and

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

, replacing the heavyweight ''Colorado Special.'' At Dallas, the ''Texas Zephyr'' connected with the '' Sam Houston Zephyr'' and '' Texas Rocket'', both operating on the jointly owned Burlington-Rock Island Railroad for through service to Houston. Initially, the train was equipped with Budd-built streamlined stainless steel chair cars and an observation dining-lounge car.

Sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars s ...

s were, however, rebuilt streamlined

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

cars. The train was pulled between Denver and Fort Worth by pairs of General Motors Electro-Motive Division stainless steel E5 diesels. To allow adequate time for servicing the diesel locomotives in Fort Worth, a FW&D 550 class 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive shuttled the train between Fort Worth and Dallas. It was later replaced by sister E5 diesel locomotives purchased by the C&S from parent CB&Q. In 1957, the re-equipping of the 1936 '' Denver Zephyr'' made those trainsets available, and they were assigned to the ''Texas Zephyr''. Though older than the original ''Texas Zephyr'' equipment, they offered more luxurious amenities. These consists ran on the ''Texas Zephyr'' until February 1965, when they were retired and the original equipment restored to the train, albeit with Pullman pool streamlined cars or sleeping cars from the parent CB&Q. As a result of it losing its U.S. Mail railway post contract, the Fort Worth & Denver abandoned all passenger service in 1967, the ''Texas Zephyr'' making its last run on September 11 of that year.

Major stops

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

* Amarillo * Wichita Falls * Fort Worth *

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

References

External links

* *Burlington Route Historical Society,
The Burlington Zephyrs
(includes map of the various Zephyr routes) *Dallas Railroad Museum,

*Goen, Steve Allen, ''Fort Worth and Denver Color Pictorial'', Four Ways West Publications, 1996. . *Goen, Steve Allen,

" 1999 newspaper article about the history of the ''Texas Zephyr,'' published by the

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordi ...

, ''Times Record News''
Ken's Weather and Railroad page
(photos and timetable of the 1959 ''Texas Zephyr'')

" ''Time'' August 26, 1940 (article about a railroad controversy affecting the welcoming of the new ''Texas Zephyr'' to Texas)

(timetable and consist of the 1941 ''Texas Zephyr,'' based on entry in ''Official Guide of the Railways') {{CBQ named trains Named passenger trains of the United States Passenger trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Passenger rail transportation in Colorado Passenger rail transportation in New Mexico Passenger rail transportation in Texas Railway services introduced in 1940 North American streamliner trains Night trains of the United States Railway services discontinued in 1967