Rio Grande Zephyr Covers

Someone took a round trip on the Rio Grande Zephyr in February, 1978 and mailed out these covers. Unlike yesterday’s covers, there’s no indication on the envelopes of which was westbound and which was eastbound. Both were contributed by John D’Aloia.


Click image to download a 93-KB PDF of this cover.

By a curious coincidence, I took my first trip on the Rio Grande Zephyr less than a year after that. I was on an epic, 49-day train trip covering almost all of the routes served by VIA and Amtrak. The trip began the day after Thanksgiving, 1978, and continued into 1979.


Click image to download a 91-KB PDF of this cover.

My Amtrak rail pass was accepted by the Rio Grande, and I rode the Zephyr in early January. Rio Grande was a reluctant operator of passenger trains, but the little railroad still managed to put Amtrak service in a poor light.


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