The Chuck Wagon room was the Denver Zephyr‘s equivalent to the California Zephyr‘s Cable Car Room. Like the Empire Builder‘s Ranch Car, the Chuck Wagon was decorated to look like the dining hall of a dude ranch, though it probably … Continue reading
After introducing the Denver Zephyr with yesterday’s large and lavish brochure, the Burlington printed smaller versions of the brochure to advertise the train over the years. Though the brown one is dated 1963, seven years after the train was introduced, … Continue reading
The vista-dome Denver Zephyr was the last complete streamliner built during the Silver Age of passenger trains. Put in service on October 26, 1956, to replace the aging 1936 Denver Zephyr and compete against an incrementally improved City of Denver, … Continue reading
In October 1952, at a cost of $16 million (about $136 million in today’s money), the Burlington completed construction of a new 49-mile segment of track that saved two hours on its route between Chicago and Kansas City. On February … Continue reading
Click image to download a PDF of this postcard. The Burlington gave passengers this and similar postcards to mail to their friends. “Morning and afternoon in each direction the new Diesel-powered, stainless steel, TWIN ZEPHYRS featuring the unique VISTA DOME … Continue reading
As an indication of its enthusiasm for dome cars, in 1947 the Burlington completely re-equipped the Twin Cities Zephyrs with a new dome-car train. Each train consisted of a baggage-club-lounge car, four dome coaches, a diner, and a dome-parlor-observation car … Continue reading
In addition to the brochure presented yesterday, the Burlington distributed thousands of copies of this postcard showing the new Silver Dome car. “In this new type of car,” says the back of the card, “24 passengers are seated in the … Continue reading
In 1944, Cyrus Osborn, a General Motors vice president in charge of its Electro-Motive Division that built Diesel locomotives, rode in the cab of a Rio Grande Diesel through Glenwood Canyon in Colorado. “If the traveling public only knew what … Continue reading
Out of the 120,000 or so steam locomotives built and used in the United States, only about 220 were streamlined–or, as the Chicago & North Western called it, steamlined–for passenger service. Railroads went to the trouble to streamline steam locomotives … Continue reading
A consulting firm named Coverdale and Colpitts (now part of URS) once did a variety of economic analyses for the rail industry. In 1935, the firm published a report on the Burlington Zephyrs, followed by reports in 1938, 1939, 1941, … Continue reading
