Everything about Kansas City Zephyr totally explained
The
Kansas City Zephyr was a
streamliner passenger train service operated by the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between
Chicago and
Kansas City.
Overview
The largest fleet of named streamliners in the United States were the Burlington's Zephyrs. Competing in markets against the famed Eagles, Chiefs, 400's, Cities and Hiawathas on almost every route, the polished Zephyrs covered almost every route on the mainline of the Burlington and for years held the speed/distance title in the record books.
After World War II, a few less successful streamliners were discontinued prior to 1956. Most of the trains were discontinued between 1956 and 1971. The formation of Amtrak in 1971, allowed many of the remaining trains to be discontinued, while retaining those trains with most promise. And now, Amtrak actually carries more passengers with fewer trains, than were carried by the individual railroads prior to 1971.
The
Kansas City Zephyr (CB&Q No. 36 northeast bound to Chicago and CB&Q No. 35 southwest bound for Kansas City) was discontinued in 1968. In 1970, the CB&Q merged to create the
Burlington Northern. In 1971, the
American Royal Zephyr was the last CB&Q
Zephyr train to use the CB&Q route from Chicago to Kansas City via Quincy, Illinois (service discontinued). In 1971, Amtrak selected the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's former
Super Chief route (which crosses the
Mississippi River at
Fort Madison, Iowa) for service between Chicago and Kansas City on its
Southwest Chief.
Two of the original railcars from the Kansas City Zephyr are still in use today. The “Silver Garden”, 1952 Budd Dome Lounge Coach and the “Silver Terrace”, 1952 Budd Dome Observation cars current operate on the
Branson Scenic Railway
in Branson, Missouri
The state of Illinois intervened in 1971 at the request of residents of western Illinois, Quincy University, and Western Illinois University. It was a rare time in Illinois politics where Republicans, southern Illinois Democrats and Chicago Democrats united to resolve the loss of transportation. This initaitve in 1971 became part of the Amtrak "
Illinois Service" and is partially funded by the
Illinois Department of Transportation. The state of Missouri's "
Missouri Service" never funded an extension of this Amtrak service to either
St. Louis or Kansas City from
Quincy, Illinois. Instead, they only funded one Amtrak route the
Ann Rutledge that travels daily between Kansas City. MO and Chicago, IL - via St. Louis, MO. and Springfield, IL.
The
Illinois Zephyr and
Carl Sandburg are two
passenger trains operated by
Amtrak that run 258-miles (415 km) between
Chicago and
Quincy, Illinois and are the descendents of the
Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr passenger train routes operated by the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until 1968 and 1971. The name
Zephyr is preserved in the current name of the
Illinois Zephyr. Today the
Illinois Zephyr enjoys strong support from the communities it passes through. They all promote the train line as a means of getting to Chicago, and train tickets are frequently sold out. As such, this route is part of the
Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which calls for an upgrade of service from the current 1 daily round trip to 4 or more daily round trips. The
Carl Sandburg was added on October 30, 2006. The average travel time from Chicago to Quincy is 4 hours, 30 minutes.
Oral History
"My dad, G. Reeves, was the Trainman on the Kansas City Zephyr. We lived in Quincy and my dad worked the Zephyr between Quincy and Galesburg from the late 50's until his retirement in 1965. There were actually four train's that ran between Chicago and Kansas City. Train # 35 traveled from Chicago to Kansas City. At Augusta, Illinois train # 35 would pull on to the siding and meet her sister train # 36 which headed to Chicago (northbound).
Like the Kansas City Zephyr # 35 & # 36, the American Royal Zephyr # 56 northbound to Chicago which ran in the early morning hours and # 55 which ran southbound to Kansas City would also meet and pass in Augusta, Illinois. My dad worked American Royal Zephyr # 56 to Galesburg.
The Kansas City Zephyr was never a very long train. In the late 1950's it did pull a dining car. Train # 56 would sometimes pull a dining car plus a sleeper. Passengers on # 35 from Chicago could change trains in Quincy for travel to Hannibal and St Louis (other Zephyrs, such as the Mark Twain Zephyr). The Kansas City Zephyr would continue on to Kansas City.
In the late 1960's the CB&Q stopped the Kansas City Zephyr service.
The train from Chicago still ran as # 35 but went only as far as Quincy. It would turn around in Quincy and head back to Chicago. (This eventually became the Amtrak Illinois Zephyr that travels this same route today). At first, the Kansas City Zephyr came from Chicago on its own. Later in the early 1960's it arrived into Galesburg from Chicago on the rear on another train. I believe the train was # 5 (likely the westbound California Zephyr from Chicago).
In Galesburg, the KC Zephyr would be switched to another track and then continued on southwest via Macomb and Quincy to Kansas City."
Submitted by M. Reeves
Station stops
Original
Kansas City Zephyr, station stops:
Illinois
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kansas City Zephyr'.
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