Denver Zephyr
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The Denver Zephyr in 1936
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| Overview | |
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| First service | 1936 |
| Last service | 1973 |
| Successor | San Francisco Zephyr |
| Former operator(s) | |
| 1960 Denver Zephyr route | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Denver Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The Denver Zephyr continued operating after the Burlington Northern Railroad merger in 1970. BN conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971; Amtrak would merge it with the Chicago–Oakland San Francisco Zephyr and drop the name in 1973.
After the success of the 3-car and 4-car Pioneer, Twin Cities, and Mark Twain Zephyrs, the Burlington ordered two pairs of longer stainless steel streamliners from the Budd Company. One pair was fully articulated 6-car trainsets used to replace the 3-car Twin Cities Zephyrs, freeing the two older trainsets for other duties. 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 cars carried parlor seats for local travel. Until the addition of the Denver Zephyrs, the longest regular route of 882 miles was covered by the Twin Cities Zephyrs. Regular service for the route began May 31, 1936; by November 8 of the same year, the larger trainsets went into use.
The train ran 1,034 miles (1,664 km) between Denver and Chicago overnight in 16 to 16½ hours. Within two years a dinette coach and an all-room sleeper were added.
On 23 October 1936 one of the new trainsets made a special run nonstop Chicago to Denver in 12 hrs 12 min 27 seconds. Distance was given as 1017.22 miles via the Plattsmouth bridge and direct to Lincoln, bypassing Omaha.
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