Kansas City Zephyr
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 twopassenger 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:
- Chicago Union Station
- La Grange Road station
- Aurora old CB&Q station (abandoned and partically demolished)
- Plano station
- Mendota station
- Princeton station
- Kewanee station
- Galesburg CB&Q Seminary Street station (demolished)
- Macomb station
- Quincy station
References
- The Official Guide of the Railways, June 1964, Published by the National Railway Publication Co., New York, NY.
- From Zephyr To Amtrak, compiled by David Randall.
