The ''Kansas City Zephyr'' was a

streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating wikt:streamline, streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "High-speed rail, bullet trai ...

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

service operated by the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

(CB&Q) between Chicago and

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

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. The ''Kansas City Zephyr'' made its inaugural run on February 1, 1953, as an all-new daylight streamliner between Chicago and Kansas City. The new train was prompted by the completion the previous October of the $16-million "Kansas City Shortcut", 49 miles of new track that made the route shorter, flatter, and straighter. The new alignment shaved two hours off of the previous shortest route, and made CB&Q optimistic that it could compete successfully against its entrenched rival, the AT&SF, on this busy route. A new modern station was built at West Quincy, Missouri (1953) and operated until 1993, when Mississippi River flooding (levee breached) destroyed the facility. ''Kansas City Zephyr'' (KCZ) #36 departed Kansas City at 12:01 pm, arriving in Chicago at 8:00 pm. Westbound counterpart #35 departed the Windy City at 12:30 pm, arriving in Kansas City at 8:45 pm. The original consist included two Vista-Domes, coaches, diner, and observation car, all built by Budd. The CB&Q simultaneously launched an overnight Chicago-Kansas City service on the same route under the banner of the ''

American Royal Zephyr The ''American Royal Zephyr'' was a streamlined passenger train service operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago and Kansas City. This CB&Q ''Zephyr'' was named for the American Royal, one of the Midwest's lar ...

.'' The ''Kansas City Zephyr'' never lived up to ridership expectations, and it was not long before equipment from the ''KCZ'' was being shuffled off to other trains. Intense competition came from the Santa Fe, which ran six daily streamliners in each direction between the city pair on a shorter schedule than CB&Q. On April 10, 1968, just over 15 years after its promising beginning, the ''KCZ'' was discontinued, becoming a nameless local train between Chicago and West Quincy, MO.

Budd car consist

The ''Kansas City Zephyr'' had two consists, a dorm-buffet-lounge car and a square-end parlor-observation car in each. * 320 Silver Garden - dorm-buffet-lounge * 321 Silver Patio - dorm-buffet-lounge * 365 Silver Terrace - parlor-observation * 366 Silver Tower - parlor-observation 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 The Branson Scenic Railway is a heritage railroad in Branson, Missouri. The Ozark Zephyr, Branson Scenic Railway's historic zephyr train, departs from an old depot in downtown Branson and operates in the scenic Ozark Mountains for an approxim ...

in Branson, Missouri.

Subsequent service on the route

The '' Illinois Zephyr'' and '' Carl Sandburg'',

s operated by Amtrak that run 258 miles (415 km) between Chicago and

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ), known as Illinois's "Gem City", is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Illinois, United States, located on the Mississippi River. The 2020 census counted a population of 39,463 in the city itself, down from 40,633 in 2010. ...

, are the descendants of the ''Kansas City Zephyr'' and ''

'' passenger train routes operated by the

until 1968 and 1971. The name ''

Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fiction Fiction media * ''Zephyr'' (film), a 2010 Turkish ...

'' is preserved in the current name of the ''Illinois Zephyr''.

Station stops

Original ''Kansas City Zephyr'', station stops: ; Illinois * Chicago Union Station *

La Grange Road station La Grange Road station, or La Grange station, is a train station in La Grange, Illinois. It is served by Amtrak's ''Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg'' and Metra's BNSF Line. Amtrak's ''California Zephyr'' and ''Southwest Chief'' also pass by thi ...

* Aurora Old CB&Q station (abandoned and largely demolished) * Plano station *

Mendota station Mendota can refer to any of the following places in the United States: * Mendota, California * Mendota, Illinois, a city in LaSalle County * Mendota Township, LaSalle County, Illinois * Mendota, Minnesota * Mendota Heights, Minnesota * Mendota, Virg ...

* Princeton station *

Kewanee station Kewanee station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Kewanee, Illinois. A new station opened on April 13, 2012, replacing a smaller brick structure built in 1986. In addition to the waiting room, the depot houses a regional office of the ...

* Galesburg CB&Q Seminary Street station (demolished) * Bushnell Old CB&Q Station (No longer a stop) Relocated to the Western Illinois Threshers grounds in Hamilton, Illinois. *

Macomb station Macomb station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Macomb, Illinois, United States. There is one daily morning train to Chicago. In the evening, the return train continues on to Quincy, Illinois. The station is a brick structure constructed ...

Quincy station Quincy station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Quincy, Illinois, United States. The station is one of the namesake stations of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q or Burlington Route), but today serves as the western termi ...

; Missouri * West Quincy CB&Q station (entire town abandoned after the Great Flood of 1993). * Macon (CB&Q station) *

Brookfield Brookfield may refer to: Australia *Brookfield, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Brookfield, Victoria Canada * Brookfield, Manitoba, on Manitoba Highway 11 *Brookfield, Newfoundland and Labrador *Brookfield, Nova Scotia *Brookfield, Ontario ...

(CB&Q station) * Kansas City station

References

* * *

External links

Burlington Route Historical SocietyAmtrak's Illinois ServiceAmtrak's Southwest Chief
{{CBQ named trains Named passenger trains of the United States North American streamliner trains Passenger trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Night trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Missouri Railway services introduced in 1953 Railway services discontinued in 1968