General Pershing Zephyr: Difference between revisions

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[[File:General Pershing Zephyr-Silver Charger - 20081123.jpg|thumb|9908 ''Silver Charger'' on display in 2008]]

The '''''General Pershing Zephyr''''' was the ninth of the [[Chicago, Burlington and& Quincy Railroad]]'s [[Burlington Zephyr|''Zephyr'']] [[streamliner]]s, and the last built as an integrated streamliner rather than a train hauled by an [[EMD E-unit]] [[diesel locomotive]]. It was constructed in 1939 with bodywork and passenger cars by [[Budd Company]] and [[diesel engine]], [[Diesel-electric transmission|electric transmission]], power [[bogie|truck]], and other locomotive equipment by [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]] [[Electro-Motive Diesel|Electro-Motive Corporation]].<ref name=Pershing>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uFJhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JHUNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1387,6124170&dq=pioneer+zephyr&hl=en|title=New Zephyrs Into Use|date=8 June 1939|publisher=St. Joseph News-Press|access-date=27 March 2012}}</ref> Because its intended [[Kansas City, Missouri]] to [[St. Louis, Missouri]] route passed near the birthplace and boyhood home of famous [[World War I]] [[General]] [[John J. Pershing]], the train was named after him. The power car was named ''Silver Charger'', after Pershing's horse ''Charger'', while the passenger cars were named after [[U.S.United States Army]] badges of rank—''Silver Leaf'', ''Silver Eagle'', and ''Silver Star''.

The train replaced the "''[[Ozark State Zephyr]]"'', which had been inaugurated three years earlier. In September, 1938, a second trainsetset was added, the 9903, which had previously served as the "''[[Mark Twain Zephyr]]"'' running between [[Burlington, Iowa]] and St. Louis via [[Samuel Clemens]]' birthplace of [[Hannibal, Missouri]]. The "''Ozark State"'' service inaugurated operating out of [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]] in the morning and [[St. Louis]] in the afternoon, with the second trainset alternating. The new equipment took over the original schedule, while the alternate timing was renamed the ''[[Mark Twain Zephyr]]'' (despite not operating through Hannibal).

Unlike previous ''Zephyrs'', the ''General Pershing Zephyr'' was completely non-articulated; each car was self-contained and joined to the next by [[Railway coupling|coupler]]s, rather than shared trucks. The inflexibility of the articulated layout had been recognised; it was hard to lengthen, shorten, or replace parts of the train. The route did not require a high-capacity train nor a powerful locomotive, so the ''General Pershing Zephyr'' returned to the pattern of the first ''[[Pioneer Zephyr]]'', being a power/baggage car and three trailers. Budd also fitted [[disc brake]]s, the first such practical installation to railroad passenger cars.<ref>D.P. Morgan, "All About the RDC," ''[[Trains (magazine)|Trains & Travel]]'' magazine, March 1953</ref>

[[File:General Pershing Zephyr trial run ticket 1939.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Ticket from the train's trial run between [[St. Louis]] and [[Alton, Illinois]] on April 23, 1939. It entered regular service between [[Kansas City]] and St. Louis on April 30, 1939.]]

The power car, 9908 ''Silver Charger'', was unique. It utilised a single new [[EMD 567|EMC 567]] [[V12 engine|V-12]] engine developing 1,000&nbsp;hp, rather than the pair used in the contemporary [[EMC E3]]. It had one [[Martin Blomberg]]-designed E-unit A1A passenger truck at the front, with powered outer axles and a center idler axle, and an unpowered trailing truck, giving it the unusual [[wheel arrangement]] of A1A-2. This made it mechanically half of an E3. The back half of the power car was a baggage area. This made it similar to special power-baggage units built by [[Electro-Motive Diesel|EMD]] for the Colorado Springs section of the [[Chicago, Rock Island and& Pacific Railroad]] "''[[Rocky Mountain Rocket]]"'', though the latter had a carbody and E-3/[[EMD E6|E-6]] styling by [[Electro-Motive Diesel|EMD]]. The "Silver Charger" was the last power unit built by Budd with the unique "Zephyr"/"Flying Yankee" shovelnose styling.

<ref>{{cite book|last=Pinkpank|first=Jerry A|title=The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide|year=1973|publisher=Kalmbach Books|lccn=66-22894|pages=106}}</ref> It also carried sleeping cars. The train was number 32 when eastbound and number 33 when traveling west.<ref name=Pershing/>

The train ran its assigned route until the United States entered [[World War II]], during which time the trainset ran on many different routes. As 9908 ''Silver Charger'' could be detached from its trainset, it continued in service hauling other trains after the rest of the streamlined trainset was withdrawn. In this form it lasted in service until 1966, following which it was donated to the [[Museum of Transportation]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]].

Traveling between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri required the ''General Pershing Zephyr'' to operate on tracks owned by the [[Alton Railroad]], officially making them an operating partner. To symbolize this joint administration, the ''General Pershing Zephyr'' often sported an "Alton Burlington" nose herald instead of the standard "Burlington Route" seen on most Burlington locomotives.

The diner-lounge-observation car ''Silver Star'' was sold to [[AMAXAmax Iron Ore Corporation]] in 1974 andfor givenuse toon the [[MtMount Newman Miningrailway]] (now part of [[BHP Billiton]]) in [[Western Australia]] and renamed ''Sundowner''.<ref>Touch of class for Mt Newman ''[[Railway Transportation]]'' November 1974 pages 28, 30</ref> It was used for many years as passenger accommodation on the fortnightly supply train to the mines. As of 2006, itIt was stillalso used for [[Very Important Person|VIP]] and inspection trains. Having Sincelast 2010been used in 2003, it haswas beensento to [[Perth]] for rebuilding as the nucleus of the [[Silver Star Cafe (Port Hedland)|Silver Star Cafe]] in [[Port Hedland, Western Australia|Port Hedland]], Western Australia.<ref name="wa 2010-10-26">{{cite news|last=Quekett|first=Malcolm|title=Historic carriage on track for third life|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/news/8197193/historic-carriage-on-track-for-third-life/|access-date=May 5, 2012|newspaper=[[The West Australian]]|date=October 26, 2010}}</ref><ref>The Silver Star ''[[Railway Digest]]'' October 2017 pages 42-45</ref>

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== References ==

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===Notes===

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* {{cite book|last1=Joyce|first1=John|last2=Tilley|first2=Allan|title=Railways in the Pilbara|year=1979|publisher=J&A Publications|___location=Wembley, Western Australia|isbn=0-9599699-2-6|pages=88}}

* Lotz, David. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050105003035/http://www.burlingtonroute.com/route/wotzpage/gpz/gpz.htm General Pershing Zephyr]''. Downloaded on December 24, 2004.

* {{cite book|author=Pinkepank, Jerry A.|title=The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide|publisher=[[Kalmbach Media|Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI]]|year=1973|isbn=0-89024-026-4}}

* {{cite book|last=Webster|first=Mags|title=The Silver Star: how a railroad icon made the journey from the American Midwest to the West Australian Pilbara|year=2010|publisher=FORM|___location=Perth, Western Australia|url=http://www.courthousegallery.com.au/pdf/SilverStar_Brochure_Email.pdf}}

==External links==

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{{Lightweight Trains}}