General Pershing Zephyr: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:29, 2 December 2013

Revision as of 23:24, 4 February 2014

Line 1:

{{ref improverefimprove|date=November 2012}}

{{italic title}}

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

Line 5:

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=http://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|accessdate=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. Army]] badges of rank—''Silver Leaf'', ''Silver Eagle'', and ''Silver Star''.

Unlike previous ''Zephyrs'', the ''General Pershing Zephyr'' was completely non-articulated; each car was self-contained and joined to the next by [[couplingRailway (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.

[[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.

<ref name=>{{cite book|last=Pinkpank|first=Jerry A|title=The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide|year=1973|publisher=Kalmbach Books|lccn=66-22894|isbn=|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]].

Line 16:

The diner-lounge-observation car ''Silver Star'' was sold to [[AMAX Iron Ore Corporation]] in 1974 and given to [[Mt Newman Mining]] (now part of [[BHP Billiton]]) in [[Western Australia]] and renamed ''Sundowner''. It was used for many years as passenger accommodation on the fortnightly supply train to the mines. As of 2006, it was still used for [[Very Important Person|VIP]] and inspection trains. Since 2010, it has been 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/|accessdate=May 5, 2012|newspaper=The West Australian|date=October 26, 2010}}</ref>

<br clear=left>

== References ==

{{commons category}}

{{commonscat}}

===Notes===

Line 27 ⟶ 28:

* Lotz, David. ''[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 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}}

{{Lightweight Trains}}