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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|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''.
The train replaced the "[[Ozark State Zephyr]]", which had been inaugurated three years earlier. In September, 1938, a second trainset 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.
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