Denver Zephyr

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The second section of train No. 10, the Denver Zephyr, pulls out of Denver, Colorado on August 18, 1962.

The Denver Zephyr was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, Colorado. The Burlington operated the train right up until Amtrak took over operations of the majority of intercity passenger train service in the United States in 1971.

[edit] History

View of a 1956 promotional event for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad's newly-requipped "Vista Dome" Denver Zephyr in Denver, Colorado. A large printed advertisement hung on the wall shows the Vista Dome train with the caption "Ride Burlington's New Vista Dome, Denver Zephyr, Denver to Chicago."

At a time when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad had become part of the merged Burlington Northern Railroad, Amtrak, in its first year of operation, 1971, decided to continue with two remaining trains from Chicago to Denver, the California Zephyr and the Denver Zephyr.

Eventually, Amtrak scaled back its service to only one train on the Chicago to Denver route, eliminating the Denver Zephyr altogether. On Amtrak's first day of operation, May 1, 1971, the California Zephyr was tri-weekly service from Denver to Oakland, while daily service from Chicago to Denver continued.