| Kansas City Zephyr | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Service type | Daytime inter-city rail |
| Status | Discontined |
| First service | February 1, 1953 |
| Last service | April 1968 |
| Former operator(s) | Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad |
| Route | |
| Start | Chicago (Union Station) |
| End | Kansas City, Missouri (Union Station) |
| Distance travelled | 466 miles (750 km) |
| Average journey time | 8 hours 50 minutes |
| Service frequency | Daily |
| Train number(s) | Westbound: 35, Eastbound: 36 |
| On-board services | |
| Class(es) | Coach and Parlor |
| Catering facilities | Parlor-dining car |
| Observation facilities | Vista-dome chair car |
| Technical | |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
The Kansas City Zephyr was a streamliner passenger train service operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) between Chicago and Kansas City.
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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.
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. Sadly, 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.
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 in Branson, Missouri
The Illinois Zephyr and Carl Sandburg are two passenger trains operated by Amtrak that run 258 miles (415 km) between Chicago and Quincy, Illinois and are the descendents of the Kansas City Zephyr and American Royal Zephyr passenger train routes operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until 1968 and 1971. The name Zephyr is preserved in the current name of the Illinois Zephyr. Today the Illinois Zephyr enjoys strong support from the communities it passes through. They all promote the train line as a means of getting to Chicago, and train tickets are frequently sold out. As such, this route is part of the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative, which calls for an upgrade of service from the current 1 daily round trip to 4 or more daily round trips. The Carl Sandburg was added on October 30, 2006. The average travel time from Chicago to Quincy is 4 hours, 30 minutes.
"My dad, G. Reeves, was the Trainman on the Kansas City Zephyr. We lived in Quincy and my dad worked the Zephyr between Quincy and Galesburg from the late '50s until his retirement in 1965. There were actually four trains that ran between Chicago and Kansas City. Train # 35 traveled from Chicago to Kansas City. At Augusta, Illinois train # 35 would pull on to the siding and meet her sister train # 36 which headed to Chicago (northbound). Like the Kansas City Zephyr # 35 & # 36, the American Royal Zephyr # 56 northbound to Chicago which ran in the early morning hours and # 55 which ran southbound to Kansas City would also meet and pass in Augusta, Illinois. My dad worked American Royal Zephyr # 56 to Galesburg. The Kansas City Zephyr was never a very long train. In the late 1950s it did pull a dining car. Train # 56 would sometimes pull a dining car plus a sleeper. Passengers on # 35 from Chicago could change trains in Quincy for travel to Hannibal and St Louis (other Zephyrs, such as the Mark Twain Zephyr). The Kansas City Zephyr would continue on to Kansas City. In the late 1960s the CB&Q stopped the Kansas City Zephyr service. The train from Chicago still ran as # 35 but went only as far as Quincy. It would turn around in Quincy and head back to Chicago. (This eventually became the Amtrak Illinois Zephyr that travels this same route today). At first, the Kansas City Zephyr came from Chicago on its own. Later in the early 1960s it arrived into Galesburg from Chicago on the rear on another train. I believe the train was # 5 (likely the westbound California Zephyr from Chicago). In Galesburg, the KC Zephyr would be switched to another track and then continued on southwest via Macomb and Quincy to Kansas City." Submitted by M. Reeves
Original Kansas City Zephyr, station stops: