Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington, the railroad served a large area, including extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Its primary connections included Chicago, Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Louis, Kansas City and Denver.

History

As the financial situation of American railroading continued to decline, the Burlington merged with the Great Northern, Northern Pacific and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle railroads on March 2, 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.

The Burlington Zephyrs

The railroad operated a number of streamlined passenger trains known as the Zephyrs which were the most famous and largest fleet of streamliners in the United States. The Pioneer Zephyr, America's first diesel-electric powered streamlined passenger train, made its famous "Dawn-to-Dusk" run from Denver, Colorado to Chicago, Illinois on May 26, 1934. On November 11, 1934 the train was put into regularly scheduled service between Lincoln, Nebraska and Kansas City, Missouri.

The Zephyr service included

• Pioneer Zephyr (Lincoln–Omaha–Kansas City),
• Twin Cities Zephyr (Chicago–Minneapolis-St. Paul),
• Mark Twain Zephyr (St. Louis–Burlington),
• Denver Zephyr (Chicago–Denver),

The Burlington Zephyr in April, 1934.

• Nebraska Zephyr (Chicago–Lincoln),
• Sam Houston Zephyr (Houston–Dallas-Ft. Worth),
• Ozark State Zephyr (Kansas City–St. Louis),
• General Pershing Zephyr (Kansas City–St. Louis),
• Silver Streak Zephyr (Kansas City–Omaha–Lincoln),
• Ak Sar Ben Zephyr (Kansas City–Omaha–Lincoln),
• Zephyr-Rocket (St. Louis–Minneapolis-St. Paul),
• Texas Zephyr (Denver–Dallas-Ft. Worth),
• American Royal Zephyr (Chicago–Kansas City),
• Kansas City Zephyr (Chicago–Kansas City),
• California Zephyr (Chicago–Oakland).

Innovations

The Burlington was a leader in implementing technological innovation; among its firsts were use of the printing telegraph (1910), train radio communications (1915), diesel power (1934) and vista-dome coaches (1939).

References

• Burlington Route Historical Society

External links

• Pioneer Zephyr Exhibit at Chicago's Muesum of Science and Industry
• California Zephyr Virtual Museum
• The CB&Q Mark Twain Zephyr
• Streamliners: America's Lost Trains – The American Experience