My special needs son agrees with you on that completely! He thinks articulated streamlined passenger trains like that one are highly underrated and that Progress Rail, Siemens, or any other company that builds railroad equipment should build full size working replicas of historic streamlined trains like the Union Pacific M10,000, the City of Denver, & New Haven Comet with updated features like recycled ♻️ aluminum bodies and frames, Plexiglas and/or safety glass windows 🪟, Cummins and/or Caterpillar diesel engines that run on biofuel with mufflers and catalytic converters and rechargeable batteries 🔋for the electrical systems and LED headlights, ditch lights, taillights, and strobe light.
Perfect music for the period. George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue (1928). Evokes the Jazz Era, The Great Depression and the slow recovery from 1930-1940 perfectly. Just look at the crowds that came out to see the new Marvel of the Ages. When you think about the average road speed in the 1920's-1930's was 25-40 mph, a train which could zip past at nearly twice that speed must have seemed to those people like the moon landing was to my generation
All wearing their hats as they queued up to watch. And all the crowds out in big cities, and in the paddocks at small country towns. A publicity coup for the Burlington Line. Marvellous photography. I particularly liked the aerial shots, into which was spliced film from inside the carriage of the plane carrying the other photographer.
Except the mooning landing was all faked in a studio. Its possible that the manned moon missions were real but the televised mission was fake fake fake.
I do like the selection of music (Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue), but because United Airlines used it in their advertisements, in the late 1980's, I've been conditioned to think of United Airlines, whenever I hear that Gershwin tune, instead of the CB&Q's Zephyr. Thank you for posting the video! Better times, back then...much better times.
The footage from 3:50 to 4:10 was taken from the camelback hills behind Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, Iowa while the footage from 5:08 to 5:24 appears to have been taken facing the CB&Q's station in Galesburg, Illinois.
The Pioneer Zephyr was revolutionary in its time, and its dawn-to-dusk run was national news. This was at a time when most people took trains to get from town to town in the USA because the national road system was still being built, and the Interstate highway system was not even a dream. So people thought of this as something that would directly improve their lives.
Not many people know this but there was a proposal from the Budd Co. to build an "Electro-Zephyr" for the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee RR. They would have been similar to the Pioneer Zephyr but double-ended and fitted with trolley poles and third rail shoes.
1934 and the depths of the Great Depression. This was literally a "dawn to dusk" run. As a point of comparison, I took the CalZeph on Amtrak 4 years ago: left Chicago about 2:15 PM and didn't hit Denver until about 4PM the next day. A freight derailed west of Ottumwa, Iowa, and we were stuck there for 8 hours while they rebuilt the tracks.
As someone mentioned about 2 years ago, this train starred as "The Silver Streak" in a 1934 movie of the same name. My father received a book from a schoolmate who dated his autograph as 1935.
@BHGP1324 ... Thanks for the update. I grew up in Burlington Iowa and saw the Zephyr in Mt. Pleasant. It was open and I walked through it . I recall the overstuffed upholstery was rotting but it was still an inspiration. I enjoyed viewing this video. Thanks to the OP
I also grew up in Burlington in the 50's and saw it holding up traffic in the middle of town while my father and I waited in a car. I always was interested in railroads and lived a few streets up on South Hill so I was real close by the yard.I also walked the hardly used spur line that went parralel to the Miss River from the bridge heading south. You can see it in some of these videos on you tube. We kids explored and had fun exploring the great Burlington Northern whenever we could get away with it.
Thanks for the great video! An amazing and golden time for Americas railroads for sure! Wish I could have been around in those days. Hats off to those crew members in those days also!
I like this clip!! It show great support for Highspeed Rail!! But this is in the "30's !! It a how new world out there today!! With poelpe. Like "not in my back yard" !! Make it harder for the community to look out side to box!!! We have a hard time rembering ware we have come from!!!
@@highoctanegamesMy special needs son would love that! He thinks restoring the Pioneer Zephyr to operation would be a better way to remember it and would be a really useful shiny passenger train today!
Four cars....including the engine supported by three trucks....no wonder it was fast and set world records. Great if the route could have supported a longer train perhaps eight cars on seven trucks.
Didn't know about the brake line, that's funny! I actually just read that same story about the electric cable on Engine Driver dot Com (sorry can't post the URL) I also like the comment 'one more jackass on this trip won't make any difference' :-)
@@highoctanegamesWell my son is glad it's preserved but would love for it to be restored to operation. He thinks that would be a better way to remember it!
Oh wow! My Great-great Gramps was one of the engineers on this one. My 93-year old Dad tells me he did speeds up to 120 MPH!
Wow
Please get it rolling again. Impressive and unique headlight. I saw it at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in 1973.
We need trains like this again!
My special needs son agrees with you on that completely! He thinks articulated streamlined passenger trains like that one are highly underrated and that Progress Rail, Siemens, or any other company that builds railroad equipment should build full size working replicas of historic streamlined trains like the Union Pacific M10,000, the City of Denver, & New Haven Comet with updated features like recycled ♻️ aluminum bodies and frames, Plexiglas and/or safety glass windows 🪟, Cummins and/or Caterpillar diesel engines that run on biofuel with mufflers and catalytic converters and rechargeable batteries 🔋for the electrical systems and LED headlights, ditch lights, taillights, and strobe light.
Perfect music for the period. George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue (1928). Evokes the Jazz Era, The Great Depression and the slow recovery from 1930-1940 perfectly.
Just look at the crowds that came out to see the new Marvel of the Ages. When you think about the average road speed in the 1920's-1930's was 25-40 mph, a train which could zip past at nearly twice that speed must have seemed to those people like the moon landing was to my generation
All wearing their hats as they queued up to watch. And all the crowds out in big cities, and in the paddocks at small country towns. A publicity coup for the Burlington Line.
Marvellous photography. I particularly liked the aerial shots, into which was spliced film from inside the carriage of the plane carrying the other photographer.
Except the mooning landing was all faked in a studio. Its possible that the manned moon missions were real but the televised mission was fake fake fake.
Excellent choice of music.
i love visiting this train at the museum of science and industry in chicago
I do like the selection of music (Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue), but because United Airlines used it in their advertisements, in the late 1980's, I've been conditioned to think of United Airlines, whenever I hear that Gershwin tune, instead of the CB&Q's Zephyr.
Thank you for posting the video!
Better times, back then...much better times.
If there was ever a diesel locomotive that could stand equal to or even outshine the romance of old steam engines it was this one!
Thanks for this awesome video! I agree we really need trains like this again. I'd love to get these going.
Such an iconic train.....thanks for sharing 👍
The footage from 3:50 to 4:10 was taken from the camelback hills behind Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, Iowa while the footage from 5:08 to 5:24 appears to have been taken facing the CB&Q's station in Galesburg, Illinois.
The Pioneer Zephyr was revolutionary in its time, and its dawn-to-dusk run was national news. This was at a time when most people took trains to get from town to town in the USA because the national road system was still being built, and the Interstate highway system was not even a dream. So people thought of this as something that would directly improve their lives.
Trains should have remained primary means of transport
@@wertbe1718My son agrees with you on that completely! He thinks rail travel is highly underrated and should make a comeback today!
Not many people know this but there was a proposal from the Budd Co. to build an "Electro-Zephyr" for the Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee RR. They would have been similar to the Pioneer Zephyr but double-ended and fitted with trolley poles and third rail shoes.
And here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroliner is the Electroliner. Not built by Budd, but along the lines you may be thinking.
I have the American Flyer Model of this 9900 Burlington Zephyr, in prime condition. How proud I am.
Steam locomotives: exist
Burlington Zephyr: Imma end these steam locomotives' whole career in 20 years
Thank you for posting this. As a kid I saw two come into West Quincy at the same time, one from the east and one from the west.
1934 and the depths of the Great Depression. This was literally a "dawn to dusk" run.
As a point of comparison, I took the CalZeph on Amtrak 4 years ago: left Chicago about 2:15 PM and didn't hit Denver until about 4PM the next day. A freight derailed west of Ottumwa, Iowa, and we were stuck there for 8 hours while they rebuilt the tracks.
As someone mentioned about 2 years ago, this train starred as "The Silver Streak" in a 1934 movie of the same name.
My father received a book from a schoolmate who dated his autograph as 1935.
Awesome been looking for old movies with this train for sometime
@BHGP1324 ...
Thanks for the update. I grew up in Burlington Iowa and saw the Zephyr in Mt. Pleasant. It was open and I walked through it . I recall the overstuffed upholstery was rotting but it was still an inspiration. I enjoyed viewing this video.
Thanks to the OP
I also grew up in Burlington in the 50's and saw it holding up traffic in the middle of town while my father and I waited in a car. I always was interested in railroads and lived a few streets up on South Hill so I was real close by the yard.I also walked the hardly used spur line that went parralel to the Miss River from the bridge heading south. You can see it in some of these videos on you tube. We kids explored and had fun exploring the great Burlington Northern whenever we could get away with it.
Thanks for the great video! An amazing and golden time for Americas railroads for sure! Wish I could have been around in those days. Hats off to those crew members in those days also!
I like this clip!! It show great support for Highspeed Rail!! But this is in the "30's !! It a how new world out there today!! With poelpe. Like "not in my back yard" !! Make it harder for the community to look out side to box!!! We have a hard time rembering ware we have come from!!!
America at its height of railroad advancement. Remarkable.
I can imagine how loud the crowd cheered when the pioneer zephyr pulled into Chicago
Imagine if they took it out of the museum and made a special occasion to ride it around Chicago
@@highoctanegamesMy special needs son would love that! He thinks restoring the Pioneer Zephyr to operation would be a better way to remember it and would be a really useful shiny passenger train today!
Must have seemed like a space rocket !
The Zephyr IS currently in Chicago!
All dressed up too...my, how times HAVE changed....
They did this in the middle of the Great Depression!
The construction on the Empire State building began March 17,1930 and one year an 45 days later was completed.
2:27 one brave cameraman
Four cars....including the engine supported by three trucks....no wonder it was fast and set world records. Great if the route could have supported a longer train perhaps eight cars on seven trucks.
For a while, a 4th car was added to this Pioneer Zephyr train. Later versions like the Mark Twain Zephyr and the Nebraska Zephyr did have more cars.
Merci Transport Fever 2...
Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.
I see they modeled some shots...
and this train did 124 mph years before the british engine called malard .
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Zephyr
125.88mph vs 124
Your reference gives the Zephyr's top speed as 112.5 mph. Mallard did 126 mph.
You may be confusing kmh with mph
Commercial music from a UAL in the background is ironic.
ok got to ask, how did the zephyr not stop for fuel in it's record breaking run? did it have extra fuel during the run?
The diesel engine is very efficient. It was only 3 cars, too.
Didn't know about the brake line, that's funny! I actually just read that same story about the electric cable on Engine Driver dot Com (sorry can't post the URL) I also like the comment 'one more jackass on this trip won't make any difference' :-)
United Airlines music for a fast train
And now Amtrak does it in just under twice as long...
Wouldn't you guess Amtrak could crush this record if they did not operate at the mercy of the freight trains?
Is it still around?
In the Chicago Science and Industry Museum
@@highoctanegames great
@@highoctanegamesWell my son is glad it's preserved but would love for it to be restored to operation. He thinks that would be a better way to remember it!
(I still like steam lol)
What is the piano song called
Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue a great piece of American classical music
About as ugly as the GG1's