View source for Sam Houston Zephyr

{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width   = 
| name        = ''Sam Houston Zephyr''
| logo        = 
| logo_width  = 
| image       = Sam Houston Zephyr circa 1936 - 1944.JPG
| image_width = 
| caption     = First trainset of the line which was destroyed by fire in 1944.
| type        = [[Inter-city rail]]
| status      = 
| locale      = 
| predecessor = 
| first       = 1936
| last        = 1966
| successor   = 
| operator    = 
| formeroperator = [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]]<br />[[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]
| ridership   = 
| start       = [[Fort Worth, Texas]]
| stops       = 
| end         = [[Houston, Texas]]
| distance    = {{convert|283.1|mi|km}}
| journeytime = 5 hours
| frequency   = 
| trainnumber = 3 and 4
| class       = 
| access      = 
| seating     = Chair cars
| sleeping    = 
| autorack    = 
| catering    = 
| observation = Observation-parlor-diner
| entertainment= 
| baggage     = 
| otherfacilities= 
| stock       = 
| gauge       = {{RailGauge|ussg}}
| el          = 
| speed       = 
| owners      = [[Burlington-Rock Island Railroad]]
| routenumber =
| map         = {{Sam Houston Zephyr|inline=y}}
| map_state   = 
}}
The '''''Sam Houston Zephyr''''' was a [[List of named passenger trains|named]] [[train|passenger train]] operated by the [[Burlington-Rock Island Railroad]], a subsidiary of both the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] and the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]. It was the first [[streamliner|streamlined passenger train]] in [[Texas]].<ref>https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqb18 "Burlington-Rock Island Railroad," ''Handbook of Texas Online''</ref>

Inaugurated on October 1, 1936,<ref name="zimmermann" />{{rp|72–73; 75}} the year of the [[Texas Centennial Exposition|Texas centennial celebrations]], the [[streamliner|streamlined train]] was named for Texas hero [[Sam Houston]].  On its original schedule, the train ran from the [[Texas and Pacific Railway|Texas and Pacific]] station in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]] to [[Union Station (Houston)|Union Station]] in [[Houston]] in exactly five hours, making only four intermediate stops in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Waxahachie, Texas|Waxahachie]], [[Corsicana, Texas|Corsicana]], and [[Teague, Texas|Teague]].

The train was designated number 3 southbound, and number 4 northbound.  Its chief competitor was the ''[[Sunbeam (passenger train)|Sunbeam]]'', operated by the [[Texas and New Orleans Railroad]] (a subsidiary of the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]]) on a parallel route between Dallas and Houston.

One of the original trainsets from the ''[[Twin Cities Zephyr]]'', number 9901, was transferred to begin this new route. While under the management of the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island]], ''Zephyr'' 9901 power car was destroyed by fire on December 19, 1944.  The Rock Island did not maintain the train properly; the cause of the fire was oil residue which poor maintenance failed to remove.  Because equipment was needed to keep the busy line running, the Rock Island replaced its ''[[Rock Island Rockets (1937)|Texas Rocket]]'' with the new ''[[Twin Star Rocket]]'' in July 1945.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track9/samhouzeph195008.html|title=Sam Houston Zephyr|publisher=streamlinerschedules.com|accessdate=March 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track9/twinstar194508.html|title=Twin Star Rocket|publisher=streamlinerschedules.com|accessdate=March 27, 2012}}</ref>

Like many other passenger trains that experienced declining revenues in the face of competition from automobiles and airplanes in the 1950s and 1960s, the ''Sam Houston Zephyr'' was discontinued in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dallasrailwaymuseum.com/dallashistory.html |title=Museum of the American Railroad - A Brief History of Railroads in Dallas, Texas |access-date=2008-08-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514151121/http://dallasrailwaymuseum.com/dallashistory.html |archive-date=2008-05-14 }} "A Brief History of Railroads in Dallas," Dallas Railroad Museum</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="zimmermann">{{Zimmermann-Burlington}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track9/samhouzeph195008.html Streamliner Schedules] (timetable and consist of the 1950 ''Sam Houston Zephyr'') 
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071205180910/http://www.trainweather.com/zephyr1959.html Ken's Weather and Railroad page]}} (1956 photos and 1959 timetable of the ''Sam Houston Zephyr'') 
* "[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/eqb18 Burlington-Rock Island Railroad]," ''Handbook of Texas Online''
* Dallas Railroad Museum, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514151121/http://dallasrailwaymuseum.com/dallashistory.html A Brief History of Railroads in Dallas]"
* Burlington Route Historical Society, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080213023629/http://www.burlingtonroute.com/docs/route/wotz.html The Burlington Zephyrs]" (includes map of the various Zephyr routes)

{{CBQ named trains}}
{{CRIP named trains}}
{{Sam Houston}}

[[Category:Passenger trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]]
[[Category:Passenger trains of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]]
[[Category:Named passenger trains of the United States]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Texas]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1936]]
[[Category:Railway services discontinued in 1966]]
[[Category:Sam Houston]]