View source for Twin Zephyr

{{Short description|American trainset}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}


{{italic title}}
{{Infobox rail service
| box_width   = 
| name        = ''Morning Zephyr''<br />''Afternoon Zephyr''
| logo        = 
| logo_width  = 
| image       = Twin Cities Zephyr Oregon Illinois early 1940s.jpg
| image_width = 300px
| caption     = A ''Twin Zephyr'' in [[Oregon, Illinois]], in 1941
| type        = Daytime [[inter-city rail]]
| status      = Discontinued
| locale      = [[Minnesota]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Illinois]]
| predecessor = 
| first       = April 21, 1935{{sfn|Scribbins|2007|p=23}}
| last        = April 30, 1971
| successor   = 
| operator    = 
| formeroperator= [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] (1935&ndash;1970)<br />[[Burlington Northern]] (1970&ndash;1971)
| ridership   = 
| start       = [[Chicago, Illinois]]
| stops       = 
| end         = [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]
| distance    = 
| journeytime = 7 hours
| frequency   = 
| trainnumber = 21, 22, 23, 24
| class       = Coach and Parlor
| access      = 
| seating     = 
| sleeping    = 
| autorack    = 
| catering    = 
| observation = 1947: Four dome coaches, one dome parlor
| entertainment= 
| baggage     = 
| otherfacilities= 
| stock       = 1935: Two articulated 3-sets,<br />1936: Two articulated 6-sets,<br />1947: Two sets of 7 non-articulated cars
| gauge       = {{RailGauge|ussg}}
| el          = 
| speed       = 
| owners      = 
| routenumber =
| map         = {{Twin Cities Zephyr}}
| map_state   = 
}}
The '''''Twin Zephyrs''''', also known as the '''''Twin Cities Zephyrs''''', were a pair of [[streamliner|streamlined]] passenger trains on the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] (CB&Q), running between Chicago and the [[Twin Cities]] of [[Minneapolis]] and [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]] in [[Minnesota]]. It was the second ''Zephyr'' service introduced by CB&Q after the record-setting [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]]–[[Chicago]] "dawn to dusk dash" of the ''[[Pioneer Zephyr]]'' trainset.

The train competed with the [[Chicago and North Western Railway|Chicago and North Western]]'s ''[[Twin Cities 400]]'' which ceased operation in 1963, and the [[Milwaukee Road]]'s ''[[Twin Cities Hiawatha]]'', which, like the ''Zephyr'', ended with the coming of [[Amtrak]] in 1971. The CB&Q trains went west from Chicago to the [[Mississippi River]] and along that river to Saint Paul, while the North Western and Milwaukee Road trains traveled via [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]].

== History ==
[[File:Twin Cities Zephyrs at station 1935.JPG|thumb|left|Two ''Twin Zephyr'' trains on display in Chicago in 1935 just before entering regular service]]
Two three-car trainsets, numbered 9901 and 9902, were delivered in April 1935.  On April 6 number 9901 made a demonstration run from Chicago to Saint Paul in 5 hours 31 minutes, at speeds up to 104&nbsp;mph and an average between endpoints of 77.65&nbsp;mph.{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|pp=55–57}} These two trainsets proved too small so a second pair of six-car trains with matching locomotives were ordered as replacements.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zM1BAAAAIBAJ&sjid=16kMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2163,5132011&dq=zephyr&hl=en|title=Burlington Has 2 New Zephyrs|date=30 November 1936|publisher=The Telegraph-Herald|access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> The new trainsets were put on display before they entered service.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5UwbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1945,5443361&dq=zephyr&hl=en|title=New Twin Zephyr to be Shown Here|date=27 November 1936|publisher=The Pittsburgh Press|access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref>

The second pair of ''Twin Zephyrs'' entered service on December 18, 1936, as the '''''Morning Zephyr''''' and the '''''Afternoon Zephyr'''''. On the first run the two trainsets departed [[Chicago]] simultaneously on parallel tracks with 44 pairs of twins as a publicity stunt.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/443651002.html?dids=443651002:443651002&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+15%2C+1935&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=TWIN+GIRLS+HERE+CHRISTEN+TWIN+ZEPHYR+TRAINS&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715083943/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/443651002.html?dids=443651002:443651002&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+15,+1935&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=TWIN+GIRLS+HERE+CHRISTEN+TWIN+ZEPHYR+TRAINS&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 15, 2012|title=Twin girls here christen twin Zephyr trains|publisher=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=15 April 1935|access-date=25 March 2012}}"With 44 pairs of twins as guest passengers, the twin Zephyrs of the Burlington railroad sped into the Union Station yesterday from Aurora and were christened by ..." (pay per view)</ref>

[[File:Twin Cities Zephyr 9905-La Crosse WI 1939 summer.jpg|thumb|left|Twin Zephyr at [[La Crosse, WI]], 1939]]
In 1935 Zephyrs were scheduled to cover {{convert|431|mi}} between Chicago and St Paul in six and a half hours, later reduced to six hours and 15 minutes.{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=46}} At first each trainset made one one-way trip a day, but in July 1935 each was making a round trip a day, leaving each terminal at 8:00 AM CST and returning at 10:59 PM. In 1940 the westbound Twin Zephyr took six hours to travel from Chicago to Saint Paul, a start-to-stop average of 71 miles per hour,<ref>[http://streamlinermemories.info/Zephyr/TwinZephyrsbro.pdf Heritage from the Gods:  Burlington’s new 8 car Twin Zephyrs], Burlington Route (1940) (time); [http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track4/twinzephyrs193809.html The ''Twin Zephyrs''],  Streamliner Schedules (mileage)</ref> which is a faster average speed between endpoints than the [[Acela]]'s average speeds in 2016 between Washington and Boston.<ref>The fastest Acela schedule between Boston and New York in 2016 was six hours 38 minutes for the 457 miles from Boston New York ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160206180933/https://www.amtrak.com/ccurl/432/419/Northeast-Corridor-Schedule-W04-011116-rev.pdf Amtrak Northeast Corridor schedule W4-200M—1/1/16]) —an average of slightly less than 69 miles an hour.  The Northeast Corridor is more congested and there are more population centers between endpoints than the Burlington route between Chicago and St. Paul, but the former also allows much higher rates of speed in places than the 90 mph of the Zephyrs.</ref> According the Burlington, both trains had made the run in five and a half hours,<ref>[http://streamlinermemories.info/Zephyr/B35TwinZephyrs.pdf Burlington's 1935 ''Twin Zephyr'' brochure]</ref> an average of over 78&nbsp;mph. For several years in the 1950s the schedules along the Mississippi from [[East Dubuque, Illinois]] to [[Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin]] and from Prairie du Chien to [[La Crosse, Wisconsin|La Crosse]] were the fastest in the world, and in 1964 the ''Morning Zephyr'' had the fastest station-to-station time in the United States between [[Aurora, Illinois|Aurora]] and [[Rochelle, Illinois]]. All three runs were made at over {{convert|80|mi}} per hour from start to station stop.{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=100}} By 1964 the timing from Chicago to Saint Paul had relaxed by five to ten minutes,{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=106}} but by 1970, the last full year of service, the journey took seven hours.{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=112}}
[[File:Prairie du Chien - Burlington Zephyr (1970).jpg|thumb|Burlington Zephyr during its last full year of service, 1970]]
The Burlington handled five passenger trains each way between Chicago and the Twin Cities, four of them in the daytime: the morning and afternoon Zephyrs and the premier trains of the Burlington's two owners, the [[North Coast Limited]] of the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]] and the [[Empire Builder]] of the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]], both of which ran to the West Coast.{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=106}} The nighttime train was the ''[[Black Hawk (CB&Q train)|Black Hawk]]''. Although the railroad's passenger service as a whole carried more passengers in 1964 than in 1949,{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=99}} by 1964 all four daytime Zephyrs along the Mississippi operated at a loss.{{sfn|Frailey|2010|p=108}} To save money, trains were often consolidated in off-peak times starting in 1960, and eventually the four daytime trains were reduced to two, with the ''Afternoon Zephyr'' taking the ''Empire Builder'' and ''North Coast Limited'' to the Twin Cities, and the ''Morning Zephyr'' taking the two trains to Chicago.{{sfn|Frailey|2010|pp=98–100, 104, 112–113}}

The ''Twin Zephyr'' ran for 36 years until 1971 when [[Amtrak]] took over most intercity passenger trains in the United States.

== Equipment ==
The first pair of three-car Twin Zephyr trainsets were very similar to the original ''[[Pioneer Zephyr]]'', and were [[articulated]] trains riding on four trucks.  This pair, delivered in April 1935, quickly proved too small to cope with passenger loads, and a second pair of six-car trains (soon expanded to seven cars) was delivered in November 1936. These trainsets also were articulated. One train was called "[[Nebraska Zephyr#Train of the Goddesses in 1968|The Train of the Goddesses]]" and the cars were named Ceres, Diana, Juno, Minerva, Psyche, Venus, and Vesta. The other trainset was known as "[[Nebraska Zephyr#Train of the Gods in 1968|The Train of the Gods]]" and the cars were named for mythological figures  Apollo, Cupid, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, and Vulcan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track4/twinzephyrs193809.html|title=Twin Cities Zephyr trainsets|publisher=streamlinerschedules.com|access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> Motive power for the second pair of trains was originally shovelnose [[diesel locomotive]]s [[EMC 1800 hp B-B#CB&Q 9904, 9905|9904 (''Pegasus'') and 9905 (''Zephyrus'')]].

On its way into Chicago on the evening of April 3, 1947, the "Train of the Goddesses" travelling at {{convert|75|mi}} per hour [[Downers Grove train wreck|was derailed]] in [[Downers Grove, Illinois]] by a [[tractor]] that fell into its path from a freight train on a parallel track.  Two of the Zephyr's cars smashed into an unoccupied brick railroad station.  Many people were injured in the derailment and two passengers and the engineer lost their lives.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kKUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GA4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7286,568453&dq=zephyr&hl=en|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714040213/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kKUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GA4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7286,568453&dq=zephyr&hl=en|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2012|title=6 Inquiries in Zephyr Wreck;Tractor Blamed|date=5 April 1947|publisher=The Milwaukee Sentinel|access-date=29 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uB0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JSUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6457,2005881&hl=en|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728173053/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uB0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JSUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6457,2005881&hl=en|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 28, 2012|title=Speeding Train Hits Tractor and Depot; Two Die, 25 Hurt|date=4 April 1947|publisher=The Milwaukee Journal|access-date=29 March 2012}}</ref>

After a third pair of trains were delivered in 1947, the second pair of trains was reassigned as the ''[[Nebraska Zephyr]]s''. The third sets (typically seven cars) were the first dome streamliner trains, after a company-built modified coach dome car was tested starting in 1945.  The 1947 sets originally consisted of a baggage-refreshment car, four vista dome coaches, a dining car and a dome parlor observation car.  They served as a prototype of the 1949 ''[[California Zephyr]]'' which had sleeping cars in addition.

In 1977 the "Train of the Gods" was refurbished and delivered to Saudi Arabia for use on the [[Dammam–Riyadh line]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/01/archives/famed-burlington-zephyr-trains-begin-a-new-career-in-saudi-arabia.html "Famed Burlington Zephyr Trains Begin a New Career in Saudi Arabia]". ''The New York Times'', May 1, 1977.</ref>

==Route==
The Twin Zephyr ran on the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad|Burlington Route]] from Chicago to St. Paul.<ref name="timetable1947">''Burlington Route Timetables, December 1947''. Chicago: Poole Bros Inc.</ref> Today these lines belong to the [[BNSF Railway]] as these subdivisions of the BNSF [[Northern Transcon]]:
*[[Chicago Subdivision]] - Chicago, Illinois to Aurora, Illinois
*[[Aurora Subdivision]] - Aurora to La Crosse, Wisconsin
*[[St. Croix Subdivision]] - La Crosse to St. Croix Junction, Minnesota
*[[St. Paul Subdivision]] - St. Croix Junction to St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Morning and Afternoon Zephyr trains were limited stop runs.<ref name="timetable1947" /> Because some stations were not in central downtown areas, connecting "Burlington Bus" service was provided at East Dubuque, Illinois, for [[Dubuque, Iowa]]; North La Crosse for [[La Crosse, Wisconsin]], and [[Winona Junction rail station|Winona Junction, Wisconsin]], for [[Winona, Minnesota]]. In 1947, the Morning and Afternoon Zephyrs left Chicago at 9:00&nbsp;a.m. and 4:00&nbsp;p.m., respectively.<ref name="timetable1947" /> The times varied during the season, with the Morning Zephyr leaving at 8:00&nbsp;a.m. and the Afternoon Zephyr at 4:30&nbsp;p.m. from Chicago during the summer, with a 2:30 afternoon departure in the non-summer months.<ref name="timetable1966">''Burlington Route Timetables, May 1966''. Chicago: Poole Bros. Inc.</ref>

== Notes ==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFScribbins2007}}
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{Frailey-Twilight}}
* {{Scribbins-Hiawatha-2007}}
* {{Zimmermann-Burlington}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite magazine | last=Francis | first=Devon | title=Highballing the World's Fastest Train | magazine=[[Popular Science]] | date=August 1951 | volume=159 | issue=2}}
* {{Scribbins-400}}

== External links ==
* {{commons-inline}}

{{Lightweight Trains}}
{{CBQ named trains}}
{{Twin Cities Railroads}}

[[Category:Named passenger trains of the United States]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Illinois]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in Minnesota]]
[[Category:Passenger trains of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]]
[[Category:Railway services introduced in 1936]]
[[Category:Articulated passenger trains]]
[[Category:Budd multiple units]]
[[Category:Diesel multiple units of the United States]]
[[Category:Diesel multiple units with locomotive-like power cars]]
[[Category:Night trains of the United States]]
[[Category:Railway services discontinued in 1971]]