Pioneer Zephyr
My colored pencil/acrylic ink drawing/paining of the Pioneer Zephyr.
Below is a brief history of this train and its influence on the 1930's
and the Art Deco designs of that time.
"The Pioneer Zephyr is a diesel-powered train set built by the Budd
Company in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
(CB&Q), commonly known as the Burlington Route. The train set was
the second internal combustion powered streamliner built for mainline
service in the United States, the first such train powered by a diesel
engine, and the first to enter revenue service. The train set consists
of one power/RPO car, one baggage/buffet/coach car, and one
coach/observation car. The cars are made of stainless steel, permanently
articulated together with Jacobs bogies. The construction incorporated
recent advances such as shot welding (a specialized type of spot
welding) to join the stainless steel, and uni-body construction and
articulation to reduce weight. It was the first of nine similarly built
train sets made for Burlington and its technologies were pivotal in the
subsequent dieselization of passenger rail service. Its operating
economy, speed, and public appeal demonstrated the potential for
diesel-electric powered trains to revitalize and restore profitability
to passenger rail service that had suffered a catastrophic loss of
business with the Great Depression. Originally named the Burlington
Zephyr during its demonstration period, it became the Pioneer Zephyr as
Burlington expanded its fleet of Zephyr train sets.
On May 26, 1934, it set a speed record for travel between Denver and
Chicago when it made a 1,015.4-mile (1,633 km) non-stop "Dawn-to-Dusk"
dash in 13 hours 5 minutes at an average speed of almost 78 mph (124
km/h). For one section of the run it reached a speed of 112.5 mph (181
km/h). The historic dash inspired a 1934 film and the train's nickname,
"The Silver Streak".
The train entered regular revenue serv