All-
My dad was a salesman working a mid-state territory so had a room in Mendota and only came home on weekends.
One time I got to ride the American Royal down to stay with him and later drove home with him. As a ten or eleven year old in 1955-56 I was struck by the ornate light fixtures in the unremodeled heavyweight coach (to my young eye what seemed to be electrified gas lights!!).
There may have been stainless steel equipment on the train but for me the train was hardly a Zephyr that day!
Charlie Vlk
PS- Old Eli’s descendants have made a comeback in the advertising world…..”America’s Best” eyeglasses, a local Tennessee college, and TripAdvisor all use spokesowls on television.
Kansas city, prior to the KC Cut off was kind of a "side issue"...I rode with my grandfather more than once from St. Joe to Chicago on the old American Royal (not a zephyr at that time...I recall sitting on a bench in front of the depot at Cameron (Jct) awaiting the arrival of the Kansas City connection...in the form of a motorcar...to arrive.