Yes, the NZ at IRM is still running. I get up there a
few times every year to ride it. There is nothing
like sitting at the back of the observation car taking
in the Illinois scenery. I wonder what happenen to
those two trains that were sold to the Saudies. If
they are not using them, we would love to have them
back! If anyone knows the status of the Train of the
Gods and the DZ, please let us know!
Bryan J. Howell
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/burlingtonzephyrs
tubaman21@y...
--- Marshall Thayer <zephyr9903@e...> wrote:
> (Comments on the restoration of Flying Yankee in New
> Hampshire)
>
> My question is this: What hope is there for a
> Zephyr being restored and
> returned to some kind of service?
>
> One of the "rationalized" (5 out of 7 cars) Nebraska
> Zephyrs (nee 2nd Twin Cities Zephyr) was, last I
> heard, still operational at the Illinois Railroad
> Museum in Union, IL, matched with the sole surviving
> E5A.
>
> Of much more interest to me (see e-mail address),
> the Mark Twain Zephyr survives (together with coach
> dinette 500 from the Pioneer). It was purchased
> from a Kansas City banker's estate about 20 years
> ago by a Chicago attorney who planned to restore it
> for gamblers' runs from Chicago to the Quad Cities
> to reach the Iowa riverboat casinos.
>
> Unfortunately for him, before the investments had
> come in, Illinois legalized its own boats, and the
> whole project went into limbo. About five years ago
> (and with much fanfare), the attorney transferred
> the MTZ to a rail rebuilder in Minooka, IL, claiming
> that it would be fully restored and placed in fan
> trip service. Meanwhile, nothing has happened
> (except that the attorney is reported to have
> threatened model manufacturers with lawsuits if they
> do models or images of 9903 without paying royalties
> to him). So - MTZ is reasonably safe, but in limbo.
>
> In addition, parts of one of the original (1936)
> Denver Zephyrs have been reported intact in South
> Dakota, but no restoration plans are known to me.
> The other DZ was sold to Saudi Arabian Royal Railway
> ca 1970. I have been unable to determine whether it
> is still in operation (or in existence) - but the KC
> banker had bought the MTZ to refurbish and sell to
> the Saudis, dying before that could be done.
>
> 9908 Silver Charger is at the National Museum of
> Transportation at Barrett Street Station, St. Louis,
> in an advanced state of restoration. The problem
> there is that the ground rules of the NMT endowment
> include that no restored equipment may be operated.
> (In order for Frisco 1522 to be operated, it had to
> be formally transferred from NMT to an operating
> group).
>
> 9900 is at the Museum of Science and Industry in
> Chicago, and r4ecently underwent a complete
> restoration. MSI appears to operate under rules
> similar to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, where
> exhibits are restored to complete operational
> standards, but not allowed to fly for fear of damage
> or loss.
>
> As for the rest of the original Zephyrs, 9901 was
> destroyed by fire in 1944; 9902 was scrapped in the
> mid-fifties; shovel-nose A units 9904-07 were
> converted to boosters in 1952, and scrapped 1955-56;
> the DZ B-units were scrapped '54-'56; the other TCZ
> II/NZ set was scrapped in '68.
>
> Of the 9 Zephyrs built between 1934 and 1939, the
> survival of all or part of six of them is truly
> amazing - but it doesn't get us any closer to having
> more than one operate <sigh>
>
> Marshall Thayer - zephyr9903@e...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
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