I have always considered the DZ to be the alpha and omega of the Budd-
built stainless steel private streamliner. The alpha because the
1936 version was the first full-service Budd streamliner and the
omega because its 1956 version was the last new streamliner built (if
we do not count the headend cars, which were inherited from other
Zephyrs. The 1964 cars for the El Capitan do not count because only
coaches were built. The 1956 El Capitan streamliner went into
service a few months before the 1956 DZ).
In any case, the equipment on the DZ was interesting in that, while
the cars were clearly post-war Zephyr, with the straight-across
skirting that had found a home with the Q, they also showed the
influence of newer Budd trains, particularly the Canadian Pacific's
Canadian of 1955. The latter train was born when the President of
the Canadian Pacific, having viewed the Calfornia Zephyr, said that
he wanted a train just like it for his railroad (this from a Trains
magazine article some years ago, the article also pointing out that
he later regretted the decision to order the train). In fact, the
domed observation cars were configured exactly like their CZ
counterparts in that they had 3 double bedrooms and a drawing room in
front of the dome.
However, the Canadian Pacific cars differed from the Q cars in that
they had rounded door frames, large car numberboards. These features
were also present on the 1956 DZ cars, unlike the earlier post-war
Zephyr cars where a short ridge continued out from the squared-off
door frame. Also, like the Canadian Pacific cars, the DZ cars were
girder, instead of truss cars, with narrow perlins rather than the
wide ones borne by the truss cars of the Twin and California Zephyrs.
However, like the rest of the postwar Burlington fleet, the cars rode
on inside swing-hanger trucks rather than outside ones, presumably so
that the trucks would be interchangable with the rest of the post-war
fleet and, perhaps, because outside swing hangers would have
precluded the use of the straight-across skirting.
In any case, the 1956 DZ equipment represented the best of both
Burlington and Budd traditions.
sjl
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