Foreign cars were not unusual in the 50's - especially those from NYC &
PRR. Remember that the PRR shared Union with the Q, so those movements
were much easier. In fact, if you look at the foreign cars, that is one
thing to keep in mind - it's easier to snag a car from some roads in
Chicago than others. In terms of a breakdown, there really isn't a ratio by
train to go by that I have found. One train in 1961 actually had 7 of 11
cars CB&Q - which was the highest all one-road I have found yet. In the
end though, this is your train, and you have to run it as you'd like. I
have started a spread sheet of foreign cars and the cars that can be
modeled easily now that Walthers has been bringing out their cars. So far,
out of the 60 consists, I have 26 unique cars. And several cars are
duplicated (especially the D&RGW 124x coaches and the Milw Lake
sleepers). Not quite 50%, but if you add in the duplicates and the cars I
didn't add due to various reasons, it reaches over 65%. Again, most
consists are in 1961, but that provides some idea of the ratio.
The more I see the more I consider that a "pure consist" is if not atypical
then perhaps not all that common. Maybe a 60-40 though I doubt 60% of the
CZ's were that pure. They might look that way in photos due to the number
of other Stainless cars out there - and if a Seaboard car got on the train,
they have the same letter type as the Zephyr type - so it ,might be harder
yet. But if you are at a distance, ATSF, CB&Q, NYC, and other stainless
cars might not look so out of place. Then you have to go by skirting and
other, more subtle signs. Obviously painted cars are easy to spot.
In terms of domes, the 5 domes was a ad item from inception to end. The
dome seats were not reserved, but the lounge and obs seats were for Pullman
passengers only. In terms of scenery, Iowa and Utah have very good
scenery. You'd be amazed. Of course, going through Iowa in late August
you have to be in the dome to see over the corn. But the best time was at
night - there was always something magical to being in the dome late at
night (or very early in the morning). I much preferred that than being
there in the day. I'd take Utah over eastern Colorado any day though! And
Nevada at night was really something else. On clear nights you could see
almost like daylight with the moon. It's likely not the same now with the
growth along the lines.
At 06:11 PM 1/13/2005, you wrote:
>I too have my eye on the new BWL CZ cars, but one question that has not
>been answered yet is the breakdown of the consist by road. I am modeling
>the 1950 period when the CZ was brand new and realize that each train was
>a mix of CB&Q-D&RGW-WP cars. Does anyone know what a "normal" mix of
>cars by road would be in the 1950 period? I do have Karl Zimmerman's
>California Zephyr, which lists all the cars by name and road. Would the
>mix be in a fairly direct proportion to the number of cars owned by each
>road? This would have been before the insertion of a number of foreign
>road cars to the consist.
>
>Also, there has been some discussion about the number of dome cars on the
>CZ over the years. I seem to recall that dome seats were not reserved,
>and anyone on board could slide into a dome seat, if available, to enjoy
>the scenery, then move to another part of the train while passing through
>western Utah or Iowa. If my memory has not failed, this could be a
>reason that several domes remained on the train as long as it ran. After
>all, that was the big marketing ploy.
>- John Manion
> Denver, CO
>
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