Tom,
I don't think you have received any responses to your inquiry on the
Denver Zephyr photo; at least not posted on the CBQ List. A couple of
us have been discussing the photo and have some opinions about when it
was taken. Because the condition of the train appears to be pristine,
we believe it is a publicity photo, probably shot by the RR just before
the train went into regular service. That would make the date of the
photo around late October or very early November, 1936. Another reason
to think that the train is brand new is that the forward sand fill
hatch is in the original location. They were relocated to just behind
the cab door and upward on the flat panel in 1937 or early 1938. We
also think it is a publicity photo because it doesn't appear that there
is anyone in the cab and judging by the direction of the exhaust from
the auxiliary power unit in the first car that is going across the car,
the train is standing still.
One of the two trains made a non-stop high speed run from Chicago to
Denver on October 23, 1936 with an abbreviated train of 6 cars. The
train in your photo appears to be the full consist of 10 cars. The
trains entered regular service on November 8, 1936 and, of course, once
in service, most of it's run was at night.
As for location, we are somewhat at a loss. The photo was probably
taken from a bridge, based on the telltales over the rear portion of
the train and the angle of the photo. Because of the location of the
communication lines (telephone/telegraph), we think the train is
eastbound. The communication lines were on the south side of the right
of way across Illinois. While there are three tracks, we don't think it
was taken between Chicago and Aurora, because we can't think of a
location which would provide a relatively level open background near a
bridge. More likely, it is may be taken between Aurora and Galesburg
and the track to the left of the train is a siding. Again, however, we
can't think of a location that would provide that kind of background on
straight track near a bridge. It could be in Iowa, but neither of us is
as familiar with that locale.
The photo, as scanned, is somewhat "washed out" particularly in the
background. Would you by any chance have a sharper copy with better
resolution? If so, could you send me a larger file off list, maybe as a
.jpg? Like you, I have searched the internet for another copy of the
photo, but haven't been successful. I have also looked in all of the
books that I have and did find the same photo in Patrick C. Dorin's
book Everywhere West The Burlington Route. It is a little sharper, but
the background is still washed out. It also does not identify the
location of the photo. We would like to figure out where the photo was
taken, but need a little more information.
Bill Barber
On Thursday, March 2, 2006, at 01:46 PM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 23:01:10 -0000
> From: "tpersoon2001" <persoons@ia.net>
> Subject: Need info on a Denver Zephyr
>
> Hello,
> I'm looking for some information on a photo of the Denver Zephyr. I've
> posted a scan of the photo to the Files Section, title Denver Zephyr.
> I'm trying to determine when (and where, if possible) this photo was
> taken. I've researched the web looking for information about this
> train set in Denver Zephyr service but haven't found anything that
> appears to be relevant. I don't need an exact date, just a time frame
> (i.e. late '40s, Iowa) would be useful. Thanks!
>
> Tom Persoon
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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