Hello one and all!
This is my first posting since joining the group. I am modeling the
Con-Cor Pioneer Zephyr and I'm wondering how many other modelers that
have purchased the three car set are interested in the soon to be
issued 4th car. The promotional documentation from Con-Cor states
that they are issuing the 2nd 4th car which was numbered 525. It was
built in June of 1938 and was a buffet-coach car, with passenger
seating for an additional 40 passengers as well as a small kitchen and
pantry area.
They differentiate this from the first add on car which was #500 and
was built in 1935. I've done some research on the Internet and found
that Con-Cor's numbers are reversed from other information I have
found. It is indeed the 1938 car that is the one that should be
modeled, but my information indicates that it should be #500 rather
than #525.
For example, Wikipedia gives the following information about the
fourth car:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Zephyr)
"The Zephyr's power (leading) car was numbered 9900, the baggage-coach
combine car was numbered 505, and the coach-observation was numbered
570. The trainset was placed in regular service between Kansas City,
Missouri, Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, on November 11, 1934, replacing
a pair of steam locomotives and six heavyweight passenger cars. The
Zephyr replaced a train weighing up to eight times as much. By June
1935, it proved popular enough to add a fourth car to the train's
regular configuration, providing additional coach seating. The fourth
car was originally a 40-seat coach number 525, but the following June
was switched to Twin Cities service, then back to the Pioneer Zephyr
in December. Car 525 remained on the train until June 1938. Just over
five years after it was introduced, the Pioneer Zephyr crossed the one
million mile mark in regular service on December 29, 1939, near
Council Bluffs, Iowa."
? and further down ?
"On the second anniversary of the train's famous dash, the original
Zephyr was rechristened as the Pioneer Zephyr to distinguish it as the
first of the Burlington's growing Zephyr fleet. In 1938, car 525 was
replaced with car number 500, a 40-seat buffet/lounge car to provide
light meals during the train's travels. Car number 505, the
baggage-coach combine, was also rebuilt at this time into a full
baggage car, but it kept the windows as they were originally installed."
A Web site on the Pioneer Zephyr by Randy Gordon-Gilmore indicates:
(http://www.prototrains.com/pioneer/pioneer.html)
"The train was so popular that within its first year of service, a
fourth car was added to its consist to handle the passenger bookings.
Several cars were used temporarily, but in June 1938, 40-seat
buffet/coach Car 500 was added as a permanent part of the Pioneer
Zephyr's consist. At the same time, the 20-seat smoking section was
removed from Car 505, which became a full-length baggage car. The
Pioneer Zephyr's capacity in this form was 92 passengers. The Pioneer
Zephyr remained a four-car train until late in its service life, when
Car 500 was removed and placed in storage."
And lastly, the Web site of the Burlington Route Historical Society
has a roster of its stainless steel passenger cars which gives this
information about the Pioneer Zephyr:
BURLINGTON ROUTE HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
(http://www.burlingtonroute.com/rosters/stainless_equipment_numbers.doc)
No. Name Type Style Built Train
500 Not named Chair Car / 40 seats 1938 PZ
Dinette
505 Not named Baggage / 20 seats 1934 PZ
Mail /
Buffet /
Chair Car
525 Not named Chair Car 40 seats 1935 PZ
570 Not named Chair Car / 40-12 1934 PZ
Observation /
Lounge
9900 Not named Power Unit / ---- 1934 PZ
Baggage /
Mail
This makes three different sources that state the opposite of what
Con-Cor is planning to release. I'm not trying to nitpick, but I just
want to make sure the car that is issued is physically identical to
the 1938 2nd add-on car for the Zephyr. I contacted Con-Cor several
months ago and they are sticking by their guns on the numbering. Does
anyone in the group have an opinion or additional information on this?
Reid Sondrup
wpzephyr@yahoo.com
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