Here's what I've put together. Any additions
or corrections appreciated.
Another change in equipment took place on October 28, 1956. As of that date, the CRI&P-supplied
diner-parlor-observation car was cut back to running only between Minneapolis
and Manly on the southbound ZR.
According to Daniel Sabin, when the car was cut off at Manly, it
was placed on the steam track at the depot, where it would be iced and
watered. As indicated by Steve Suhs in Rock Island Digest, Volume 10, the car
then made the return trip from Manly to Minneapolis on northbound #510. This move is documented in an April
25, 1958 Passenger Train Consist
document issued by the CRI&P?s General Secretary of Transportation (though
the document mistakenly places the returning car on the southbound #509) and by
the spring-summer 1959 public timetable.
As a result, there was no food service on the Burlington leg of the run
for about six months. In May, 1957,
however, the CB&Q began to add either café-parlor car #307 or #308, and
occasionally diner-lounge #326, to the train between St. Louis and
Burlington. Whichever of these cars
was in service would provide breakfast on the southbound run, and then serve
dinner to those heading north to the Twin Cities in the evening. In order to simplify the switching at
Burlington, the car was placed on the rear of the train rather than in the more
usual position between the coaches and sleepers. Greg Stout suggests that the northbound
car was then carried from Chicago to Burlington on a different train #15, one
which was part of the long-distance commuter service which the CB&Q was
providing between Hannibal and Chicago.
Return routing for the dining service car is unknown, but may have been
on #15?s counterpart, #2.
Provision of dining
services on the CB&Q seems to have undergone some additional changes by
1959. A consist for the ZR
from October, 1959 in John Strauss' Burlington Route Passenger Trains, volume
2 shows car #308 now travelling from Chicago to West Quincy to St. Louis via
the American Royal Zephyr and then
south on the ZR. This may in fact
have been the original westbound routing when the car was first added to the
train in May, 1957. However, the
return routing for the car is now shown as being via the ZR from St. Louis to
Burlington and then on the Ak-Sar-Ben
Zephyr to Chicago. The September, 1960 Official Guide provides corroborating
details, showing that the ZR carried a dining car northbound all the way
from St. Louis to Burlington, but southbound only between West Quincy and St.
Louis. It was just about this time
that the Hannibal to Chicago commuter service was being cut back to Galesburg to
Chicago, so a change in routing would indeed have been required.
In late 1960, the CRI&P made the decision to drop the
observation-diner-lounge car from the southbound train completely. Cars St. Louis and St. Paul were sold for scrap the
following year. From that point on,
a footnote on the timetable advised passengers that box lunches were available:
?consult trainman.?
Mike Condren, who rode the ZR in the spring of 1961, makes the comment
that it was his first and only ride in a
square-ended solarium car. In fact,
various other cars did occasionally carry the markers for the ZR during this
era; Loren Johnson and Greg Stout have both suggested that various Budd-built
cars, such as parlor-diner-observation Silver Star, Silver Fountain, or C&S Silver Bowl, full diner Silver Manor, or dome-coach-buffet-lounges like Silver Patio may have found their
way onto the rear of the ZR.
Steve Suhs in Rock Island Digest, Volume 10, suggests
that the southbound ZR may, for a period of time, have picked up a
dome-coach-buffet-lounge car, either #320, Silver Garden, or #321, Silver Patio, from train #55, the
westbound American Royal Zephyr, at
West Quincy and carried it to St. Louis.
The northbound ZR would then bring the car back to West Quincy and leave
it to be picked up by the eastbound American Royal, #56. Larry Thomas confirms this, referencing a conversation with a retired
CB&Q operator who said that it was not uncommon to see the buffet
domes from the American Royal Zephyr
on the ZR to St. Louis.
According to the
May-October 1961 public timetable, however, these cars were only being carried
by the American Royal until that
spring ? so the period of time during which the dome cars may have made somewhat
regular appearances on the ZR seems to have been quite limited. From that May on, the dome car was being
replaced by a diner-lounge.
However, it?s entirely possible that the exchange of cars between the two
pairs of trains may have continued to take place. Interestingly, the May-October 1961
public timetable does not clearly indicate how far north dining service was
provided on the ZR. This suggests
the possibility that dining service northbound may well have been cut back to
West Quincy earlier than the May, 1962 which is usually referenced.
As of the May, 1962 public timetable, however, the CB&Q had
definitely cut food service back to between West Quincy and St. Louis both
ways. The public timetable from
that date indicates that the American
Royal Zephyr was still carrying a diner-lounge between Chicago and West
Quincy at this time, while the Zephyr
Rocket was carrying a diner-lounge between West Quincy and St. Louis. This suggests that an exchange at West
Quincy may still have been taking place.
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