Day 290: A Record-Breaking Train

     At 8:09 PM on May 26, 1934, a train pulled into Chicago's Halsted Street Station after a whirlwind 13-hour journey from Denver.  However, the roots of this go back about a year, to the 1933 World's Fair.  At the fair, there was a bet made about how fast the train could go. That, plus a desire to christen the new train with a bang, made for a great marketing opportunity for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad and their new train, the Pioneer Zephyr.

     There were quite a number of preparations to be made for the record-breaking run.  One of the first tasks was to inspect every single spike and bolt along the track to ensure that there would be no problems with the journey.  Then there were signs placed along the tracks warning the conductors of any impending dangers.  And then, on the day of the Zephyr's record-setting trip, there were volunteers manning each and every crossing to ensure that there would be no delays to impede the train.  After all of the preparations were ready, the only thing left to do was to make the trip.  Along the way, the train hit a top speed of 112.5 Miles Per Hour, which was only 17.5 MPH slower than the land speed record for trains at that time.  Not only that, but the 13-hour trip blew the normal 25-hour trip that the Burlington's other cars normally took to Denver out of the water.  Even today, Amtrak's California Zephyr(which was named in honor of the Pioneer Zephyr) needs 18 hours and 40 minutes to get from Denver to Chicago.

     After the record setting run, the Pioneer Zephyr was converted for use as a normal passenger train, a duty which it performed up until its retirement in 1960, at which point the train was acquired by the Museum of Science and Industry, which placed it outside the building.  Finally, the Zephyr was placed back inside in 1997 when MSI built a new underground parking garage and entrance atrium, making the Zephyr next-door neighbors to both the only U-Boat to be displayed in the country and the largest airplane to ever land at Meigs Field.  One more thing of note about the train.  The Pioneer Zephyr was built by the Budd Company.  Not only that, but it was the first train they ever built.  Sure, that's interesting, but you wanna know what's even cooler?  Amongst the many, many trains that they built over the years were all of the 2200 and 2600 series of train cars for the Chicago Transit Authority.  Which means that if you are riding an El car that isn't one of the new ones(with the aisle-facing seats and the digital side displays) you're riding in a car made by the same people who made the Pioneer Zephyr.