| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad E7 9922B heading Train Number 11, the Nebraska Zephyr, at Galva, Illinois on October 12, 1956, photograph by P. Stringham, print by William A. Raia, Chuck Zeiler collection. Behind the baggage car is the seven car articulated trainset (one of two such trainsets) from the second Twin Cities Zephyr (TCZ), removed from TCZ service in late 1947 and refurbished at Aurora for Nebraska Zephyr service. Included in the refurbish work was the raising of the floors in the cars 2½ inches. As built the windows were located higher than usual because at the time it was believed that passengers would feel discomfort from observing the train moving at the high speeds attained by the TCZ. The high windows permitted view of the scenery while resticting the view of the ground. The fear of discomfort proved unfounded and, if fact, passengers complained about the resticted view. Gentle ramps were installed for transition from the raised floor to the vestibules. One of the TCZ trainsets is at the Illinois Railway Museum (reduced to a five car set around 1965) and the other set is rumored to be in Saudi Arabia. The locomotive was completed by EMD November 24, 1946 (c/n 2951) and wrecked at Montgomery, Illinois on September 27, 1964. It was scrapped soon after. |