We here at Western History/Genealogy have made the decision to transform "Weird Photo Wednesday" into "Wow Photo Wednesday," for the simple reason that "Wow" casts a much wider net than "Weird." While "weird" can also be "wow," "wow" is not always "weird"... you get the idea.
Today's entry is a photograph of the "Dawn to Dusk Club," a group of passengers who rode aboard the Pioneer Zephyr during its promotional, record-setting run from Denver to Chicago on May 26, 1934 to mark the Century of Progress World's Fair.
For the promotional run, it set a speed record for travel between Denver, Colorado, and Chicago, Illinois, when it made the 1,015-mile non-stop "Dawn-to-Dusk" trip in 13 hours 5 minutes at an average speed of 77 mph. For one section of the run it reached a speed of 112.5 mph, just short of the then US land speed record of 115 mph. The historic dash inspired a 1934 film and the train's nickname, "The Silver Streak." The train is generally regarded as the first successful streamliner on American railroads.
It operated this and other routes until its retirement in 1960, when it was donated to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, where it remains on public display.
Today, the California Zephyr is Amtrak's longest route (2,438 miles, from Chicago, Illinois to Emeryville, California) and one of the most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada including the breathtaking Donner Pass area. It's a wonderful way to see spectacular Glenwood Canyon in western Colorado, with the glass roof making it possible to look upward at the towering cliffs beside the Colorado River.
The mascot-burro, "Zeph," was donated by the Rocky Mountain News, and Ralph Budd [fourth from the right with wire rim glasses], one of the dignitaries on the trip, and President of Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, when asked about the burro, replied "Why not? One more jackass on this trip won't make a difference."
Comments
Love that you talk about streamliners! One of my favorite subjects and America is at a loss without them.
Trains have been a great fascination for me. I like the odd ones. Streamliners are the coolest. Weird Photo Wednesday or Wow Photo Wednesday. I like them both. But change is good. Keep it going. It makes humpday better.
My Mom came to Denver on this train . She rode it from St.Louis to Denver.
You should ask Chuck Albi about this photo. I came across it while doing research for Union Station. Great image. I love the donkey.
You should ask Chuck Albi about this photo. I came across it while doing research for Union Station. Great image. I love the donkey.
Hey,Dianna, I will - is this Dianna Litvak from Kohelet? Wow, small world. You know Chuck? Nice hearing from you! [Rafi here]
Hi,
A gentleman called last week and spoke to me about misidentified people in this blog post. Please email me at jrogers@denverlibrary.org with the corrected information as well as any references or citations, and we will endeavor to correct any mistakes.
Thank you!
Thanks, everyone, for all the feedback - it's gratifying when a photo inspires conversation. We have word that some of the information is wrong in my description, and we are going to make a correction as soon as we can verify the information. This is the real "gold" of "crowd-sourcing" data, when public feedback helps to improve our accuracy. We LOVE to make corrections.
I'm actually planning to take the Zephyr from Denver to Chicago in May! Sort of like retracing the steps of these "Dawn to Dusk Club" members... can I join?
I have a similar photo of my dad (who was a young boy at the time) with a bunch of his friends posed with "Zeph"... Also one in the middle of some street in Chicago with another bunch of boys and one adult (maybe a teacher?)... and I recently discovered a few photos (actually negatives that I'd never seen prints of before) that show my dad and "Zeph" in some sort of parade - including crossing the river - in Chicago... probably later that day. My dad lived in Downers Grove Il, when growing up, and it looks kind of like they went on some sort of field trip to welcome the zephyr. My dad is no longer around to ask about it, but it's fun nonetheless.
If there is an archive that would be interested I could send scans of the images. Let me know.
(bparrishguard-misc@yahoo.com)
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