- Sam Houston Zephyr
Infobox rail line
name = "Sam Houston Zephyr"
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type =Inter-city rail
system =Burlington-Rock Island Railroad
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start =Fort Worth, Texas
end =Houston, Texas
stations =
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ridership =
open = 1936
close = 1966
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linelength = convert|283.1|mi|km
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gauge = RailGauge|ussg
el =
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map_state = showThe "Sam Houston Zephyr" was a named passenger train operated by the
Burlington-Rock Island Railroad , a subsidiary of both theChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and theChicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad . It was the first streamlined passenger train inTexas . [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/eqb18.html "Burlington-Rock Island Railroad," "Handbook of Texas Online"]Inaugurated on
October 1 ,1936 ,cite book | last = Zimmerman | first = Karl | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Burlington's Zephyrs | publisher = Andover Junction/MBI | date = 2004 | location = St. Paul, Minn. | pages = 72-73, 75 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=4O7bl6xzoQkC&printsec=copyright&dq=%22sam+houston+zephyr%22 | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-7603-1856-5 ] the year of the Texas centennial celebrations, the streamlined train was named for Texas heroSam Houston . On its original schedule, the train ran from the Texas and Pacific station in Fort Worth to Union Station inHouston, Texas , in exactly five hours, making only four intermediate stops in Dallas, Waxahachie, Corsicana, and Teaque. The train was designated number 3 southbound, and number 4 northbound. Its chief competitor was the "Sunbeam", operated by theTexas and New Orleans Railroad (a subsidiary of theSouthern Pacific ) on a parallel route between Dallas and Houston.Like many other passenger trains that experienced declining revenues in the face of competition from automobiles and airplanes in the 1950s and 1960s, the "Sam Houston Zephyr" was discontinued in 1966. [http://www.dallasrailwaymuseum.com/dallashistory.html "A Brief History of Railroads in Dallas," Dallas Railroad Museum]
References
External links
*Streamliner Schedules (timetable and consist of the 1950 "Sam Houston Zephyr") [http://www.streamlinerschedules.com/concourse/track9/samhouzeph195008.html]
*Ken's Weather and Railroad page (1956 photos and 1959 timetable of the "Sam Houston Zephyr") [http://www.trainweather.com/zephyr1959.html]
* [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/eqb18.html "Burlington-Rock Island Railroad," "Handbook of Texas Online"]
*Dallas Railroad Museum, "A Brief History of Railroads in Dallas" [http://www.dallasrailwaymuseum.com/dallashistory.html]
*Burlington Route Historical Society, "The Burlington Zephyrs" (includes map of the various Zephyr routes) [http://www.burlingtonroute.com/docs/route/wotz.html]
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