Kansas City Zephyr - Oral History

Oral History

"My dad, G. Reeves, was the Trainman on the Kansas City Zephyr. We lived in Quincy and my dad worked the Zephyr between Quincy and Galesburg from the late '50s until his retirement in 1965. There were actually four trains that ran between Chicago and Kansas City. Train # 35 traveled from Chicago to Kansas City. At Augusta, Illinois train # 35 would pull on to the siding and meet her sister train # 36 which headed to Chicago (northbound). Like the Kansas City Zephyr # 35 & # 36, the American Royal Zephyr # 56 northbound to Chicago which ran in the early morning hours and # 55 which ran southbound to Kansas City would also meet and pass in Augusta, Illinois. My dad worked American Royal Zephyr # 56 to Galesburg. The Kansas City Zephyr was never a very long train. In the late 1950s it did pull a dining car. Train # 56 would sometimes pull a dining car plus a sleeper. Passengers on # 35 from Chicago could change trains in Quincy for travel to Hannibal and St Louis (other Zephyrs, such as the Mark Twain Zephyr). The Kansas City Zephyr would continue on to Kansas City. In the late 1960s the CB&Q stopped the Kansas City Zephyr service. The train from Chicago still ran as # 35 but went only as far as Quincy. It would turn around in Quincy and head back to Chicago. (This eventually became the Amtrak Illinois Zephyr that travels this same route today). At first, the Kansas City Zephyr came from Chicago on its own. Later in the early 1960s it arrived into Galesburg from Chicago on the rear on another train. I believe the train was # 5 (likely the westbound California Zephyr from Chicago). In Galesburg, the KC Zephyr would be switched to another track and then continued on southwest via Macomb and Quincy to Kansas City." Submitted by M. Reeves

• One of the coach cars.

• The train's dining car.

• The lounge car.

• The train's observation car.