Guide

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RAILROADS AND TRANSPORTATION

Burlington Route 1933 Exhibit

The Burlington Railroad exhibit was on a 600-foot track immediately south of the Travel & Transport Building. It was a deluxe passenger train consisting of a giant locomotive and six ultra modern units of equipment:

• Engine No. 3000--The most powerful 4-6-4 wheeled locomotive in the world.
• Railway Post Office Car--A standard 60-foot Railway Post Office Car, completely equipped and manned by government mail clerks explaining the methods of sorting, classifying and distributing government mail in a traveling post office. Visitors could write post cards at a desk in this car and see them postmarked.
• Chair Car--Demonstrating the latest style of chairs which were not only adjustable to different reclining positions, but also could be turned to face the windows.
• Dining Car--Instead of being arranged in straight rows, the tables were "staggered" resulting in more spaciousness, easier access, avoiding traffic congestion, and giving patrons a more diverse choice of seats.
• Pullman (salon-club type)--One half of the car was devoted to the highest class of overnight travel accommodations including individual bedrooms with real beds; drawing rooms and compartments all of which were available either separately or ensuite. The other half of this car was a club-like little lounging room.
• Pullman--14-section capacity, typical of the Pullman equipment carried on all the top Burlington trains.
• Lounge Car--Fine appointments rivaling those of the smartest town club...down-filled cushions, easy armchairs, foursome seats for card players, generous ash trays and electric cigar lighters, a separate and special room for the ladies; a radio; magazines and newspapers to read, a rear observation platform enclosed in glass, a well stocked buffet.

Alongside this composite train were two units of old-fashioned equipment having historic significance. Opposite the modern locomotive stood a little old "tea kettle" engine with elongated cow catcher and diamond smokestack--No. 35, the Pride of the Prairies in the early 1880's. Behind the little pioneer engine was a reproduction of the first car in which U.S. Mail was assorted in transit, and thus the actual starting point of the Railway Post Office service.

Paralleling the Burlington train, and sharing the same platform and train shed, stood the Royal Scot--famous London-Glasgow-Edinburgh flyer of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway of Great Britain, and holder of world speed records. The British trains were built narrower and lower than American trains, because it was considered too expensive to enlarge their old bridges, tunnels, etc.

In October the Royal Scot left the fair for a post-exhibition tour. It was accompanied along the Burlington tracks from Chicago to Aurora by a Burlington train like the one on the fairgrounds. The Royal Scot was to continue west to California, up the Pacific coast to Vancouver, and east through Canada to Montreal from where it would be shipped back to England.

Burlington Route 1934 Exhibit

The 1934 exhibits included the Burlington Zephyr in addition to old and new locomotives, old and new Railway Post Office cars, and a five-car exhibtion train.

The Zephyr was built of stainless steel and had a streamlined design. On May 26, 1934, the Zephyr broke all long-distance, non-stop World's Records for railroad trains when it ran 1015 miles from Denver, Colo. to Chicago in thirteen hours and five minutes to signal the reopening of A Century of Progress Exposition. This was twelve hours and forty minutes faster than the regular running time of the Aristocrat, the road's crack regular train. Its average speed on the spectacular dawn-to-dusk run was 77.6 miles an hour... its top speed 112.5 miles an hour.

Half an hour after it had reached Chicago's Halsted Street Station, the Zephyr appeared on the stage of the "Wings of a Century" pageant at the World's Fair grounds. It was cheered by a crowd of about 100,000, who placed pennies on the track to be smashed as souvenirs

The pioneer Zephyr can currently be seen at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Other Railroads

Milwaukee Road's Electric Locomotive

Chicago & North Western Line--Yesterday & Today

Baltimore and Ohio Locomotive "President Cleveland"

Wings of a Century Pageant

Famous War Engine "General"
" Wings of a Century" Pageant of Transportation

Scene from "Wings of a Century" Pageant

The "Wings of a Century" was an elaborate outdoor pageant telling the double story of the century's progress in transportation running side by side with "America's hundred-year march from a small pioneer nation to a leader in world affairs." The pageant was enacted on a huge triple stage, 175 feet long and 170 feet deep. The front part of the stage was a level road with sunken railroad tracks on which trains and vehicles could cross. The main part of the stage rose behind the road and was used for scenes involving people, animals, and smaller vehicles. The rear part of the stage was a boat runway where boats moved on trucks against the backdrop of the lake. There were 150 performers, 10 trains, early automobiles, boats, and a model of the Wright brothers' plane. The final scene was a "trip to Mars."

Sources

The Burlington... and A Century of Progress. Souvenir of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and Associated Lines.
Official World's Fair Weekly :
Vol. 1 No. 5, "Progress on Wheels and Keels." The Wings of a Century pageant.
Vol. 1 No. 8, "Speed and Power on Rails." Vol. 1 No. 25, "Farewell to Friends." British and Mexican trains leave.
Website: Pioneer Zephyr—Museum of Science and Industry

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