page_title: Nebraska Zephyr
section_title: Equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Nebraska Zephyr / Equipment
caption_attribution_description: A closeup of the articulation used on the Nebraska Zephyr, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum.
context_page_description: The Nebraska Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago, Illinois; Omaha, Nebraska; and Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1947 to 1971. Until 1968, the service was provided by two Twin Cities Zephyr articulated trainsets — the "Train of the Gods" and "Train of the Goddesses" — that became synonymous with it. The Nebraska Zephyr was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971. The "Train of the Goddesses" set is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois.
context_section_description: The twin Nebraska Zephyr trainsets were built in 1936 by the Budd Company as the second pair of Twin Zephyrs, built for service between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul, both of which had cars named for classical deities. One trainset was known as the "Train of the Goddesses" and its cars were named Venus, Vesta, Minerva, Psyche, Ceres, Diana, and  Juno. The other trainset was known as the "Train of the Gods" and its cars were named Apollo, Mars, Neptune, Cupid, Vulcan, Mercury, and Jupiter. Each consist included the following cars: cocktail lounge, two 60-seat coaches, a coach-dinette, dining car, a parlor car, and a parlor-observation car. Early typical motive power for these trains was provided by a pair of shovel-nose diesels named Pegasus (CB&Q #9904) and Zephyrus (CB&Q 9905).
  In their original configuration the two parlor cars, Diana and Mercury, had 19 seats and a private drawing room. In 1942, prior to the sets entering service as the Nebraska Zephyr, 42 standard seats replaced the parlor seats. The Burlington added two new baggage cars, the Argo and Olympus, to the trains in February 1948. Finally, cost-cutting in the 1960s led to several changes in the food service arrangements on the trains. In 1963 the Burlington removed the cocktail lounges from the Venus and Apollo, replacing them with 42 coach seats. In 1966 the dining cars Ceres and Vulcan were rebuilt as "cafeteria cars" featuring vending machines.
  The Burlington withdrew the sets from service in February 1968, though the Nebraska Zephyr continued to operate. The "Train of the Goddesses" arrived at the Illinois Railway Museum on September 21, 1968 and it has been in use by the museum since then; it is still operated on short runs on the Museum's substantial trackage, providing train enthusiasts and tourists with an experience reminiscent of the heyday of the Burlington's Zephyr service. Burlington sold the "Train of the Gods" to Saudi Arabia, where it operated into the 21st Century.
caption: A closeup of the articulation used between passenger cars on the Nebraska Zephyr trainset
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