Exposition Flyer's first ascent of the
Rockies,
June 11, 1939.
Richard
H. Kindig Photo
James L. Ehernberger Collection
Exposition Flyer ascends West
Burlington, IA Hill in March, 1940.
Hank Kuepper Photo
David Lotz Collection
THE EXPOSITION FLYER
Inaugurated on June 10th, 1939, the new Chicago to San Francisco Exposition
Flyer was intended to be a temporary train to cater to tourists
visiting the Golden Gate International Exposition, however lasted until
the inauguration of the California Zephyr in 1949. The lavish
fair, located on the man-made Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay drew
enough passenger trade for the CB&Q-D&RGW-WP combined train that
it became credible competition for the Union Pacific-Southern Pacific
Overland Route. This was the first through train over the combined
route, made possible by the Rio Grande's Dotsero Cutoff which saved
150-miles over a circuitous route through the Royal Gorge. Many
regard the Exposition Flyer as the train that inspired the famous California
Zephyr. In fact, starting in 1948, when the new CZ cars were
delivered, they were first used on the Exposition Flyer.
The train's
original consist provided a variety of accommodations: Pullmans (some
coast-to-coast), tourist sleepers, reclining chair cars, a diner and a
fine observation-lounge car for Pullman passengers. Even pre-war
Budd stainless steel equipment made appearances on the Expo.
However, we've decided to do this train as an all-heavyweight train and do
the pre-war Budd cars in a later project. We are producing a
basic eight-car set with equipment that was utilized throughout it's
career, but with the Pullman 10-section lounge/observation that was used
during the war years. We are then offering add-on sets to allow you
to choose the diner and observation cars for your favorite railroad as
well as additional standard Pullman cars that were used on the Expo.
While we
have already selected the cars we are offering, we
still invite you to provide input via email
into the motive power you would like to see us do.
The
Exposition Flyer was a train of leisurely grace, was full of amenities
and capitalized above all else on scenery. Railway Classics is proud
to produce this classic train in HO scale for the discriminating modeler
and collector.
Exposition Flyer Brochure
Exposition Flyer christening by
Misses Treasure Island, Feather River Canyon, Salt Lake City, Denver
and Chicago - CB&Q Photo
