Greetings,
Hoping everyone is enjoying their Christmas holidays with family and staying warm.
I am curious to know whether the original, steamlined, single-headlight Pioneer Zephyr ever had a flashing headlight on the rear observation car traveling forward?
Or, was it primarily only used as a headlight when backing up?
Thanks,
Tom
From what I understand the Mars lights were added in 1948 presumably to both ends:
Pioneer Zephyr by emd, on Flickr
As built I’ve only seen a single white “backup” light on the roof of the obs.
9903 shown here:
https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/62463/rec/931
Note the “marker lights” can only be effectively seen from the sides?
Regards, Ed
Thanks for the reply, Ed. That concurs with the information that I’ve been able to find on the internet.
The original observation-lounge car was outfitted with marker lights so I would presume that that was adequate at the time for illuminating the rear of the car. I also looked at some original footage of the 1934 promotional run and couldn’t see the few shots of the single rear headlight either illuminated or flashing.
Tom
Here’s a good “as built” look at the observation end (thousands of photos of the shovelnose but few “going away” shots):
https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/63257/rec/1049
Interesting to note the variations of the following “Zephyr” trainsets and 99xx locomotives. Pictures I’ve seen of the 9907 as built seem to show a Mars Light on the head end but other engines in the same series do not. Also the later models were actually individual locomotives that could be MUed with other engines.
9907 and “matching” B unit:
https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/62480/rec/1015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Zephyr
Happy Holodays —
Regards, Ed
In researching Tom’s question, I came across the following website on railway preservation. It details the history of the 9900 series of locomotive.
http://www.rypn.org/rypn_files/editorials/Editorials/zephyr/
I cannot help answer the question about the rear light on the Pioneer Zephyr, but it would seem that since the original Zephyr, and some others that followed, only had a single non-rotating headlight that the same would be true for the single rear light. Once the MARS light was added front and rear following some mishaps involving vehicles and pedestrians, and the MARS lights did oscillate, I think that offers further credence to the belief that the single rear light did not rotate or oscillate.
Rich
In case you have a couple of million dollars lying around there is a car rebuilder and seller of passenger cars in western Illinois that has a complete Mark Twain zephyr for sale. i am surprised it hasn’t been cut up as it has been for sale for several years.
I don’t know if the following article deals with the same Mark Twain Zephyr train that you are referring to, but this one sold in 2020.
http://www.rtabern.com/mtz/2020history3.html
Rich
Presuming the above is the same buyer (WGNR), there is a number of YouTube videos showing the Mark Twain being restored, up through Jan '22. And, apparently, they have her close to being ready because their website shows that rides are “coming in 2023!”
https://spoonertrainride.com/mark-twain-zephyr
Lord willing, that comes to fruition. I would definitely drive from OH to WI to take a ride on that one! [:P]
Tom