Editing Pioneer Zephyr (section)

==Concept and construction==
[[File:In July 1984 Roger Puta photographed the CB&Q's Pioneer Zephyr (then it was outside Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry) during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of its historic non-stop (28975265392).jpg|left|thumb|The front of the ''Zephyr'' power car during the 50th anniversary celebration of its historic non-stop run]]
[[File:Zephyr_coach_on_flatcar_1935.JPG|left|thumb|A ''Zephyr'' coach on a flatcar at the Budd Company plant in Philadelphia]]
In the early 1930s, the [[Great Depression]] caused a catastrophic loss of business for American railroads. Passenger service had been losing ridership to automobile travel since the mid-1920s,{{sfn|Byron|2005|p=6}} making faster, more efficient service imperative for railroads to compete. Railroads needed to lower operating costs of passenger service and boost ridership with a more modern image for the traveling public, to restore profitability to passenger service.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web| publisher=PBS Online / WGBH| year=2000| url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_rbudd.html| title=American Experience / Streamliners / People & Events / Ralph Budd| access-date=February 22, 2005| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309160358/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_rbudd.html| archive-date=March 9, 2005}}</ref>

One of the railroad presidents who faced this challenge was [[Ralph Budd]], formerly of the [[Great Northern Railway (United States)|Great Northern Railway]] and from president of the [[Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad|Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] (the Burlington Route).{{sfn|Byron|2005|p=10}} In 1932, Budd met [[Edward G. Budd]] (no relation), an automotive steel pioneer who was founder and president of the [[Budd Company]] and demonstrating his new [[Budd-Michelin rubber-tired rail cars]] built of [[stainless steel]].{{sfn|Byron|2005|p=10}} Pneumatic-wheeled railcars never found popularity for actual service in the US &mdash; they tended to derail &mdash; but they demonstrated the successful construction of lightweight stainless steel [[unibody]] railcars. Some power-trailer car sets in that series [[Articulated vehicle|articulated]] with [[Jacobs bogie]]s shared between cars embodied the basic elements of car construction that would be used to build a lightweight streamliner train.<ref name="ASM">{{cite journal|publisher=American Society for Materials|title=The Burlington Zephyr stainless steel train|journal=Advanced Materials & Processes|date=June 2009|url=http://www.asminternational.org/documents/10192/1890734/amp16706p24.pdf/925a318e-db9a-4b14-8376-eb226361507c/AMP16706P24|access-date=June 29, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074148/http://www.asminternational.org/documents/10192/1890734/amp16706p24.pdf/925a318e-db9a-4b14-8376-eb226361507c/AMP16706P24|url-status=live}}</ref>

Stainless steel provided many benefits over traditional wood and hardened steel for railroad carbodies; it was a lighter and stronger material, and its natural silver appearance and resistance to [[corrosion]] meant that it would not have to be painted to protect it from the weather. Since the carbody was much lighter than similar cars, it would be able to carry a higher revenue load for the same cost.<ref name="PBS"/><ref name="ASM" />

In developing the Budd-Michelin railcars, the Budd Company used the formed steel technology in which they were industry pioneers and solved the most difficult problem in using stainless steel for railcar construction: developing a welding technique that would not compromise the strength and corrosion resistance of the stainless steel. On August 20, 1932, [[Earl J. Ragsdale]], an engineer at the Budd Company, filed a patent application for a "Method and product of electric welding"; on January 16, 1934, the [[United States Patent & Trademark Office]] (USPTO) granted US patent 1,944,106 to the Budd Company.<ref name="patent 1944106">{{ref patent| country=US |number=1944106 |status=patent |title=Method and product of electric welding |pubdate= |gdate=1934-01-15 |fdate=December 12, 1933 |pridate= |invent1=Earl J. W. Ragsdale |invent2= |assign1=Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company |assign2= |class= }}</ref> [[shot welding|Shotwelding]], as Ragsdale termed his method,{{sfn|Byron|2005|p=9}} involved automatic control of the timing of individual [[spot welding|spot welds]]. In spot welding, the two pieces of metal that are to be joined are pressed together with an [[electrode]] on each side of the joint. A very high electric current is passed through the joint and fuses the two pieces of metal together.{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=19}} If a spot weld is heated too long, heat will spread from the weld at a middling temperature that weakens the stainless steel and compromises its corrosion-resistant properties unacceptably; Ragsdale's precisely-timed welds solved the problem.<ref name="ASM"/><ref>{{cite magazine| title=Pioneer without Profit| magazine=Fortune| date=February 1937| page=130}}</ref>

The articulated design of some Budd-Michelin cars, with [[bogie|trucks]] shared between adjacent cars, presented another opportunity for weight saving with the new train.{{sfn|Johnston|Welsh|Schafer|2001|p=20}} On conventional passenger cars, each carbody rode upon a pair of trucks (pivot-mounted wheel-axle assembly), with one truck at each end. The articulation not only reduced the number of trucks under the train, but it also dispensed with the need for [[Railway coupling|couplers]] between each of the carbodies, further reducing the train's weight. The concept was used by Budd engineer Walter B. Dean to build a train consisting of three semi-permanently attached cars.{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=25}} However, this also meant that individual cars could not be removed from or added to the trainset easily, either to adjust to demand or to make repairs to an individual car without sidelining the entire train.{{Sfn|Schafer|Welsh|2002|p=19}}

Budd was familiar with the development of stationary diesel engines, and believed their superior reliability and fuel economy could be an asset for train transport as well. He brought his idea to the [[Winton Engine Company]] (a [[General Motors]] subsidiary), and together they designed and produced a new 660 horsepower (490&nbsp;kW) engine small enough to fit inside a train, solving the question of propulsion.{{Sfn|Schafer|Welsh|2002|p=12}}

The exterior design of the train was left to [[aeronautics|aeronautical]] engineer [[Albert Gardner Dean]] (Walter Dean's younger brother) who designed the sloping nose shape, with [[architects]] [[Paul Philippe Cret]] and [[John Harbeson]], devising a way to strengthen and beautify the sides with the train's horizontal fluting.{{sfn|Johnston|Welsh|Schafer|2001|p=16}}{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=24}} On April 15, 1936, Colonel Ragsdale, Walter Dean and Albert Dean, filed patent applications for a "Rail Car Front End Construction". On September 23, 1941, the USPTO granted US patents 2,256,493<ref>{{ref patent| country=US |number=2256493 |status=patent |title=Rail car front end construction |pubdate= |gdate=1941-09-23 |fdate=1936-04-15 |pridate= |invent1=Earl J. W. Ragsdale |invent2=Albert G. and Walter P. Dean |assign1=Budd Manufacturing Company |assign2= |class= }}</ref> and 2,256,494<ref>{{ref patent |country=US |number=2256494 |status=patent |title=Rail car front end construction |pubdate= |gdate=1941-09-23 |fdate=1936-04-15 |pridate= |invent1=Earl J. W. Ragsdale |invent2=Albert G. Dean |assign1=Budd Manufacturing Company |assign2= |class= }}</ref> to the Budd Company. The streamlining extended to the undercarriage as well to reduce drag.<ref name= "ASM"/>

Budd took the task of naming the train very seriously. He wanted a name that started with the letter ''Z'' because this train was intended to be the "last word" in passenger service; Budd and his coworkers looked up the last words in their dictionaries, but neither ''zymurgy'' nor ''zyzzle'' conveyed the meanings that Budd was looking for. While the word "zephyr" had seen previous use{{refn|group=A|for instance, [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] used the word in his 1611 play ''[[Cymbeline]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/zephyr | title=Definition of ZEPHYR }}</ref>}}, Budd found his inspiration in ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', which he had been reading. The story begins with pilgrims setting out on a journey, inspired by the budding springtime and by [[Zephyrus]], the gentle and nurturing west wind. Budd thought that would be an excellent name for a sleek new traveling machine—''Zephyr''.<ref name="PBS" />{{sfn|Kisor|1994|p=16}}{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=29}}

The first ''Zephyr'' (9900) was completed by the Budd Company on April 9, 1934.<ref name="Gordon-Gilmore" />{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=26}}

The first car, which measured {{convert|71|ft|5|in|m}}, contained the cab, engine compartment and a mail storage area. The train's engineer sat in a small compartment in the nose of the train, directly in front of the [[Prime mover (locomotive)|prime mover]]. The main generator was mounted to the prime mover and sat between the engineer's and fireman's seats in the front of the power car. Behind the engine in the power car was a {{convert|19|ft|m|adj=mid|long}} storage-mail compartment.  The second car, measuring {{convert|57|ft|8|in|m|1}} long, was a combination {{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on}} long express, checked baggage and [[railway post office]] section, followed by a short buffet and 20-passenger [[Coach (rail)|coach]] section. The third and final car in the train, measuring {{convert|63|ft|6|in|m}} long as originally built, was configured as half coach (40-passenger seats) and half [[observation car]] (12 passenger seats). As built, the train had 72 seats and could carry 50,000 [[pound (mass)|pounds]] (22.7 [[tonne]]s) of baggage and express freight.<ref>All specs from {{harvnb|Byron|2005|p=23}}</ref> After a series of demonstration runs, the trainset was named the ''Burlington Zephyr'' on April 18, 1934, at the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]'s [[Broad Street Station (Philadelphia)|Broad Street Station]] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{sfn|Zimmermann|2004|p=32}}{{sfn|Byron|2005|p=39}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Oj-J5kHSM|title=The Burlington Zephyr: First Look, April 1934|date=January 6, 2018 |via=www.youtube.com|access-date=June 1, 2019|archive-date=February 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229042416/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Oj-J5kHSM|url-status=live}}</ref> As the first of several ''Zephyr'' trainsets built for Burlington, the original trainset was renamed the ''Pioneer Zephyr'' once additional named trainsets entered service.{{sfn|Johnston|Welsh|Schafer|2001|p=16}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px" caption="Interiors of ''Pioneer Zephyr''">
File:Pioneer Zephyr, driver's controls.jpg|Cab with controls in the power car
File:Pioneer Zephyr, engine.jpg|The engine in the power car
File:Pioneer Zephyr, RPO section.jpg|The [[railway post office|RPO]] section in the power car
File:Burlington Zephyr coach.jpg|Seats in the open coach
File:20211211 Pioneer Zephyr observation interior.jpg|Observation lounge in the rear car
</gallery>