Email:
Password:
Register

Knowledgerush Search

Search for images of Streamliner

Community Members
Bipula	Sacred F…	tsiboe
daniel b…	merlinda	Richard …
Lenka	king1	ezrelee

Welcome

Publish Image - Publish Soapbox - Publish Poem
My Stuff - Change My Profile and Settings
Message Boards - Post a New Topic
All Poems - All Soapbox

Streamliner

A streamliner is a vehicle that incorporates streamlining to produce a shape that provides less resistance to air, and is more pleasing to the eye. The term is usually applied to trains, mostly the high-speed trainsets designed in the United States in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, as well as successor bullet trains incorporating some of the same ideas in Europe and Japan.

The Burlington Zephyr in April, 1934 ()

Two early streamliners were the Union Pacific M-10,000 (later renamed The City of Salina) and the Burlington Zephyr. Design of the Zephyr (later named the Pioneer Zephyr to distinguish it) started first, although the train took longer to build because of a more advanced design incorporating a diesel-electric power system, while the M-10,000 ran on gasoline. These trains were much lighter than the common engines and passenger cars of the day, as they were constructed using stainless steel. Both trains (not yet completed) were star attractions at the 1933 World's Fair ("A Century of Progress") in Chicago, Illinois.

On May 26, 1934, the Zehpyr made a record-breaking "Dawn to Dusk" run from Denver, Colorado to Chicago. The train covered the distance in 13 hours, reaching a top speed of 112.5 miles per hour (181.1 km/h) and running an average speed of 77.6 mph (124.9 km/h). The fuel cost for the run was US$14.64 (However, if a similar run was made in 2004, it would cost more like $550-600.)

For a time in the late 1930s, the ten fastest trains in the world were American streamliners.

External links

Pioneer Zephyr at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
The Lost Promise of the American Railroad. The Wilson Quarterly (on the Internet Archive)

References

Streamliners: America's Lost Trains – The American Experience

License

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Streamliner".

History

View article history.

Start a Discussion, Reply, or Add Information

Consider sharing your essay or research on this topic. Others will benefit from your knowledge.