by Janet Dawson
“Hey, you boys settle down. Don’t bump into Miss McLeod.” Ed Benson followed his sons out of the bedroom and grabbed one with each hand. “Come look out the window. In a few minutes we’re going to cross the South Platte River.”
“Where does it go?” Billy asked.
“Goes all the way to Nebraska, just like this train. Then it comes together with another river called the North Platte. After that, they just call it the Platte.”
Norma Benson stepped into the corridor and smiled at Jill. “They are way past their bedtime. Almost there.”
“Yes, we are. It’s been fun having you and the boys aboard.”
“Keeping things lively, that’s for sure.” Mrs. Benson glanced back. “Chip, your shoe’s untied. Sit still and let me tie that.”
A few steps down, Jill stopped and tapped on the door to bedroom A. Mrs. Tidsdale opened the door. Just beyond, Emily sat on the single chair, with Benny the Bear beside her, as she leaned over to close her pink overnight case.
“All ready to go?” Jill asked.
“Believe me, sweetie, I’m more than ready to get off this train,” Mrs. Tidsdale said.
“How’s your head? I do hope you’ll see a doctor as soon as possible.”
“I will. I have to deliver this envelope first.” Tidsy patted her hip.
Jill glanced down and saw, under the folds of Mrs. Tidsdale’s red silk dress, the outline of the envelope that was the cause of Dr. Kovacs’s death. “Who will you give it to?”
Tidsy crossed the bedroom and sat down on the bench seat, crossing her legs. She took her compact and lipstick from her red leather purse. “Robert Charlton. He was due to arrive from Washington today. He is, shall we say, a high-level government official. I’ve known him since my Washington days. Anyway, he’ll know what to do with the information. And prosecute those three…well, never mind. Emily doesn’t need to hear what I think of them.”
Jill turned to Emily. “Are you ready to see your grandma?”
Emily nodded, holding her bear. “I hope I like living in Denver.”
“I did, when I lived here during the war. I have lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins here. I come to visit them. So maybe next time I’m here, I can visit you.”
“That would be nice,” Emily said, hugging her teddy bear to her. “I just have my grandma, and Uncle Robert. I don’t think he’s married yet, so I don’t have any cousins.”
“You’ll be fine, sweetie.” Tidsy freshened her lipstick. She closed her compact with a snap. “You can build a snowman in your grandma’s yard. You can go ice skating and sledding in the mountains. And learn how to ski. Skiing is a lot of fun. I do that up in the Sierra Nevada, and I’ve even done it here, in Colorado.”
“What about you, Mrs. Tidsdale?” Jill asked. “Where are you staying in Denver?”
“Robert Charlton made a reservation for me at the Brown Palace. And I have an invitation to Christmas dinner with his family. Then on the twenty-seventh I’ll head back to San Francisco on the Zephyr."
Jill laughed. “Then I’ll see you after Christmas. I’ll be on that westbound train.”
———
The California Zephyr rumbled over the bridge across the South Platte River. The train slowed, moving through the Denver & Rio Grande Western yards. From the vestibule of the Silver Palace, Jill stood and looked out at Union Station, the tall Beaux-Arts building constructed of Colorado Yule marble that fronted Wynkoop Street at Seventeenth. Then the train turned to the north and pulled away from the station. It stopped, the whistle blew three times, and the Silver Lady backed slowly into place along the platform, positioning itself for its departure. Jill looked out the window and saw people crowding the platform, some there to greet the arriving passengers and others there to board the train.
“The crew is swapping out the engines, and that chair car with the broken Vista-Dome window.” Mr. Gaskill, the conductor, had joined her in the vestibule. “Well, Miss McLeod, it’s been an eventful trip. Here’s where I leave the train. I hope the run to Chicago is downright boring.”
She smiled. “So do I. Merry Christmas, Mr. Gaskill.”
As soon as the train stopped, the car porter opened the vestibule doors. Jill stepped down and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with cold air. The platform exploded with activity and noise as passengers left the train, hailing Red Caps and waving at family members.
She moved away from the vestibule as passengers exited the car. One of them was Alvah Webb. Under the cowboy hat, his face held a mixture of emotions, hope mingled with trepidation. He looked around, shifting his valise from one hand to another. Then he stopped. A young woman with a cloud of curly dark hair, bundled into a red wool coat, waved at him, calling, “Daddy? Daddy!” Alvah took a step. Then his daughter covered the rest of the distance and flung her arms around him. He dropped his valise and wrapped both arms around her. Then she stepped back and beckoned to the rangy young man who stood nearby, a sleeping infant on his shoulder and a little boy who stumbled drowsily near his father’s leg.
It will be all right, then, Jill thought.
Alvah’s daughter took her baby from her husband, who picked up the little boy and draped the child over his shoulder. Alvah reached for his valise and put his other arm around his daughter. Then he walked toward the station with his newly found family.
Jill turned and looked at the front of the train. The Denver & Rio Grande Western locomotives that had pulled the Silver Lady over the Rocky Mountains had been uncoupled from the train, and now they moved forward. Once they were out of the way, and the damaged chair car switched out, three Chicago, Burlington & Quincy engines would back into place. Once coupled, the new locomotives would pull the Zephyr on the rest of her run, through the high plains of eastern Colorado, across the rich Midwestern farmlands of Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois, to the train’s final destination in Chicago.
Jill shivered. It was cold out here on the platform. She walked briskly past the diner where one of the cooks leaned out a window, having a smoke. She reached the Silver Gull just as Mike Scolari, wearing his battered leather jacket, carried his grandfather down the vestibule steps and settled him into the wheelchair. A group of people rushed over to greet them, hugging Mike and the old man.
Farther down the platform, Jill saw another wheelchair, this one with an elderly woman in a gray coat, hugging Emily. Grace Tidsdale stood nearby, pulling her mink jacket close against the evening chill, as she talked with a tall man who must be Robert Charlton, Emily’s uncle.
“Bye, Miss McLeod, bye! Merry Christmas.” Jill turned. Billy and Chip Benson were waving at her. Jill waved back. Then the Bensons, surrounded by members of their family, moved away from the train, heading down the platform to Union Station’s cavernous high-ceilinged central waiting room, where checked baggage was collected.
“Gramps is right,” a voice said behind her. “I am a good catch.”
She turned and smiled at Mike. “We’ll see about that.”
“Hey, it’s cold out here on this platform. You’d better get aboard and get tucked into bed in your compartment.”
“No bed for me, not just yet,” Jill said. “I have to work on my trip report before I get to sleep. It’s going to be quite a long report, given everything that’s happened today.”
“When you do get to sleep, sweet dreams.” Mike leaned down and kissed her.
Jill shivered, and not just because of the cold. “Mr. Scolari, you shouldn’t do that. The conductor might see you. I’m not supposed to get familiar with the passengers.”
“When we get back to San Francisco, I won’t be a passenger, and you’ll be my girl. Until then, Merry Christmas, Miss McLeod.”
She watched him walk back along the platform to where his grandfather sat in his wheelchair, surrounded by members of the Scolari clan. Then she climbed the steps to the vestibule of the Silver Palisade, where Frank Nathan waited, ready to shut the door.
The conductor walked by, a big man with his pocket watc
h in his hand, a Chicago, Burlington & Quincy insignia on his billed cap. His voice echoed along the platform.
“Now boarding, the California Zephyr. Destination Chicago, with stops in Akron, McCook, Hastings, Lincoln, Omaha, Ottumwa, Burlington, Galesburg…”
Author's Note and Acknowledgments
Death Rides the Zephyr required a great deal of research—train trips, interviews, and lots of time spent climbing around on old railroad cars. I even took a locomotive for a spin.
When writing about a historical period or a particular subject, I strive to be accurate in conveying information. I worked hard to make this book as accurate as possible, though I may have tweaked facts from time to time for the sake of plot, characters, and a good story. Any errors are my own.
Many thanks to Camille Minichino for explaining theoretical physics to this layperson.
My heartfelt thanks go to two of the Zephyrettes who worked aboard the historical streamliner known as the California Zephyr. Cathy Moran Von Ibsch was a Zephyrette in the late 1960s and rode the Silver Lady on her last run. Rodna Walls Taylor rode the rails as a Zephyrette in the early 1950s, the time period of the book. I greatly appreciate their generosity in answering my many questions. I couldn’t have written this book without them.
In 2010 I was a passenger on a special excursion train to and from Portola, California, via the Feather River Canyon. My thanks to Fred Isaac for helping me make this journey. The famed and scenic Feather River Route was part of the Western Pacific Railroad portion of the California Zephyr. I took advantage of this wonderful opportunity to see what the passengers of the original CZ saw on their journey through the Sierra Nevada. This route has been primarily traversed by freight traffic since the old CZ ceased operations, so traveling the canyon on a passenger car was a treat. My accommodations for that trip were aboard the Pacific Sands, a 1950 Budd 10/6 Pullman sleeper built for the Union Pacific, a car very much like those that traveled on the CZ.
Several of my fellow Pacific Sands passengers and I have since referred to ourselves as the Pullman Pals and we’ve taken another trip aboard the car. So here’s to the Pullman Pals: Roger Morris, Glenn Stocki, Leland House, and Nancy Struck. Particular thanks go to Roger Morris and Glenn Stocki, both railfans, who have been quick to answer my many train-related questions, and thanks again to Roger for the wonderful cover art.
I would also like to thank Doug Spinn, owner of the Pacific Sands, for those wonderful trips aboard this vintage Pullman sleeper. Learning firsthand the layout of a Pullman car was important in writing this book. The car is part of the LA Rail consortium of private rail cars. Read more about it at the LA Rail website: http://www.larail.com/cars/pacificsands.html.
Thanks to Roy J. Wullich II, owner of the Silver Solarium, for tours of this vintage dome observation car from the original California Zephyr; the dome chair car, the Silver Lariat; and the transcontinental sleeper, the Silver Rapids. Find out more at the Rail Journeys West website: http://www.railjourneyswest.com/
silversolarium.html.
We are fortunate to have railroad museums to preserve the remaining artifacts of this country’s rail era, particularly the streamliners like the California Zephyr. Both the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, California, and the Colorado Railroad Museum, Golden, Colorado, have excellent research libraries as well as rail cars and locomotives. The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California, is a treasure house of rolling stock.
The California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento is part of the state’s extensive park system. I would like to thank Cara J. Randall, Librarian, and Kathryn Santos, Archivist, at the museum’s library. Thanks also go to two people from the State Department of Parks and Recreation: Pati Brown, District Services Manager, Capital District State Museums and Historic Parks; and Phil Sexton, Director of Public Programs, Sacramento History and Railroad Sector. To find out more about this wonderful museum, here is the website: http://www.csrmf.org. Plan a trip to Sacramento, go to Old Town, and climb around on locomotives and rail cars, including a sleeper car that moves and a dining car with tables set with railway china.
At the Colorado Railroad Museum, my thanks go to Kenton Forrest, Archivist, and Kathy McCardwell, Archivist and Librarian, at the Robert W. Richardson Railroad Library, which is located on the museum site. To find out more, go to: http://coloradorailroadmuseum.org. Pay a visit and climb around on the trains.
Thank you to Gail McClure and Loren Ross, two of the “willing people” at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California. This museum dedicated to the WP is the location of several cars in my fictional train consist, including WP locomotive 805-A; the Silver Hostel, the dome lounge car; and the Silver Plate, the dining car. The WPRM is also the site of the Run-A-Locomotive program, and I highly recommend it. Read more about it at http://www.wplives.org.
Thanks also to Eugene Vicknair, Zephyr Project Manager of the Feather River Rail Society. Find out more about this organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Western Pacific Railroad, at http://www.wplives.org/frrs.html.
The Internet provides a wealth of resources, including boards and listservs for dedicated railfans. Among these are Train Orders at http://www.trainorders.com. Many thanks to Bruce Yelen, who provided me with first-hand knowledge of the inside of a California Zephyr dome observation car, having worked on the restoration of the Silver Crescent at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami, Florida. For more information on that car, see http://gcrm.org/index.php/exhibits/silver-crescent.
My thanks to several members of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Yahoo group for answering my questions about train operations on the Main Line Through the Rockies. These include Jerry Day, Jimmy Blouch, John Templeton, Duane Cook, Tom Krummell, Bob Huddleston, and Glenn Leasure.
I recommend the California Zephyr Virtual Museum at http://calzephyr.railfan.net. Here I found old timetables, menus, and brochures, as well as information on the Zephyrettes.
The Amtrak version of the California Zephyr is not the same as the sleek Silver Lady of days gone by. But it’s great to ride a train through most of the same route, getting an up-close look at this marvelous country. The journey may take longer, but the scenery is spectacular and the relaxation factor is 110 percent. Besides, unless you hike in, there’s no other way to see Gore Canyon.
Publications:
Portrait of a Silver Lady: The Train They Called the California Zephyr, Bruce A. McGregor and Ted Benson, Pruett Publishing Company, Boulder, CO, 1977. Full of beautiful photographs, lots of history and technical information, and first-hand accounts of what it was like to work on this train.
CZ: The Story of the California Zephyr, Karl R. Zimmerman, Quadrant Press, Inc., 1972. Excellent overview of the train’s history, with lots of old photographs.
Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America, Henry Kisor, Adams Media Corporation, 1994. An account of Kisor’s journey westward on the Amtrak California Zephyr.
Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service, James McCommons, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2009. A thought-provoking account of the author’s travels on various Amtrak routes and his interviews with passengers, employees, rail advocates, and people in the railroad business, with discussions about the future of passenger rail in the United States.
A Guidebook to Amtrak’s California Zephyr, Eva J. Hoffman, Flashing Yellow Guidebooks, Evergreen, CO, 2003, 2008. There are three volumes: Chicago to Denver, Denver to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City to San Francisco. I discovered these courtesy of a railfan while riding the Amtrak CZ. A detailed milepost-by-milepost guide to what’s outside the train window, with history and anecdotes thrown in. A useful resource for finding out how far it is from one place to another and how long it takes to get there.
Rising from the Rails, Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class, Larry Tye, Henry Holt & Company, 2004. There is also a PBS video. The book discusses the history of the Pullman Company, African Americans worki
ng on the railroad, and their legacy.
The Pullman Porters and West Oakland, Thomas and Wilma Tramble, Arcadia Publishing, 2007. A look at the lives of porters in Oakland, California. Full of wonderful photographs.
Readers familiar with the Rosenberg case will note that Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were actually executed on June 19, 1953. At the time the novel takes place, the execution date had been set for January 11, 1953. The Rosenbergs were granted a stay of execution on January 10. Several more dates were set and postponed before the executions were actually carried out.
The information on David Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg’s brother, his activities at Los Alamos, and his role in the espionage trial come from The Brother, the Untold Story of Atomic Spy David Greenglass and How He Sent his Sister, Ethel Rosenberg, to the Electric Chair, by Sam Roberts, Random House, 2001.
For an excellent overview of what it was like at Los Alamos, New Mexico during the Manhattan Project, I recommend 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos, Jennet Conant, Simon & Schuster, 2006.
Information on the Korean War comes from The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, David Halberstam, Hyperion, 2007. The story of how Gunnison, Colorado quarantined itself during the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu epidemic can be found in The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, John M. Barry, Viking Penguin, 2004.
Films:
The California Zephyr: The Story of America’s Most Talked About Train, Copper Media, 1999.
The California Zephyr: Silver Thread Through the West, TravelVideoStore, 2007.
The California Zephyr: The Ultimate Fan Trip, Emery Gulash, Green Frog Productions, Ltd., 2007.
American Experience: Streamliners: America’s Lost Trains, PBS Video, 2006.
Promotional films from the CZ and other trains are viewable on YouTube.
The original California Zephyr appeared on film in the 1954 movie Cinerama Holiday, as well as the 1952 noir Sudden Fear, starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance. During the train portion of that movie, a Zephyrette comes to Joan Crawford’s bedroom to tell her it’s time for her dinner reservation. That Zephyrette is Rodna Walls, whom I interviewed for this book.