#kansas city zephyr

[aryburn-trains]

1953 Kansas City Zephyr (Update to 2016 gif) Chicago to Kansas City Burlington Route The consist includes an E7A, a baggage RPO, two 50-seat coaches, a dome coach lounge, a dining car and a dome parlor observation car. The gifs used were made by me and can be found at the link below. They have my name in the description. http://kenstransitgifs.com/gifindex.html

[joeygallagher]

Joey Miserable and the Worms

Artwork by Andrew Witten aka Zephyr (1985)

[zponds]

mirabelle: why is it that the Burlington Route absorbed the Kansas City Southern in Zachery’s alternative history?

Howdy, Mirabelle. I’ll happily tell ya, partner.

When looking at these maps of the Burlington Route and the Kansas City Southern, both territories meet each other in two cities; Kansas City, Missouri… and Dallas, Texas. And in my alternative history; “What-If: American Railroads”, when the Burlington Route absorbs Kansas City Southern, CB&Q creates a new Zephyr; the New Orleans Zephyr, and this new Zephyr runs between New Orleans, Kansas City and Dallas.

[bushdog]

RARE 1958 Epiphone Gibson-Made Zephyr Regent Thinline E312T Electric - – Kansas City Vintage Guitars

[collinthenychudson]

Day 16: Union Pacific 844

Information from Wikipedia:

Union Pacific 844, also known as the "Living Legend", is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF Series locomotives and the only one in operation.

The locomotive operated in revenue service until 1959. It was stored while awaiting scrapping, along with the rest of the UP steam locomotive fleet. In 1960, railroad leaders recognized the benefits of having a steam program and retained No. 844 for special activities, the kernel of what has become the Union Pacific's heritage fleet. Today, it is one of UP's oldest serving locomotives and the only steam locomotive owned by a North American Class I railroad that has never been retired.

In 1944, Union Pacific and the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) collaborated on the FEF-3, a class of 10 locomotives designed to pull passenger trains at 90 mph. The FEF-3 could reach and regularly run at 120 mph; one locomotive reportedly pulled a 1,000-ton passenger train at 100 mph. All FEF classes were considered by the Union Pacific to be capable of producing between 4,000 and 5,000 drawbar horsepower.

The FEF-3 class represented the apex of dual-service steam locomotive development; funds and research were being concentrated into the development of diesel-electric locomotives. Originally designed to burn coal, they were converted to run on fuel oil in 1946. Like the earlier FEF-1 and FEF-2 classes, the FEF-3 locomotives were ultimately reassigned to freight service.

UP 844 was the last steam locomotive delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad, constructed as a member of the FEF-3 class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type locomotives. Upon its entry into service, the locomotive spent most of its career pulling a variety of passenger trains, such as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger. From 1957 to 1959, UP 844 was reassigned to fast freight service in Nebraska when diesel-electric locomotives took over passenger service.

After commercial steam operations ended in 1959, the 844 and the rest of the FEF-3 class was placed into storage. Saved from scrapping in 1960, No. 844 was chosen for rebuilding and is now used on company and public excursion trains, along with hauling revenue freight trains during ferry moves.

Since 1960, No. 844 has run hundreds of thousands of miles as Union Pacific's publicity locomotive. The locomotive often pulled the annual Denver Post-sponsored Cheyenne Frontier Days train that ran round-trip from Cheyenne to Denver every July before it was discontinued in early 2019.

It appeared at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington; the 1978 dedication of the Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden, Utah; the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans; and the 50th anniversary celebration of Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1989, when it performed a side-by-side run with Southern Pacific 4449. On February 14, 1975, it pulled Amtrak's San Francisco Zephyr from Denver, Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming with a pair of EMD SDP40Fs. In 1981, it traveled to the opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, along with Union Pacific 3985, which had recently been restored to operational condition.

Over the weekend of October 14, 1990, No. 844 led a procession of special trains from Kansas City Union Station to Abilene, Kansas for World War II veterans to celebrate the 100th birthday of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The "Eisenhower Centennial Special" was composed of cars from the Union Pacific, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway business fleets, with additional passenger cars provided by the Norfolk Southern and Chicago and North Western railroads. Also present in Abilene was General Eisenhower's command train, code-named "Bayonet", including the British A4 steam locomotive No. 60008 and communication and staff cars from WWII's European Theater of Operations.

After the end of the 1991 excursion season, 844 was put in the shop for a major running gear overhaul in addition to other repairs. During that time, 844 was repainted from the passenger greyhound scheme to the freight black. It emerged from the shop in 1996.

On June 21, 1997, on the way to the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS)'s annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, 844 and Union Pacific's Executive E units pulled 18 passenger cars on the Union Pacific's soon-to-close Tennessee Pass line, which included tracks on a narrow canyon shelf along the Arkansas River.

On June 24, 1999, while on display during RailFair '99, one of the 844's boiler tubes failed, and the locomotive was subsequently towed dead back to Cheyenne by the recently-overhauled No. 3985. The tube was found to have been made of the wrong material during the overhaul in 1996, a discovery that prompted the replacement of the firebox in a complete overhaul that lasted from September 2001 to 2004. On September 9, 2004, the UP steam crew successfully test-fired the 4-8-4. It returned to operating service on November 10, 2004.

On May 18–19, 2007, No. 844 teamed with Southern Pacific 4449 to pull the "Puget Sound Excursion", a round trip from Tacoma to Everett on BNSF Railway tracks.

On June 25 and 26, 2010, it made an excursion trip to Milliken, Colorado's centennial celebration.

In September 2012, the locomotive was used in "UP 150", a celebration of Union Pacific's 150th anniversary celebration, hosted by the California State Railroad Museum. During that time, it also stopped at Walsenburg, Colorado for a night photo session, parked next to ex-Lake Superior and Ishpeming 2-8-0 “consolidation” 18, which was operated by the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad at the time, before that line was shut down.

In June 2013, the locomotive's gyrating Mars Light, installed in 1946, was removed because its mounting bolts had deteriorated. It was also announced that year that the 844 and 3985 would eventually be joined by a third steam locomotive: Big Boy No. 4014.

After the 2013 season, the locomotive was taken out of service for boiler work required by a change in the water treatment. It spent 2014 in Cheyenne, then received an early 15-year inspection the following year.

On June 16 and 17, 2016, the 844 was test-fired. On July 12, 2016, the Union Pacific Steam Team took the locomotive on a "break-in run" as a sort of all-systems check and dress rehearsal for its return to service. The run was described as a complete success. On July 23, 2016, it pulled the annual Cheyenne Frontiers Day excursion.

On October 13, 2016, the Union Pacific Steam Team started its 18-day "Trek To Tennessee" journey: the restored 844's first major trip.

In April 2017, No. 844 made its first run on the Oregon Short Line Railroad to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the Boise Union Pacific Depot. Because of heavy snows and a wet spring, the trip was cut short and the engine had to run light across the Malad River because of a washed-out bridge.

In December 2018, Union Pacific requested Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) waivers to exempt UP Nos. 844, 3985 and 4014 from federal Positive Train Control (PTC) requirements in February 2019, the FRA officials responded that such waivers were not needed.

On May 4, 2019, No. 844 participated in the inaugural run of the newly-restored Big Boy No. 4014. The train departed the historic Cheyenne Depot following a christening ceremony for No. 4014. The two locomotives arrived at the Ogden Union Station on May 9 for the city's Heritage Festival. The two locomotives were on display at the station until May 12, when the return trip to Cheyenne began. They arrived at Cheyenne on May 19, concluding the first run of No. 4014 in excursion service.

As of January 2020, Nos. 844 and 4014 are the only two operational UP steam locomotives left on the active roster, following the retirement of No. 3985 from excursion service due to its poor mechanical condition. No. 3985 was eventually donated to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America on April 28, 2022. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, UP cancelled all of its 2020 steam excursions and stated that Nos. 844 and 4014 would not operate for the 2020 operating season. UP eventually resumed excursion operations with No. 4014 in August and September 2021. No future excursions have thus far been scheduled for No. 844.

From 1962 to 1989, the locomotive was numbered UP 8444 because the railroad had given the number 844 to an EMD GP30 locomotive. After the GP30 was retired from active service in June 1989, No. 8444 was renumbered back to 844. That GP30 is now owned by Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nevada, and operates periodically at the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum on excursion runs. There is now an EMD SD70ACe on the UP roster numbered 8444.

On July 21, 2018, while pulling the Cheyenne Frontier Days Special to Denver, Colorado, No. 844 struck and killed a pedestrian in Henderson, Colorado. It was reported that the pedestrian was trying to take photos of the train while standing too close to the tracks before she was hit. The train was stopped immediately following the accident.

UP 844 was documented in the 1981 film "Eighty Four Forty Four" by the Union Pacific Railroad. Some of those clips would be later used for the opening and closing credits of the PBS show Shining Time Station, which ran from 1989 until 1995 (including the four hour-long Family Specials).

UP 844 also appears in Extreme Trains in the episode "Steam Train", in which it pulled the Frontier Days special from Denver to Cheyenne.

UP 844 also makes an appearance in the 2nd Episode of the 3rd Season on the TLC TV series, Mostly True Stories?: Urban Legends Revealed.

In the 1990 PBS special Ghost Trains of the Old West, UP 8444, as it was numbered at the time of filming, is seen pulling a Union Pacific diesel locomotive and passenger train through Wyoming.

UP 844 (and several other restored steam locomotives) appear in the music video with the Pat Metheny Group's "Last Train Home".

The 2014 short film "Locomotive Song" features UP 844—particularly its running gear—accompanied by the song of the same name by boogie-woogie pianist Honey Piazza.

models and route by: Trainz-Forge, Auran, and Download Station

[p1lgrim]

Midnight Radio

Dear listeners, it is our time again While others sleep we dance and count the stars Our day is when a quiet blanket lies On city streets and country lanes and fields

But we are of this dark and subtle time Our senses more alert in waking dreams So let us set the past and future down What's on your mind? The night-time air is yours

Hey caller what is on your mind tonight? I do not know, I guess I'm really scared The air is yours, we listen, take your time The sun is far below us, all is dark

I feel I am enveloped by a night But not the fragile starlit one above It makes my eyes sit deep and stomach stir I have to pull my mind back all the time But back to what, what centre is for me? A post set in the ground to which I cling While all around me kansas zephyrs race A cackling witch on broomstick is my fear

What causes you to feel this way my friend? I just don't see why people disagree Why we are so at war - why not at love? Why wisdom hasn't suffocated greed Why we've invented ways to separate Put effort into killing, into war Where is our common sense of what is right? Where is the understanding that if we Can let go of our jealousy and fear Can act towards each other full of love....

I hear you friend I hear you loud and clear Our quiet night gives essence to your dream Good listeners, what is it we can do? What makes us so unable to be kind In every situation that we meet? Yes kindness, what is stopping it from being The universal law that we all keep? Would nationhood or ownership exist? Would we still kill to eat or need to steal?

Can you covet a neighbour whom you love? The devil tempted Eve so are we still Biting on that fruit when all along The gates of Eden have hidden in plain sight Would open for us once again if we Will let go of that devil in our mind And open up our hearts and take the key The lock would turn and as we stepped across The boundary between our thoughts and us We'd know that everything would be alright And we would count the stars and dance tonight and forever

[acefantasiesworld]

Fun fact about Zephyr

he owns one of the local saloons in town alongside his daughter Holly who is the co-owner and knows almost everybody in town that has come into the saloon, most of the people call him the sweet son/grandson of new kansas city

[marmarinou]

Caption: “Out on the double-track CB&Q mainline in north-central Illinois near Mendota, Illinois a Zephyr overtook the fantrip I was riding on March 21, 1965. The Zephyr was combined Trains 35 and 11, the Kansas City Zephyr and the Nebraska Zephyr, with an E7 up front and one of the two Nebraska Zephyr obs cars as the finishing touch. Both trains were westbound. The Zephyr had a station stop in Mendota at 12:22 p.m.”

Photos by Marty Bernard

[thefakeray]

Boy We Were Stupid by Marty Bernard Via Flickr: I count a dozen foamers up on that signal bridge. I was not that stupid, but I did climb on top of a box car once or twice. Roger Puta's photo is of a CB&Q 4960 fan trip being passed by Train 11-35, the Nebraska - Kansas City Zephyr, just east of Meriden, Ill. on March 20, 1966.

[guerrerense]

SILVER CHARGER por Joe McMillan Por Flickr: This photo is a little soft on focus, but it was the first and last time I ever saw one of these CB&Q Budd/General Motors-built power-cars in actual service. The date is June 3, 1957, 63 years ago. This train is just arriving at St. Louis Union Station in the morning. Unfortunately, I did not record the train number. The SILVER CHARGER, No. 9908, was built in 1939, the last of these "shovel-nose" units built for the Burlington. It was originally assigned as the power car on the GENERAL PERSHING ZEPHYR between Kansas City and St. Louis. Unlike the previous Zephyrs, the GPZ was completely non-articulated, each car was self-contained and joined to the next by couplers, rather than shared trucks. The 9908 had an A1A truck up front and a two-axle, non-powered trailing truck. After WWII, the 9908 could be found on any number of Burlington passenger trains. It lasted in service until 1966, following which it was donated to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, where it currently resides. Photo by Joe McMillan.

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1 Chapter 6

• It's YEEHAW time everyone!

• And also raise a middle finger to logic as we see the MC wear something that she should have probably lent to the Platinum MC for a country performance, rather than for farm work.

• There's also the bit where she randomly takes a pregnancy test coz she feels nauseous (yes I know. It's plot related and is probably done to show a false negative. But you need to time these things, MC! The best time to look for a double line is closer to the time you're supposed to be having your period, if your period is regular).

• Screenshot Credits:

Hana: @pixieferry

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan

Maxwell: The Abhirio YouTube channel.

• These are the tags you can block if you don't want to see these posts: #long post, #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs.

• Drake has an AUNT? Please don't give me any more family members, I'm done dealing with the ones he already has.

• I'm wondering if Leona exists so that PB can do some serious retconning on Bianca's behalf. After all, when she appeared in the Drake playthroughs of Book 3, there wasn't much of a positive reception for her - with some players even saying that the MC should have a few choice words to say to her - and for good reason.

• Title: Home, Home on the Range

So whatever little knowledge I do have about a place like Texas is from films and pop culture, so this might not be new information to you but it is to me! 😁 So I'm probably going to be a gazillion times more excited about sharing it than you guys might be to read it! Bear with me for a sec.

From what I'm reading, "Home, Home on the Range" seems to a western folk song that's so popular it's considered an unofficial anthem in that region. Its origin was from a poem called "My Western Home" from a Kansas native called Dr Brewster M Highly, in 1872 (it was even made Kansas' state song in 1945?). The lyrics are very...Drake:

Where the air is so pure, and the zephyrs so free,

The breezes so balmy and light,

That I would not exchange my home on the range,

For all of the cities so bright.

Mostly a very idyllic, glorified portrait of country life. You find similar sentiments in Drake's diamond scene this chapter.

• Alternative Title: We Just Needed An Excuse to Use the BSC Soundtrack Twice.

• So we meet Bianca, Drake's mother, this chapter. If you married him this is the second time you're seeing her, and if you married anyone else this is the first time and you have no clue who she is until Drake introduces her to you. She also mentions in the Drake playthrough that this is not the kind of welcome she was hoping to give her son and daughter-in-law.

• We also meet Leona, Bianca's older sister and Drake's aunt. She's extremely unimpressed with this group of nobles and largely seems to blame the nobility in general for whisking away her younger sister, leaving her alone to manage the ranch?

• She pretends not to listen much to Cordonian news while talking to Liam, but seems to have the time to keep up with Cordonian gossip while talking to us - and luckily you can call her out on it too.

• She seems the type that likes a rebellious Duchess/Queen, going by her responses to the more sarcastic options from the MC.

Hmm. This scene does two things: one, it establishes that the ranch is facing financial problems, in terms of money and staffing, and two, it possibly may build up to why Bianca had to return to the States. Both I think might become important points in the coming chapters.

• Bianca seems intent on not letting her children know anything about the fraught situation at her ranch, but Leona is having none of it. You either do your work and do it well, or she will put you through your paces. Which is exactly what is happening with Bertrand now.

• The whole theme of "we need to get pregnant, and fast" returns with the presence of Savannah, who greets us with a very excited, sociable Bartie in tow. You can choose to either pick him up and pay attention to him, ask Savannah to figure out what he wants, or ignore him completely. Whatever you choose, the topic of you becoming a mother will come up (either she comments on how you're a natural, or she will tell you that you'll eventually be able to read your own baby's signals). Savannah now joins a long, long line of people who will talk to us as if we're already pregnant (her fiancé will join this list in a couple minutes too, don't worry).

• Speaking of parents, the sole dad of the (extended) group - Bertrand - is nowhere to be found. Bianca is all praise, Leona is Unimpressed™, and Maxwell is shocked that the guy who swore never to touch fowl again after witnessing a flooded peacock enclosure is now chasing chickens. The group overall can't believe it.

• Bertrand is, in fact, chasing chickens.

• So here's the other issue that will come up. Having eventually convinced Savannah that he is serious about her and Bartie, he now wants to win the approval of the family. Bianca is more than ready to accept him, Leona is...Unimpressed™.

• This sets stage for Problem 3 of the Goings On at The Walker Ranch: Bertrand is desperate for approval and Leona seems pretty set on not giving him that. So I'm pretty sure getting her to realize that Savannah's fiancé means business and there is actually something for her to respect about him - if not love - is pretty much one of the loose ends we will have to tie up in the course of the Texas chapters.

• Savannah's laid out some clothes for everyone, so everyone gets a 'country' look and a cowboy hat.

• Like always, the outfit options come with different reactions based on the LI you're romancing:

Liam's looks nice I think, Hana is pretty (I haven't the foggiest idea of what would on a ranch so I wouldn't know how feasible - or not - these two outfits would be), Maxwell looks like he's dressed for the ranch AND for winter and Drake looks okay (like...there's a theme or something with his outfits, like he needs to have a LOT of a particular colour. Denim on denim, brown shirt brown hat).

• While Liam and Esther collectively swoon over each other, Savannah is all shocked and like "you both know we're still here, right?". Uh huh, you had no problem fangirling over Bertrand's "stern but sexy eyebrows" in public but suddenly me flirting a little with my husband is too much for you 😑

A little too much??? Listen, Esther has worn a hat that looked like it swallowed a hundred smaller hats on the way and cried in JOY at the sight. She has COMFORTED a widowed grieving Queen Mother and STARED DOWN Hana's awful parents, all with that honking big hat obscuring her face. How does a tiny puny cowboy hat with a bracelet thingy around it even compare??

• In the kitchen, Bertrand continues his woeful attempts to make conversation with Leona by revealing just how little he knows about running a ranch. Leona is Unimpressed™ (Betrand: How are the crops? Leona: We have cattle 😑. Bertrand: Who...ate the crops? Leona: 😑😑😑)

• Leona's like the adult version of the Unimpressed Sikh Child in Bollywood Hogwarts:

• We get darkly roasted coffee to help us gear up for the day's work at the ranch, and it's quite...the mouthfull. If you succeed in drinking it, you get high on coffee, and if you react to the strong taste, Leona makes a smart-alec comment about how "her highness must have wanted a chilled latte" (I forget which drink she mentioned but something similar) or something. Wish there was an option to tell her "Bertrand didn't tell me about the stick up your ass" (callback! From which book? Guess!)

• You feel slightly nauseous on the way, which is a bit of a set up to the end of the chapter.

• We split up into teams. Liam and Maxwell help with getting the hay for the horses, Hana and Drake help with sorting the tack.

Liam is a quick learner (and learns stuff just by observing), Maxwell is confused between the interests of horses and dogs, Drake is even more confused at Hana's speed, and PB has forgotten that Hana has actually ridden actual horses and would actually have at least a working idea of what actual tack with an actual horse would look like. Sure she may not have MADE tack for those horses, but you can miss me with that "imaginary horse friends" bullshit.

• See Team TRR, this is what happens when you focus on nothing else but Hana's skills. Even you fail to keep track.

• We feed the chickens (and I can see what I think are shades of Hana's upbringing in the way she says "wait your turn! one at a time!"...with chickens).

• ...there was a "no royal pets" policy in the palace that Liam waived?? No wonder we could get a corgi and Penelope could bring her poodles to court as soon as Liam became King!

• Re: Liam talking about having stuffed animals rather than pets and stating that he and Hana were on the same boat. Et tu, Liam? HOW MANY TIMES DOES HANA HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS SHE NEVER HAD TOYS.

• I'm imagining poor young Maxwell realizing that peacocks don't like hugs and now I'm sad ☹️

• So the set up to the group scene is that none of these characters have truly experienced the joy of cuddling cute pets. It's not much even by way of a group scene, just a cute scene where the MC can direct Tiny the little calf to cuddle all these sad sad people (pushed into embroidery lessons and diplomacy sessions as children!) and cure Bertrand of his cow-suspicion (cowspicion?). The more pets you have with you the cuter it is, coz the two corgis go about acquainting themselves with everyone - the cat, the cows, everybody.

• ROE REFERENCE! We see Jess and Blake spearheading a successful business as caterers and wedding planners (did Jess take coaching from Chaz's sister-in-law Carmen? 😁) and they leave it vague (as expected, since Jess' romantic relationship with Blake is determinant - as is the possibility that Liam and Jess could be related by marriage if the RoE MC chose Leo lol) whether they're romantically involved or not, but at least this way I know they're happy with their jobs!

• Apparently they'd catered at enough disaster weddings that they decided they could do a better job

• I have two questions:

1. Did Leo ever recommend Carmen? I'm guessing not since based on whether the RoE MC married him or not, he'd probably feel more comfortable recommending family/friends than someone who - in a different playthrough - probably never really met him.

2. Why is Liam helping Bertrand and Savannah with contacts for their wedding when we ended up doing most of the searching and finding ourselves?? 🧐

• BertVannah seem to want a mix of local and Cordonian traditions: Savannah wants to recapture her parents' wedding by riding a horse down the aisle, and Bertrand asks Liam to officiate, as a royal. Maxwell and Hana will be in charge of entertainment and decorations...and the MC should not move a muscle because Bertrand has already decreed us pregnant.

• Savannah's ex Chuck is a buff ginger, and an already insecure Bertrand is made even more insecure at the sight of him. Another on the list of things PB expects us to fix in the Walker Ranch. Drake owes me both in cash, fancy hats and a lifetime supply of free smoked BBQ ribs after all this. The kind of shit a pregnant royal is expected to do...

• Time for Drake diamond scene - which is a mostly fluffy scene that takes place close to a river nearby which has a great view of the sunrise and sunset, and a ride atop a kayak.

• Here's the important stuff you can get from this scene:

- Drake knows how to build stuff (we knew this already, but here Drake talks specifically about how he and Savannah would build rafts)

- Drake sucks at taking compliments, but Drake stans who saw their MC's intro to TRH already knew that 🤭

- You get to flex your paddling muscles. Drake is...Impressed™

- Lovely sunshine

- A cute story about how Drake and Savannah had a canonball contest at this river, and happy memories of his Dad being just their dad for once, not dad + King Guard

- Drake gets to talk about the mark his father left on him, and how carefree he used to be before Jackson's death

- You can revive the cannonball contest with Drake before you head back to the estate, and if you're married you share a passionate kiss. The writers went to great lengths to describe how passionate the kiss wasqqq

If you're married to Drake, this spot is described as 'romantic' and 'private', the MC makes a joke about being the "First Mate" of Drake's heart, the usual variations. Drake also mentions that he hopes to emulate his father's way of parenting once he himself becomes a father. I'm also guessing the story of how his father and mother used to visit this lake before they had children would have an implied added importance to a married Drake trying for a child.

Funny how the assassination attempt on Liam always ends up revolving more around what it did to Drake than what it did to Liam. Both in the original Book 2 Italian Restaurant Scene where it was first referenced, and here (Drake's restaurant scene is also the only scene that highlights how that particular attack affected Liam - if you don't buy this scene, the attacks are mentioned in a more offhand way by Constantine when we confront him, and Liam still doesn't have a word to say). Stop. What happened to Liam happened to him. Stop making it all about Drake.

• Also why does Drake keep insisting the MC helped him find Savannah? She didn't. He spotted the envelope. He saw the address. He deduced where in Paris it was and tried to check it out. The only help we could provide was convincing him to stay and listen to her, and even that was optional.

• The MC wakes up wondering if she's going to feel nauseous, which then leads to the realization that it could be morning sickness. That's the most random race to use a pregnancy test I've seen.

• The result is negative, and the LI wakes up to the MC telling them about the result of the pregnancy test. The reactions to the news are identical. They follow roughly this template:

I can headcanon that Hana is actually feeling and understanding the MC's pain when she says "that's not silly at all", but I won't. I refuse to do the heavy work for the writers.

• In any case, there are some guests, and only Hana seems to know who they are.

• My face as it goes from seeing Kiara, Olivia, Penelope and Madeleine (yes, in that order):

• Sooo it looks like this week we're going to have a clash of the country and the courtly. Uh oh. I don't see this ending very well...unless there's a deus ex machina coming our way.

• General Thoughts:

- This chapter is filler, as expected, but it's the kind of filler meant to set up the major problems in that place. And there's plenty hinted at in this chapter alone: solving the financial troubles of the ranch, the clash of cultures that will come with the court ladies being guests, winning over Leona, learning about Drake's and also Bianca's past, Bertrand's insecurities. It's going to take a couple chapters to untangle all that!

- My guess is that the MC is possibly pregnant, but got a false negative (esp if she's nowhere near her expected time for her period), and will probably find out during Bertrand and Savannah's wedding? IDK. Most people I know will wait to see if they get their periods first (I did that too, waited a couple days after the expected day just to be sure), because that's when your hCG levels are high enough to show in your urine sample. That was a waste of a perfectly good pregnancy test, MC!

- The variations are very few, besides the scene where they all get new outfits and references to the MC and her spouse by different people including Blake and Jess. Perhaps there may be an LI scene coming soon.

- I mentioned earlier that Leona may be there as a way for the writing team to retcon Bianca's departure, since in the original series all we are told us was that she "was...struggling" after Jackson's death and left for the States at some point, leaving her children behind. Not a lot of people were very happy about this and though she was portrayed as a positive character in Book 3 (Drake's playthrough), it wasn't convincing enough. Leona is possibly there as a way to soften the audience to Bianca, and perhaps to get us a plausible reason for her leaving without her children. I'm not sure what could justify not taking them along, but okay.

- So Drake in his scene tells us that they came to the ranch as kids, but there is that matter of Savannah having been there long enough at some point to have had a boyfriend. I'm wondering if she spent some time on the ranch while Drake had gone to college.

- Also...if that's what happened, why was France even an option for her to bring up Bartie if she'd been in touch with her mother. Why did France, a place where she had very few contacts or living experience, win out over a place she was familiar with and where she had family?

- Leona's very Drake-like...but with an actual job that she's probably good at.

- Leona's also going to be Unimpressed™ for the most of her time in this book, with her probably becoming a little more impressed towards the end. Told you she'd be The Unimpressed Sikh Child (if you still have trouble with this meme, it's a character from a Bollywood film about a magical school called Aabra Ka Dabra. Here's some additional context from desi comedians and former Pretentious Movie Reviewers Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath to illustrate why Unimpressed Sikh Child is so awesome:)

"Stop trying to impress people. Impress people with how unimpressed you are." If that isn't what Leona is doing. One wry expression and that's all it takes for all of Cordonia's royalty and nobility to fall over each other to prove themselves to her.

- Leona is an ass but you've got to respect the way she plays that game.

- I hope the writers don't forget that Kiara and Savannah were...yknow...good friends. Given how badly she was treated in Book 3 (and the narrative treated her really, really badly. Like I'm pretty sure some of you might have no idea just how badly she's been treated), I have serious doubts.

- Will we get a Hana or Maxwell diamond scene next? A good one or mostly just fluff? Let's see.

- Will we get another flashback scene? Maybe. It's possible. Bianca would remember something.

- One thing I do know for sure is that there is going to be more of Perfect Angel Savannah and Bumbling Bertrand. I'm not looking forward to it.

• Next: I'll be doing TRR Book 1's QT for Chapter 6 as well! Hopefully it will be ready by Friday. As for this series...until next week, folks!

[aryburn-trains]

CB&Q Kansas City-Nebraska Zephyr combined passenger train. Lavergne, IL December 1964

[thetransitgirl]

Chapter 2 of my Rail for America proposal; find all chapters here.

Despite their infrequent service and low ridership, long-distance trains such as those currently run by Amtrak can and should continue to serve as the backbone of the national network even after significant upgrades to the more popular regional services. This isn’t just for the sake of nostalgia: while these trains are certainly used less than those on short-haul regional corridors, they’re far more essential to the people who use them, since Americans who can’t fly or drive must use either trains or miserable long-distance buses when traveling across the country. And since making numerous train transfers is always a huge hassle, these trains should be able to be as direct as possible.

As such, even though train travel between different regions of the country will never be as popular as train travel within individual regions, the option needs to exist, meaning America requires a network of long-distance trains connecting every region of the country to every other. And while one could argue we’ve already got that, I would respond by posing the question of how, say, one could travel on our current network from Texas to Colorado, or from Illinois to Florida. It’s feasible, but only by taking meandering several-day journeys that go multiple states out of the way. The service type is fairly good, but we need more.

To ease these connections, every route goes into one of five hub cities, which are New York, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City. Since all of the routes I’m proposing would require overnight service, I’m grouping them below by the number of nights that would pass when riding the route end to end. I’ve also provided a parenthetical indication of whether each route resembles a current Amtrak service.

3 nights:

New York - Washington - Atlanta - Fort Worth - El Paso - Los Angeles

2 nights:

New York - Washington - Atlanta - New Orleans - Houston

New York - Washington - Nashville - Memphis - Little Rock - Fort Worth

Chicago - Kansas City - Albuquerque - Los Angeles (Southwest Chief)

Chicago - Omaha - Denver - Salt Lake City - San Jose (California Zephyr)

Chicago - Omaha - Butte - Spokane - Seattle

Chicago - Twin Cities - Spokane - Portland (Empire Builder)

Houston - San Antonio - El Paso - Los Angeles (Sunset Limited)

1 night:

New York - Washington - Jacksonville - Miami (Silver Star)

Chicago - Cleveland - Albany - Boston (Lake Shore Limited)

Chicago - Cleveland - Albany - New York (Lake Shore Limited)

Chicago - Cleveland - Washington (Capitol Limited)

Chicago - Indianapolis - Washington - New York (Cardinal)

Chicago - Indianapolis - Nashville - Atlanta - Jacksonville - Miami

Chicago - Kansas City - Fort Worth - San Antonio

Chicago - Memphis - New Orleans (City of New Orleans)

Chicago - Little Rock - Fort Worth (Texas Eagle)

Chicago - Twin Cities - Winnipeg

Houston - Pueblo - Denver - Cheyenne

Houston - New Orleans - Jacksonville

Los Angeles - Albuquerque - Pueblo - Denver - Cheyenne

Los Angeles - San Jose - Portland - Seattle (Coast Starlight)

Salt Lake City - Las Vegas - Los Angeles

Salt Lake City - Boise - Portland

Salt Lake City - Butte - Calgary - Edmonton

Rail for America homepage

[zponds]

What-If: American Railroads — Section 3: Named Passenger Trains and Streamliners

With the 20 American railroads still around and Amtrak not being a thing in my alternative history on American railroads, that means that the 20 railroads will still own and operate passenger services and streamliners, and some will operate some passenger trains and passenger train route legs from the smaller railroads absorbed by the bigger ones. And the names of the passenger trains and streamliners are below.

A. New York Central

20th Century Limited

Empire State Express

Pacemaker Express

The Mercury

Berkshire Hills Express

Southwestern Limited (NYCS train)

Twilight Limited

The Colonial

Bar Harbor Express

Cape Codder

Comet

East Wind

Dan’l Webster

Flying Yankee

Ohio State Limited

B. Pennsylvania Railroad

Broadway Limited

Liberty Limited

Trail Blazer Express

Federal Express

Congressional Limited

Maple Leaf

Black Diamond

Asa Packer

Crusader

The Admiral

Cincinnati Limited

The Keystone

Birmingham Special (PRR side)

Southland (PRR side)

Spirit of St. Louis

C. Chesapeake and Ohio

George Washington

Fast Flying Virginian

Sportsman

Pere Marquette

The Chessie

Atlantic Express

Pacific Express

Erie Limited

Lake Cities

Phoebe Snow

D. Baltimore and Ohio

Cincinnatian

Capitol Limited

National Limited

Blue Bird

Wabash Cannon Ball

City of St. Louis

Columbian

Royal Blue

E. Union Pacific

Challenger (UP side)

City of Denver

City of Portland

City of San Francisco

City of Los Angeles

Overland Limited (UP side)

Exposition Flyer (UP side)

Forty-Niner Express

Butte Special

City of Las Vegas

Los Angeles Limited

F. Chicago and Northwestern

The 400’s — Twin Cities 400, Dakota 400. Flambeau 400, Kate Shelley 400, Minnesota 400, Peninsula 400, Rochester 400, Shoreland 400 and Capital 400

City of San Francisco

City of Los Angeles

Overland Limited (CNW side)

G. Milwaukee Road

The Hiawathas — Twin Cities Hiawatha, Midwest Hiawatha, North Woods Hiawatha, Chippewa Hiawatha and Olympian Hiawatha

City of Denver

City of Portland

Pioneer limited

Challenger (MILW side)

Varity

H. Burlington Route

The Zephyrs — Twin Cities Zephyr, Pioneer Zephyr, Texas Zephyr, Nebraska Zephyr, Mark Twain Zephyr, Denver Zephyr, Kansas City Zephyr, Silver Streak Zephyr, American Royal Zephyr and General Pershing Zephyr

Zephyr Rocket (CB&Q side)

Sam Houston Zephyr (CB&Q side)

Black Hawk

California Zephyr (CB&Q side)

New Orleans Zephyr

I. Missouri Pacific

Colorado Eagle

Texas Eagle

Valley Eagle

Sunshine Special

Firefly

Meteor

J. Northern Pacific

North Coast Limited

Mainstreeter

Coast Pool Train

Great Western Limited

Omaha Express

Mills Cities Limited

K. Great Northern

Empire Builder

Cascadian

Oriental Limited

Red River Limited

Western Star

Winnipeg Limited

L. Norfolk and Western

Pocahontas

Powhatan Arrow

Tennessean (N&W side)

The Cavalier

Birmingham Special (N&W side)

M. Southern Pacific

Coast Daylight

City of San Francisco

Sacramento Daylight

Shasta Daylight

Sunbeam

Golden State (SP side)

Challenger (SP side)

Argonaut

Sunset Limited (SP side)

Overland Limited (SP side)

N. Santa Fe

Chief

Super Chief

San Francisco Chief

El Capitan

San Diegan

Texas Chief

West Texas Express

Chicagoan

Kansas Cityan

Grand Canyon Limited

O. Illinois Central

City of Miami (IC side)

Panama Limited

Green Diamond

Land O’Corn

Seminole Limited (IC side)

Southwestern Limited (IC train)

Lone Star

Morning Star

P. Gulf Mobile and Ohio

Gulf Coast Rebel

Gulf Coast Special

Alton Limited

Rebel

Midnight Special

Q. Rock Island

The Rockets — Choctaw Rocket, Des Moines Rocket, Quad Cities Rocket, Rock Island Rocket, Twin Star Rocket, Golden Rocket and Rocky Mountain Rocket

Sam Houston Zephyr (CRIP side)

Zephyr Rocket (CRIP side)

Golden State (CRIP side)

R. Southern Railway (USA)

Tennessean (SOU side)

Southener

City of Memphis

Birmingham Special (SOU side)

Carolina Special

Royal Palm

Piedmont Limited

Ponce de Leon

S. Seaboard Air Line

Silver Comet

Silver Meteor

Gulf Wind

Orange Blossom Special

Man O’War

Nancy Hanks (II)

City of Miami (SAL side)

Sunset Limited (SAL side)

T. Atlantic Coast Line

Champion

Florida Special

Palmetto (ACL side)

Dixie Flagler

South Wind (ACL side)

Southland (ACL side)

[berniesrevolution]

On June 26, few people outside New York’s 14th Congressional District knew who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was. But by the next day, when news spread that she’d toppled her opponent, 10-term Representative Joseph Crowley, in the Democratic congressional primary, she was a national celebrity. She appeared on CNN, Meet the Press, PBS’s Firing Line, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, and MSNBC as the fresh face of a revived American left. Her lip color of choice—Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso—sold out in several stores.

When she appeared a few weeks later at a rally near Wall Street’s Charging Bull statue in Lower Manhattan to endorse Zephyr Teachout, who was seeking the Democratic nomination to become New York’s next attorney general, a large crowd cheered—many of them clearly there to catch a glimpse of Ocasio-Cortez, not the candidate she was supporting.

Photographers—paparazzi?—shouted out, “Alex! Alexandria! Over here!” An “I Love NYC” tour bus pulled up alongside the statue. “Hey, I know her! That’s her!” yelled a guy in a baseball cap, standing and pointing from the bus’s top deck. Dozens of tourists began frantically snapping photos of the young woman whose face, if not name, they recognized—or assumed they did. Ocasio-Cortez waved, flashed a toothy grin, and shouted, “Vote for Zephyr Teachout in September!” Then she was hustled away by a staffer, to a chorus of disappointed groans. “Sorry, guys,” she said, sounding genuinely regretful. “I gotta go!”

Since the hectic days following her primary win, Ocasio-Cortez has only gained momentum. In November, she will face her Republican opponent, Anthony Pappas, in the general election. She’s expected to win, which would make her the youngest woman in Congress come January. Still, in spite of her star power, her staff and volunteers stress that Ocasio-Cortez is part of a movement in which no individual deserves sole credit. They emphasize building community and sharing power as the keys to an effective progressive movement.

Crucially, these supporters insist that the movement’s work does not end with an election. Alexandra Rojas, 23, a founding member of Brand New Congress and the executive director of Justice Democrats—two groups that supported Ocasio-Cortez—told me that the candidates her organization endorses know that it’s “not just about one election, but building a movement and helping one another.” Jeff Latzer, a campaign volunteer, praised Ocasio-Cortez’s skill in reaching out to the grassroots: “Alexandria is the perfect combination of an extremely grounded person who did not set out to get involved in politics, but just has this amazing ability to communicate issues for people on a level they can relate to.” Or as Naureen Akhter, Ocasio-Cortez’s 31-year-old director of organizing, put it: “It might sound corny, but she really does feel like one of us.”

Barring any last-minute surprises, Ocasio-Cortez won’t be the plucky wunderkind of the insurgent left much longer; she’ll be a sitting member of Congress instead. Given the pressures she’ll face from Republicans and establishment Democrats, it’s worth asking how she will square her democratic-socialist ideals with the politics of Washington. But it will also be hard for the grassroots groups that helped drive her candidacy to keep from being eclipsed in the political spotlight when the candidate herself is so extraordinary. That’s why members of the movement that got her elected must figure out how to support Ocasio-Cortez in achieving their progressive policy aims—while also holding her accountable for doing so.

Ocasio-Cortez’s life has changed dramatically since the primary. Forget free time, or even the luxury of scheduling interviews well in advance: It took three canceled meetings over the course of the summer before Jeff Latzer, my contact on her campaign, was able to slot me in. On the morning of our interview, he asked me to change the location and push back the time by an hour, because “she tries really hard not to be late.” And when we finally convened, Ocasio-Cortez was, in fact, 15 minutes late—though profusely apologetic about it—and arrived looking chic but tired, her hair pulled back tightly beneath wire-framed glasses.

Ocasio-Cortez’s demeanor was as warm as when I’d met her before the primary, if slightly more guarded. Over the past three months, she’d campaigned hard for several candidates, with mixed results. She stumped for Abdul El-Sayed (running for the governor’s seat in Michigan), Fayrouz Saad and Rashida Tlaib (for congressional seats in Michigan), Cori Bush (in Missouri), Kaniela Ing (in Hawaii), and Brent Welder and James Thompson (in Kansas). Tlaib and Thompson won, and Tlaib is now poised to become the first Muslim woman in Congress. Together, she and Ocasio-Cortez will also represent the Democratic Socialists of America on the federal level.

But before she heads south, Ocasio-Cortez says she wants to “get back to the basics” of working with the people in her district, which spans parts of two New York City boroughs: Queens and the Bronx. Before June, she points out, the only power structure in both places was “the machine.” That’s why she and her team are focused on building relationships with progressive community groups and leaders in her district. “People who were ‘just’ organizers two months ago are now very formidable community figures,” she explains, and “we’ve been keeping our ear to the ground.” Jake DeGroot, the 32-year-old deputy operations director for the campaign, told me they are corralling “people already doing organizing work: tenants, bodegas, food-cart workers. We want to [show] them this campaign is here to hear from them and promote their interests.”

Two key organizations to emerge from the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats, have been crucial to Ocasio-Cortez’s success. Brand New Congress, which recruited her to run, requires its candidates to reject money from corporate PACs and lobbyists. Justice Democrats advocates for a federal jobs guarantee, single-payer health care, and the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). The groups share many of the same principles but employ different strategies.

While much of their energy comes from Bernie Sanders supporters with previous campaign experience, they are also attracting young people just getting involved in politics as well as people who supported Hillary Clinton but believe the Democratic Party should move more to the left. Ocasio-Cortez tells me she plans to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Medicare for All Caucus, and “quite a few others.” In addition to her well-known talking points—single-payer health care, climate justice, criminal-justice reform, immigrant justice, rejecting corporate money, and taking on the fossil-fuel lobby—“we’re starting to see a little more of a galvanized anti-war movement [in the House], and folks like Barbara Lee have really led the way on that.”

(Continue Reading)

[acefantasiesworld]

Tri.sona

note: for the record yes I know some of this may make no sense, my brain came up with idea and I went with it. I also don't have any art for zephyr yet but there may be some in the future??

name: zephyr von streke alternate names: zephyr the psycho, vesper, zeph race: half human, half plant age: unknown but guessed to be around 60 height: 5’9” favorite things: donuts, stars, caterpillars, jellies

Relatives- Eustass von streak(biological father), Mary von streak (biological mother) Magnus rowe(adoptive brother/caretaker), Layton rowe(adoptive brother/caretaker), Holly von streke(adoptive daughter), Cody saverem(biological son), baby sprout/baby saverem(biological son)

About zephyr- Born Vesper von streak to the von streak family in New Kansas city, Zephyr is the son of new kansas city’s mayor. Born with an unknown disease that leaves him dangerously sick and frail, he is set strictly to stay within his home. Despite his family’s slightly high status, Zephyr's parents are quite the opposite privately then how they are publicly and exploit his sickness to gain profits and use them elsewhere rather than seek help for a possible cure to Zephyr's ailment. During the years until he becomes a young teen, Zephyr is constantly visited by a kind man who makes the young boy forget about his worries and ailment whenever he is visited.

 Not long after the man’s last visit to new kansas city Zephyr is sold by his parents for money to the city’s scientists for experimentation using their plant. Though the people who take Zephyr in actually try to find the cure for his sickness in which they end up finding a way using their plant when he’s 22, the experiment permanently rids him of his disease but it also stops his physical aging leaving him to look like a young adult presently. Along the way he ends up abandoning the name Vesper von streak and begins to go by Zephyr von streke while living with the scientists. Not long after Zephyr becomes a gunman but also partially works as a traveling bounty hunter, along the way he ends up finding a little girl named Holly with no family, he ends up adopting her as his own child and raises her in the newest built part of new kansas city.

Appearance- Zephyr is a tall slim man with tanned skin and dark hair with a single streak of white running through the right. His hair is usually pushed back to keep out of his eyes or sometimes frames his face just resting above his cheekbones. His eyes are fern green with bright flecks of amber though he’s usually seen with dark sunglasses either wearing them or having them rest atop his head (uncanny moment, his eyes naturally glow due to the experiments hence the glasses, his eyes look like bright green glow sticks in the dark). Zephyr’s outfit consists of a tight fitting black turtleneck with sleeves running mid forearm, black high waisted leather pants and midcalf combat boots. On top he adorns a large black trench coat that lays over his shoulder with his arms not in its sleeves. Inside his coat are built in holsters that carry his guns and blade for quick access, the coat is also reinforced to withstand impalements from attackers. Sitting below zephyr’s collarbones is a necklace that holds a glass sphere which contains a single red paper petal of a flower from a planet no longer habitable which was gifted to him by vash a long time ago.

Personality- Though silent most of the time Zephyr is quite the whimsical character especially with children as he adores them to bits and pieces. He’s very friendly with strangers as well and is quite approachable and willing to help at any given chance. Coincidentally Zephyr lives by the same morals as vash does, having been taught by him and all so even during his years as a gunman and bounty hunter he hasn’t ever killed anyone, only ever having wounded his attackers and such. He has a major soft spot for vash since he’s known him back when he was younger.

Others(fun facts & such)~ Despite there being no flourishing plants and wildlife on no man's land zephyr is highly fascinated with the purple emperor butterfly caterpillar, a little green caterpillar with what almost seem like little horns on its head and a cute little face. He’s only seen images of this little bug in nature books saved from earth. The same goes for moon jellies and the purple striped jellyfish, their unique shape and colors being an amazing wonder to him. If there was a chance to ever get to see them alive he would probably cry like a small child getting a puppy as a gift.

--photo refs from others category--