The Exposition Flyer
The Exposition took place at the same time as the World's Fair in New York. Given the world events (September 1939 would officially begin World War II, and the end of the Great Depression) the nation was more than ready for a bi-coastal check of reality. The Golden Gate International Exposition, located on the man-made Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, drew enough passenger trade for the CB&Q-D&RGW-WP combined train that it became credible competition for the Union Pacific-Southern Pacific Overland Route. The Exposition Flyer was the first through train over the CB&Q-D&RGW-WP route using the new Dotsero cutoff, which saved 150-miles over a circuitous route through the Royal Gorge.
4-8-4 1804 with Chicago–Oakland Exposition Flyer at Ralston, Colo., 1940. R. H. Kindig
The Exposition was originally scheduled to last one year, but the outstanding success raised expectations and San Francisco was expected to host the event again in 1940. As a result the three railroads agreed to retain the train through the winter of 1939-1940 and when the fair reopened, the train was once again extremely busy. The success of the train, even when the Exhibition was not open caused the railroads to rethink the temporary nature of the train, and it was left on the schedules until 1941. As the train continued to see success, it stayed on the schedule until being replaced by the California Zephyr..
One operational aspect that first saw the light of day on this route on the Exhibition Flyer was the Transcontinental Sleeper. In April, 1946 service was inaugurated with the through Pullman operating east of Chicago on the New York Central's Commodore Vanderbilt and the Pennsylvania's General (on alternate days).
The California Zephyr Museum Page on The Exposition Flyer
Railway Classics Page on their possible HO Brass version of the Exposition Flyer
Additional Resource: See J.W. Schultz & Hol Wagner's excellent treatment on the train and equipment in the Burlington Route Historical Society's Burlington Bulletin 42 Exposition Flyer.
Equipment Notes
The Exposition Flyer, taken in 1948 by Otto Roach
Attempting to compose a basic consist of the Exposition Flyer is somewhat impossible. The reason for the impossibility is that the train is a study in contradictions. The train was put into service for a limited-time event and was supposed to last about 1 year. It lasted 10 years. It was supposed to be mainly a summer train, yet found a winter following. It was supposed to be a leisure train, yet found itself running multiple sections of urgent war traffic. It was unique in that the consortium that ran the train had to deal with every type of operating condition in the United States, yet had to run the train as a single entity. It started service in the hey day of heavyweight Pullmans during the Pullman Pool years and ended its life during the Pullman divestiture. It started as a heavyweight train, yet there were lightweight cars included almost from the start, and by the end, the train included some of the most modern cars in existence, soon to grace its replacement, the California Zephyr.
The Exhibition Flyer often ran in two sections due to traffic, one all Pullman, and one for the coach & tourist cars. Note that between April 1945 and the beginning of 1946, the Exhibition Flyer was "All Pullman" on the Rio Grande, with the Advanced Exhibition Flyer (trains 7 and 8) taking the coaches and tourist cars. This arrangement stopped when trains 7 & 8 were renamed and rescheduled as The Prospector (second iteration).
So if one chooses to model the Exposition Flyer, he must first choose the segment run (CB&Q, D&RGW, WP), the year, the season and in some cases, the day. The train that ran on December of 1948 was vastly different than the one that ran in June of 1939.
