The 30's---a steam driven freight train was an experience of sight and sound that was and is unequalled!! It began with the far-off sound of the steam whistle sounding for each approaching crossing---then a faint vibration (you could lay down with your ear on the track and hear the train long before hearing anything else)---increasing in volume as the trains approached. To a small boy standing in the right of way, it was the beginning of a frightening thrill that lasted a lifetime. The roaring sound became so loud. Looking up, the train as it went by, was the biggest thing in the world. It was more noise than you could stand and a blast of wind that pushed you backwards. Then the sound would begin to lessen and it became just a string of freight cars going by---with the clacking of wheels as they crossed the joints---then the caboose with the noise already receding into the past . . .

1934 or 35---One day, a new sound, like a deep-toned truck air horn---getting louder and closer---and then a beautiful, bright, shiny train on the tracks. It was there and then it was gone. I later found out that this was the Burlington Zephyr---a streamlined, stainless steel-skinned, diesel-electric powered passenger train. It made a record run from Denver to Chicago in 1934, with speeds up to 114 MPH. It even looked fast! This train is now called the Burlington Pioneer.