When she first streaked across the plains 21 years ago, the California Zephyr was a gleaming wonder-on-wheels. The first luxury Vista-Dome streamliner to run between Chicago and San Francisco, the stainless-steel train topped 90 m.p.h. on the straightaway, dazzling onlookers at every wayside crossing. Last week the Cal Zephyr, rattling from disrepair and more than 6,000,000 miles of wear, made its through-run for the last time. Latest victim of rising costs, declining patronage and the reluctance of railroads to promote passenger service, the train was, as one member of the Interstate Commerce Commission...
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