Nostalgia & History > WAG running extra (#3): 'Injun Joe' visits Topeka

Last Friday I was in Topeka to shoot the recent Amtrak display train. I also stopped by Art Gibson’s place to catch up on a few details. We ended up attending the monthly NRHS meeting that night, with Art riding in with me. Everytime I go visit Art it’s like the ultimate railfan Christmas morning! His basement office/photo archive/book library/model RR workbench/storage area (which I will officially christen the “railfan dungeon”) has SO much stuff in it! Invariably I’ll see something I never noticed before in my dozen (or more) previous visits. And I always seem to come home with another armload of scanning material.

This time was no exception. I came home with all sorts of interesting stuff, including this little snapshot of CB&Q’s Mark Twain Zephyr paying a visit to Topeka. I was unaware, though not terribly surprised that one of the Q’s depression-era streamliners ran through Kansas. Art & I talked a bit about this shot, but he couldn’t remember many details. I went on-line (yes, Virginia, all by myself) to look for some info and found a little bit of history from ‘Rail Merchants International’ ( http://www.railmerchants.net/mt-zephyr.htm> ) I wanted to see if I could get some information on this swing through Kansas. The engine number in the print is either 9902 or 9903 so I also wanted to find the correct engine number. But this borrowed paragraph excerpt is as close as I got:

“The lead unit, containing the power plant, a 30' Railway Post Office and a 15' mail storage area, used a cleverly selected homonym for the word engine and was named "Injun Joe." Almost identical to the power unit of the 9900, it varied only by inches in it dimensions and incorporated the cosmetic changes and operating improvements already in place on the Twins. The second unit (No. 506) was a 64' baggage and express car named "Becky Thatcher." The third unit (No. 551) named "Huckleberry Finn," held a kitchen an pantry in the fore section with a service counter separating it from a dinette comprised of 16 seats grouped in "foursomes" facing tables that were set up at meal time and removed afterward. Twenty additional chairs put the capacity of this car at 36 passengers. The final unit (No. 572) was named "Tom Sawyer," had coach seats for 40 passengers in the fore section, while the aft contained a solarium parlor-lounge with detached chairs for another 16 passengers.”

Perhaps some TO member can fill in the gaps here. This photo is likely taken by Bill (WAG Sr), but I forgot to ask Art if his father was indeed the photographer…

1. CB&Q “Injun Joe”, the Mark Twain Zephyr visits Topeka, KS on the Union Pacific in 1935? (just a guess).
(2¼ x 4” b/w print from the Art Gibson collection)

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/13/22 23:51 by santafe199.

---

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Last Friday I was in Topeka to shoot the recent
> Amtrak display train. I also stopped by Art
> Gibson’s place to catch up on a few details. We
> ended up attending the monthly NRHS meeting that
> night, with Art riding in with me. Everytime I go
> visit Art it’s like the ultimate railfan
> Christmas morning! His basement office/photo
> archive/book library/model RR workbench/storage
> area (which I will officially christen the
> “railfan dungeon”) has SO much stuff in it!
> Invariably I’ll see something I never noticed
> before in my dozen (or more) previous visits. And
> I always seem to come home with another armload of
> scanning material.
>
> This time was no exception. I came home with all
> sorts of interesting stuff, including this little
> snapshot of CB&Q’s Mark Twain Zephyr paying a
> visit to Topeka. I was unaware, though not
> terribly surprised that one of the Q’s
> depression-era streamliners ran through Kansas.
> Art & I talked a bit about this shot, but he
> couldn’t remember many details. I went on-line
> (yes, Virginia, all by myself) to look for some
> info and found a little bit of history from
> ‘Rail Merchants International’ (
> http://www.railmerchants.net/mt-zephyr.htm> ) I
> wanted to see if I could get some information on
> this swing through Kansas. The engine number in
> the print is either 9902 or 9903 so I also wanted
> to find the correct engine number. But this
> borrowed paragraph excerpt is as close as I got:
>
> “The lead unit, containing the power plant, a
> 30' Railway Post Office and a 15' mail storage
> area, used a cleverly selected homonym for the
> word engine and was named "Injun Joe." Almost
> identical to the power unit of the 9900, it varied
> only by inches in it dimensions and incorporated
> the cosmetic changes and operating improvements
> already in place on the Twins. The second unit
> (No. 506) was a 64' baggage and express car named
> "Becky Thatcher." The third unit (No. 551) named
> "Huckleberry Finn," held a kitchen an pantry in
> the fore section with a service counter separating
> it from a dinette comprised of 16 seats grouped in
> "foursomes" facing tables that were set up at meal
> time and removed afterward. Twenty additional
> chairs put the capacity of this car at 36
> passengers. The final unit (No. 572) was named
> "Tom Sawyer," had coach seats for 40 passengers in
> the fore section, while the aft contained a
> solarium parlor-lounge with detached chairs for
> another 16 passengers.”
>
> Perhaps some TO member can fill in the gaps here.
> This photo is likely taken by Bill (WAG Sr), but I
> forgot to ask Art if his father was indeed the
> photographer…
>
> 1. CB&Q “Injun Joe”, the Mark Twain Zephyr
> visits Topeka, KS on the Union Pacific in 1935?
> (just a guess).
> (2¼ x 4” b/w print from the Art Gibson
> collection)
>
> Thanks for looking back!
> Lance Garrels (santafe199)
> Art Gibson (wag216)

I would GUESS this was some kind of promotional trip, as the
Mark Twin Zephyr was supposed to be run between Burlington, IA,
and St. Louis, MO, on the Q's line along the Mississippi. This
accounts for the "Mark Twain" names. Why it would be in Topeka,
I have no clue. At one time, I believe the Pioneer Zephyr covered
one of the Kansas City-Omaha round trips, so it's not totally
unusal for this type of train to be in Kansas. I'm not, however,
totally sure on this point.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/18/14 09:26 by ntharalson.

I'm at work now so I don't have access to my Zephyr books or Burlington Bulletins. Best I can do for now is share this article by David Lotz on the Mark Twain Zephyr. Unfortunately it doesn't make any mention of being in Topeka on any promotional trips.

http://www.gatewaynmra.org/2002/cbq-mark-twain-zephyr/

Edit: Loco number is 9003, I also sent out an email to the CB&Q Yahoo group to hopefully get more answers



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/14 10:50 by Spoony81.

Could it have been an exposition of some sort, like the Topeka Railroad Days, or was there such an event existing in that era. Lance, thanks for posting Art's pic anyway. Would have been great to have seen this train firsthand!

Email I got back from David Lotz of the CB&Q Yahoo Group
"In the research I've done on the Mark Twain Zephyr, I have found nothing that would indicate it ever visited Topeka, KS. I've checked CB&Q correspondence for the exhibition tour of the 9900 from May 29th to June 12th, and Topeka is not on that agenda either. Is there anyway that a low-res copy of the slide could be shared for location identification."
Do you mind if I share the picture with him?
Erik

Posted from iPhone

Spoony81 Wrote:
> Do you mind if I share the picture with him?

Not at all! One of the first things I learned from my association with Kansas railfans from the generation before mine was the spirit of generosity. Especially in a case like this where it might help fill in some historical story details!

Lance