June 12, 7:30 p.m. "A First Hand Account of a California Zephyr" At our June 12th lecture series, Rodna Taylor will describe her experience as a "Zephyrette" on the California Zephyr, a sleek streamlined train in the 1950s described as a "cruise ship on wheels" and "a vacation unto itself." The California Zephyr (the CZ, or "Silver Lady") was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) and Western Pacific Railroad (WP). The train was inaugurated on March 19, 1949 and quickly became "The most talked about train in America." It was purposely scheduled so that the train passed through the most spectacular scenery in the daylight.