US-3855039 Replica of the Silver Streak Zephyr

The Silver Streak Zephyr was a train service of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in the American midwest. It ran from 1940 through 1959.

On April 15, 1940 the CB&Q inaugurated the Silver Streak Zephyr operating a Lincoln-Omaha-St. Joseph-Kansas City round trip daily. The new train was named Silver Streak Zephyr. This was the second Zephyr assigned to this route as the Pioneer Zephyr had operated in this service for some time and had actually outgrown it, when it generated more traffic than it was able to handle.

For power the new five car lightweight streamliner was assigned a new EMD E5A unit developing 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) Passengers were obviously pleased with the new Silver Streak Zephyr as ridership showed a marked increase within days of the new trains entry into service. 

This replica of the Silver Streak Zephyr is found in the Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago.  This postcard was sent by Tina (9 March 2016) Postcrossing. 

SW DV-309 Illinois - Land of Lincoln

Illinois is the 5th most populous state in USA and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country.  With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base and is a major transportation hub.

Illinois was the 21^st state to join the Union on December 3, 1818.  The capital is Springfield and the largest city is Chicago.

Illinois is called the ‘Land of Lincoln’ because Abraham Lincoln was elected President while resident in Illinois.

This postcard came from Ellie Patterson (1 October 2014) Swap-bot.

SW H-014; US-2968658 & US-3439523 Chicago, Illinois, USA

Chicago in the State of Illinois is the third most populous city (2.7 million residents) in the United States, after New York City and Los Angeles. Its metropolitan area is home to 9.5 million people.  Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, Today, the city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, and transportation, with O'Hare International Airport being the second-busiest airport in the world.

This postcard from Tiffany Smoot (20 March 2014) Swat-bot shows the city skyline in the lower part of the postcard and in the top three panels

(1) the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower)
(2) the Buckingham Fountain in Grant park
(3) the Chicago Water Tower

Short Notes on the three panels

(1) Willis Tower (formerly named and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago.  At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years.

(2) Dedicated in 1927, the Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park is one of the largest fountains in the world. It is built in a rococo wedding cake style and it is meant to allegorically represent Lake Michigan. It operates from April to October, with regular water shows and evening color-light shows. During the winter, the fountain is decorated with festival lights.

(3) The Chicago Water Tower was originally constructed to house a large water pump, intended to draw water from the Lake Michigan.  It now serves as a Chicago Office of Tourism art gallery.

This second postcard of Chicago focuses on the 'L' (sometimes written as "L" or "el", short for "elevated").  This rapid transit system serves Chicago and surrounding areas and is 102.8 miles (165.4 km) long.

This third postcard of Chicago shows lightning striking the Willis Tower. This postcard of Chicago in the evening came from Kate (30 June 2015) Postcrossing.