California Zephyr

California Zephyr
Westbound California Zephyr in front of the Book Cliffs in Utah
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	Western United States
Predecessor	San Francisco Zephyr/Rio Grande Zephyr
First service	April 24, 1983
Current operator(s)	Amtrak
Ridership	1031 daily 376,459(FY12)[1]
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
Stops	33
End	Emeryville, California
Distance travelled	2,438 miles (3,924 km)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	5, 6
Technical
Rolling stock	Superliner sleepers and coaches
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	55 mph (average, including stops)
Track owner(s)	UP and BNSF
Route map Legend Dist. Station 0 mi  0 km  Chicago 28 mi  45 km  Naperville 104 mi  167 km  Princeton 162 mi  261 km  Galesburg IL IA across Mississippi River 205 mi  330 km  Burlington, IA 233 mi  375 km  Mount Pleasant 279 mi  449 km  Ottumwa 359 mi  578 km  Osceola 392 mi  631 km  Creston IA NE across Missouri River 500 mi  805 km  Omaha 555 mi  893 km  Lincoln, NE 652 mi  1049 km  Hastings 706 mi  1136 km  Holdrege 783 mi  1260 km  McCook NE CO 960 mi  1545 km  Fort Morgan 1038 mi  1670 km  Denver 1100 mi  1770 km  Fraser – Winter Park 1113 mi  1791 km  Granby 1223 mi  1968 km  Glenwood Springs 1311 mi  2110 km  Grand Junction CO UT 1417 mi  2280 km  Green River 1488 mi  2395 km  Helper 1563 mi  2515 km  Provo 1608 mi  2588 km  Salt Lake City UT NV 1871 mi  3011 km  Elko 2013 mi  3240 km  Winnemucca 2202 mi  3544 km  Reno NV CA 2237 mi  3600 km  Truckee 2301 mi  3703 km  Colfax 2336 mi  3759 km  Roseville 2353 mi  3787 km  Sacramento 2367 mi  3809 km  Davis Railroad Depot 2411 mi  3880 km  Martinez 2430 mi  3911 km  Richmond 2438 mi  3924 km  Emeryville

The California Zephyr is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Emeryville, California, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. At 2,438 miles (3,924 km) it is Amtrak's longest route and is also one of the most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada.^[2]

Prior to the formation of Amtrak, 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 CB&Q, D&RGW and WP christened "the most talked about train in America" on March 19, 1949, with the first departure the following day. It was purposefully scheduled so that the train passed through the most spectacular scenery on its route in the daylight. The original train ceased operations in 1970, with the D&RGW continuing to operate its own passenger train service, the Rio Grande Zephyr, between Salt Lake City and Denver using the original equipment until 1983. Since 1983 the California Zephyr name has been applied to the current Amtrak service, which operates daily and is a hybrid route between the route of the original Zephyr and that of its former rival, the City of San Francisco.

During fiscal year 2012, the California Zephyr carried over 376,000 passengers, an increase of 5.9% from FY2011. The train had a total revenue of $47,605,728 during FY2012, which is a 6.4% increase from FY2011.^[1]

The original California Zephyr

The train in Altamont, California prior to its first run in 1949. The Vista-Dome coach "Silver Scout."

The original California Zephyr ran over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from Chicago to Denver, Colorado, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Western Pacific Railroad from Salt Lake City to Oakland, California. Cars owned by different railroads ran together; cars cycled in and out of the consists for service, repairs, and varying passenger loads with the seasons.

The first train was christened in San Francisco by Eleanor Parker while California Lieutenant Governor Goodwin Knight, Mayor of San Francisco Elmer Robinson, and WP President Harry A. Mitchell looked on. For the inaugural run in 1949, every female passenger on the train was given a corsage of "silver" and orange orchids that were specially flown in from Hilo, Hawaii. The women who worked as car hostesses on this train were known as "Zephyrettes."^[3]:68

In summer 1954 the schedule for 2532 miles Chicago to San Francisco was 50 hr 50 min. An eastbound California Zephyr traveling through Ruby Canyon saw the train's first on-train birth on March 1, 1955, when Reed Zars was born.

The Zephyr was not immune to the decline of passenger train travel in the 1960s. The Western Pacific applied to discontinue its portion in 1966 but the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) refused after public outcry. The D&RGW made the same request in 1969 and in 1970 the ICC finally permitted the Western Pacific to end its portion, provided that the D&RGW and Burlington provide "some semblance of [service]" between Chicago and Ogden, Utah. The last westbound California Zephyr through to the west coast departed Chicago on March 22, 1970 and arrived in Oakland two days later. The California Zephyr had operated for 21 years and 2 days. East of Salt Lake City the train was reduced to a tri-weekly schedule, operating as California Service on the Burlington and as the Rio Grande Zephyr on the Rio Grande. The Rio Grande portion of the train was extended beyond Salt Lake to Ogden, Utah, allowing Nevada and California passengers to connect to the Southern Pacific Railroad's City of San Francisco. This continued until the creation of Amtrak on May 1, 1971.^[3]:69–70

"Zephyrettes"

The California Zephyr was marketed (especially to families) as "...a vacation unto itself." Train hostesses, while not new to the industry in the late 1940s, were elevated to a new level on the CZ in the form of the "Zephyrette." The "Zephyrettes" functioned as social directors, tour guides, babysitters, nurses—in short, they filled just about any role required to ensure that the passengers had a memorable trip. A pool of about twelve women was assigned at any one time to the CZ in this capacity.^{[citation needed]} When Amtrak revived the California Zephyr in 1983 it invited one of the original "Zephyrettes", Beulah Bauman, to host the first trip.^[4]

A pair of the Western Pacific's Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs), replacements for the discontinued Royal Gorge (trains No. 1 and 2) also picked up the name "Zephyrette."^[5]:26 These were in service between September 17, 1950 and October 2, 1960 ^{[citation needed]}

Amtrak era

Amtrak California Zephyr (interactive map)

An EMD FP7 and two EMD SDP40Fs pull the eastbound San Francisco Zephyr through the Yuba Gap in 1975.

Amtrak intended to revive the California Zephyr as part its original route network in 1971, using a combination of the Burlington Northern east of Denver, the Rio Grande between Denver and Ogden, and the Southern Pacific west of Ogden, Utah. At the last minute the Rio Grande refused to join Amtrak, out of fears that the new company's passenger trains would interfere with profitable freight traffic. This forced Amtrak's new train on to the Union Pacific's Overland Route through Wyoming instead of Colorado. After several false starts Amtrak dubbed this service the San Francisco Zephyr, paying homage to both the California Zephyr and the San Francisco Chief. The Rio Grande continued to operate the Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Ogden.^{[6]:136–137}

In 1983 the D&RGW reversed its earlier opposition and elected to join Amtrak, citing increasing losses in passenger operations. Amtrak re-routed the San Francisco Zephyr over the D&RGW's main line between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah, its original preference from 1971. The change was initially scheduled for April 25, but a mudslide at Thistle, Utah closed the D&RGW's main line and delayed the change until July 16. With the change of route, Amtrak reinstated the California Zephyr name.^[7][8] The modern California Zephyr uses the mostly the same route as the original east of Salt Lake City. However, the route in Nevada and California is essentially the route of the former City of San Francisco train. The California Zephyr operates on the former Western Pacific's Central Corridor from Salt Lake City west until central Nevada, changing to the former Southern Pacific's Overland Route by the time the train reaches Winnemucca. As the two lines operate in a directional running setup across central Nevada, the exact spot the train switches lines is different depending on the direction of travel.^[9]

A small note in the July 2010 issue of Trains magazine stated that this train is listed not only for route improvement, but also to host a second route, the discontinued Desert Wind route.^[10] The following is what is listed for the Zephyr route:

• Possible Desert Wind extension, Salt Lake City-Los Angeles via Las Vegas, Nevada
• Possible equipment upgrades similar to that of the Empire Builder, possibly regardless if the first change is successful or not.

The Zephyr was involved in a notable collision on June 24, 2011, when a semi truck struck a westbound train about 70 miles (113 km) miles east of Reno, Nevada along US 95 near its intersection with Interstate 80. Six people were killed, including the truck driver and an Amtrak conductor, and dozens were injured. The resulting fire destroyed two rail cars.^[11] Witnesses reported that the crossing gates were functioning properly and that the truck driver tried to stop prior to the collision.^[12]

Route description

A pre-Amtrak California Zephyr in the Feather River Canyon.

Leaving Chicago's Union Station the Willis Tower can be glimpsed as the train passes urban industrial zones and bricked residential streets. The Chicago suburbs are expansive but traversed within the first hour of the train's journey, stopping once in Naperville, Illinois.

Heading west from Chicago there are many small towns as the train crosses the great plains towards Denver. The Burlington Rail Bridge across the Mississippi River affords a view of Burlington, Iowa and marks the state line between Illinois and Iowa.

At Denver the California Zephyr departs BNSF Railway-owned track. From Denver west, the train runs along the Union Pacific Railroad's Central Corridor. The scenery changes dramatically departing Denver as the train climbs the Rocky Mountains. After going through the Tunnel District then crossing the Continental Divide via the Moffat Tunnel under James Peak, the tracks follow the Colorado River for several hours. Passengers can see the transition from a narrow, whitewater river (popular with rafters, who habitually moon the train as it passes) to a much wider stream past Glenwood Canyon and Interstate 70 toward Grand Junction. The train finally departs the now much larger Colorado River after exiting Ruby Canyon which is also where the train enters Utah.

In Utah the train follows the southern rim of the Book Cliffs to their end near Helper. The train then crosses the Wasatch Mountains, cresting at Soldier Summit. After passing the Wasatch the train arrives at the Wasatch Front where most of the population of Utah is located.

Once the train reaches Salt Lake City the train loosely follows Interstate 80 until the terminus of the train in California. Both the freeway and railroad pass along the south shore of the Great Salt Lake and across the Bonneville Salt Flats towards Nevada.

The Humboldt River provides the path across most of Nevada. However, before the train reaches the Humboldt river, it crosses through 2 mountain ranges, tunneling under the Pequop Mountains. The tracks cross the center of the Forty Mile Desert, on the other side of this desert valley is the Truckee River which provides the train's path to Reno and up the Sierra Nevada in California.

In California, the train crests the Sierra Nevada at Donner Pass and descends following a high ridge between the American and Yuba Rivers. Eventually, the California Zephyr reaches the lowland areas of the California Central Valley. The trip ends in Emeryville, a suburb of Oakland. From Emeryville the free Emery Go Round shuttle connects passengers to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, or a Thruway Motorcoach provides connecting service to downtown San Francisco (with sweeping city views along the way).

The original California Zephyr used the Feather River Route as its path through the Sierra Nevada. The rails are still in use for freight; however, anyone wishing to see this portion of the original route must now use State Route 70 which runs parallel to the old Western Pacific track.

Equipment

The Budd Company manufactured six ten-car trainsets; three went to the Burlington, two to the Western Pacific and one to the Rio Grande. In line with the train's sightseeing schedule, each set included five of the new "Vista-Domes" (three coaches, a dormitory-lounge, and a dormitory-observation car). The California Zephyr was the first long-distance train to carry domes in regular service.^[3]:68 The Pennsylvania Railroad owned a single 10-roomette 6-double bedroom sleeping car, the Silver Rapids, which was used for through service to New York City.^[14]:220

The forward section of the first Vista-Dome car was partitioned off and reserved for women and children. There was a door in the corridor under the dome just behind the women's restroom to the reserved section. Early on, this reserved section was opened up to all passengers and the door and partitions were removed. Ownership of the cars was split between the three railroads almost evenly across all car types. Each car was owned by one railroad, but the ownership of the cars in any one day's train depended more on what was available at the terminals than whose railroad the train was operating over.

Generally positioned as the second Vista Dome coach was the car referred to as the "Conductor's Car". This car was like the other Vista Dome coaches, except in the B end, was a small booth with a bench seat and desk for the Conductor.

In 1952 another Pullman sleeper (6 double bedrooms - 5 compartments) was added to each consist. With the new cars delivered that year, cars arriving in Chicago on the California Zephyr were made available for use on the Ak-Sar-Ben Zephyr for an overnight round trip to Lincoln, Nebraska. When the cars returned from Lincoln the next day they were placed back in the westbound California Zephyr's consist for the next train out of Chicago that afternoon.^{[14]:221; 225[15]:140}

Preservation

The former California Zephyr dome coach Silver Lariat en route to Oakland on the Coast Starlight at San Luis Obispo. The former California Zephyr dome coach Silver Bridle in service with the Inland Lakes Railway at Plymouth, Florida.

The high quality Budd-built cars of the California Zephyr have proven to be popular with private car owners. Several operate in private charter service on Amtrak, including dome-observation car Silver Solarium,^[15]:155 dome-coach Silver Lariat, sleepers Silver Rapid and Silver Quail and a dome lounge now known as the Sierra Hotel.

Six museums currently hold equipment once used on the California Zephyr:

• the Illinois Railway Museum owns several Burlington locomotives that were used to pull the train on occasion.
• the Colorado Railroad Museum has two Rio Grande locomotives that also saw California Zephyr and later Rio Grande Zephyr service.
• the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Florida owns two former Western Pacific Railroad California Zephyr cars: baggage car Silver Stag and dome-observation car Silver Crescent.
• the Avon Park Depot Museum in Florida owns one former Western Pacific California Zephyr car: the "Silver Palm;" originally a sleeper car, it is now a buffet dining car that the museum uses for dinner parties. The car was converted to its buffet car state by the Auto-Train Corporation when they bought the car.^[16]
• the Austin Steam Train Association, which operates the Austin & Texas Central Railroad in the Hill Country between Cedar Park and Burnet, has completed its restoration of the Silver Pine. Originally a 16-section sleeper manufactured in 1948 by the Budd Company, the coach car re-entered revenue service in 2011 - for the first time since its Denver & Rio Grande Western days.
• the largest collection of preserved equipment can be found in Portola, California at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. One locomotive and four cars are currently preserved there as part of the museum's "Zephyr Project" restoration program. Western Pacific 805-A is the last intact locomotive built specifically for the California Zephyr. The cars include dome-lounge Silver Hostel, dome coaches Silver Lodge and Silver Rifle (on long term loan from the Golden Gate Railroad Museum) and the Silver Plate, which is the last intact dining car left from the train's fleet.

Replicas

A non-functional replica of the California Zephyr was located at Disney California Adventure Park theme park in Anaheim, California. The train served as the location of Baker's Field Bakery and Bur-r-r Bank Ice Cream counter service cafes at the Sunshine Plaza main entrance area of the park. The exhibit closed on July 31, 2011, as part of a reconstruction of the attraction. Disney donated the replica to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California.^[17]

See also

• CB&Q Denver Zephyr
• Longest train journeys

References

• Kisor, Henry (1995). Zephyr: Tracking A Dream Across America. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. ISBN 978-1-55850-477-6. 
• "The Zephyrettes". California Zephyr Virtual Museum. Retrieved May 28, 2006. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to California Zephyr.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for California Zephyr.

• Amtrak - California Zephyr
• California Zephyr Museum Online
• The California Zephyr, Legendary Passenger Train of the West