California Zephyr
The California Zephyr is an Amtrak long-distance train that runs between Chicago and Oakland or San Francisco on a spectacular scenic route through the Rocky Mountains . The train meanders through tight curves, many tunnels and narrow canyons .
history
Emergence
The train first ran in 1949, when the three US railroad companies Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Burlington Route), Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (Rio Grande) and Western Pacific Railroad agreed to jointly run a train on the connection between Chicago and Operate San Francisco. For this purpose, the Waggonfabrik Budd has procured a joint fleet of vehicles in a modern lightweight construction made of stainless steel. This included dining cars , sleeping cars , passenger coaches and observation car (Dome Cars).
The locomotives and operations between Chicago and Denver were on the Burlington Route , from Denver to Salt Lake City on the Rio Grande and for the western section to San Francisco / Oakland the Western Pacific .
The California Zephyr was a direct competitor to the City of San Francisco streamlined train operated by Union Pacific in cooperation with Southern Pacific and Chicago & North Western since 1936 .
The travel time of the California Zephyr was longer than that of the competition due to the crossing of the Rocky Mountains. Therefore, in order to win customers, the California Zephyr placed emphasis on the ambience and offered a rail cruise.
Temporary end
The California Zephyr joint project was maintained until March 1970, after which the Western Pacific got out because the train only brought losses. The connection was split into two parts: A pair of night trains, the Denver Zephyr , from Chicago to Denver, operated by the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN). In Denver, this train was connected to the Rio Grande Zephyr day train operated by the Rio Grande , which crossed the Rocky Mountains during the day and remained so attractive for American train travelers. However, this operating concept only lasted a year.
On Amtrak
Amtrak, a pure railway company , merged the two trains California Zephyr and City of San Francisco to form a new " San Francisco Zephyr ", which used the BN railway infrastructure between Chicago and Denver , then that of the Union Pacific to Ogden and that of the Union Pacific in the west Southern Pacific . The Rio Grande operated parallel to the Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Salt Lake City on its own account. This was one of the last three privately operated long-distance trains in the United States. The Rio Grande did not give up the train until 1983 . Amtrak responded and led the previous San Francisco Zephyr - supplemented by through cars to Seattle (as Pioneer ) and Los Angeles (as Desert Wind ) - again from Denver to Salt Lake City via the operationally difficult Rocky Mountains route. The fleet of cars had meanwhile been converted to modern double-decker long-distance coaches. This offer was given the traditional name California Zephyr . The through cars to Seattle and Los Angeles were discontinued in 1997.
Today's offer
Today, during the summer high season, the train consists of up to 20 double-decker passenger cars , plus a number of express freight cars and truck trailers between Chicago and Denver . Up to four diesel-electric locomotives with 3090 kW each are pre-tensioned for the train. A total of 33 intermediate stops are served on the journey through seven US states ; the total travel time is 52 to 53 hours according to the schedule. The City of San Francisco managed the same distance in under 40 hours in 1936. The California Zephyr uses rail infrastructure from two providers:
- BNSF Railway between Chicago and Denver;
- Union Pacific Railroad between Denver and Oakland.
The train performs two-storey seat ( Coach Class ) and sleeping car ( Sleeper ). The latter have four types of sleeping cabins. A dining car and a viewing car with a bistro are also included.
In 2010, 377,876 passengers used the California Zephyr , 9 percent more than in the crisis year 2009 . In 2011, the number of passengers fell by 7 percent.
Route description
The route length is approx. 3900 kilometers. The train uses the Central Pacific Railroad , the first transcontinental railroad crossing through the United States , for its journey between Sacramento and Wells (Nevada) , whereby the route at Donner Pass was defused by a longer tunnel in 1993. From Wells , the California Zephyr takes a more southerly route, via Salt Lake City and Denver , so it does not cross the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit .
Chicago Union Station is the starting point for westbound trains . After the train has left the city, it travels through many small, agricultural communities on the Great Plains that arose along the railway line in the 19th century . The train crosses the Mississippi in Burlington, Iowa .
To the west of Denver, the landscape changes dramatically: The train is now traveling up steep ramps, through many curves and numerous tunnels, up the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains. With the Moffat tunnel as the apex tunnel , the North American continental watershed will be driven under. From its western portal, the train follows the Colorado River through a series of canyons to Grand Junction for several hours .
In Utah, the route follows the southern edge of the Book Cliffs . She then crosses the Wasatch Mountains to reach Salt Lake City . The route runs along the south bank of the Great Salt Lake and over the Bonneville Salt Flats towards Nevada . Here the route essentially follows the Humboldt River . The next major city is Reno . This is where the ascent to the Sierra Nevada and California begins . The Sierra is crossed on the Donner Pass . After the descent, the California Zephyr reaches the California Central Valley . The journey ends at the Emeryville train station , in the suburbs of Oakland. Only the Bay Bridge leads to San Francisco on the other side of the San Francisco Bay , a bridge exclusively for road traffic. The train does not go around the bay by rail. Passengers heading to San Francisco must continue the final miles of their journey on an Amtrak shuttle bus.
literature
- Amtrak 2011/2012. America. 40th Anniversary - 1971-2011 , p. 46.
- Amtrak System Timetable. Effective May 7, 2012 - October 1212 , p. 91.
- Henry Kisor: Zephyr: Tracking A Dream Across America . HarperCollins Publishers, New York 1995. ISBN 978-1-55850-477-6 .
- Mike Schafer and Joe Welsh: Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon . MBI Publishing Co., St. Paul, MN, 1997. ISBN 0-7603-1371-7 .
- Robert J. Wayner (Ed.): Car names, numbers and consists . Wayner Publications, New York, NY, 1972.
Web links
- California Zephyr. Chicago - Denver - Emeryville, CA (San Francisco). Amtrak, accessed July 23, 2010 .
- California Zephyr Virtual Museum. Retrieved July 23, 2010 (English).
- The California Zephyr, Legendary Passenger Train of the West. Retrieved July 23, 2010 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Amtrak System Timetable, p. 91.
- ↑ Amtrak System Timetable, p. 87.
- ↑ AMTRAK SETS NEW RIDERSHIP RECORD, THANKS PASSENGERS FOR TAKING THE TRAIN (link to PDF download) . Amtrak. October 11, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2010.