THE AMAZING CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR STORY-1940-1970

[Music] this compilation of the famous California zeper uses engaging segments from a number of our fulllength DVDs relive a complete picture of the three railroads that created the most talked about train in the USA be sure to subscribe and like for more historic rail views in the future the Western Pacific Railroad was completed in 1910 it stretched from the San Francisco Bay Area East to Salt Lake City Utah it became part of the Union Pacific Railroad by 1982 between those years it was best known for the famed Feather River Canyon route and the 1949 to 1970 operated California Zephyr or CZ but much of the wp remained hidden to the public the Great Basin deserts were crossed in darkness on the CZ so the daylight hours could be in the Feather River Canyon the CZ was known as America's most talked about train the CZ ran from Oakland to Salt Lake City on the wp it continued East on the Rio Grand railroad from Salt Lake City to Denver and the CBN Q railroad from Denver to Chicago after the SP mole closed the westbound CZ would drop Oakland passengers off at the Third Street Station and then continue to Middle Harbor Road where San Francisco bound passengers would offload to connecting [Music] buses the westbound on CZ was train number [Applause] 17 Third Street funneled all WP traffic from their yard to head south or timetable East this included Freight passenger and local switching to nearby industries switchers were painted black before for the Zephyr days that brought orange and silver to all diesel power after picking up the passengers bust over the Bay Bridge the eastbound CZ train number 18 took the yard lead out to Third Street to ease down to the Third Street Station to pick up East Bay passengers from the cab of Eastbound number 18 powered by F units we cross the SP main tracks before turning on to Third Street this train will leave the Oakland station by 10:45 a.m. passengers left to San Francisco at 10:00 a.m. and they're already bust over and on board our [Music] train the 1910 built Third Street station is off to the left of the street passengers grouped up along the curb way eventually moving out onto the street in anticipation of the train they were waiting for the next train will be a special fan trip with an F7 Freight diesel number 924a on the point the B unit that was equipped with a steam boiler for heat and a mix of old heavyweight and newer Zephyr cars this late 1960s fan trip special ran from Oakland to Orville in back the trip substituted camera bags for the usual suitcases this trip was arranged by the Pacific Coast chapter of the railroad and locomotive Historical Society an eastbound California zepher train number 18 Works its way down Third [Music] Street [Music] here's another look at the station the building still stands at third and Washington Street in Oakland and after 1970 it had various commercial businesses Now train 18 leaves at 1045 a.m. to head down Third Street these tracks were removed after the Union Pacific B the wp's old rival the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1996 the SP being the first into town had the better easement and didn't face this rather dicey Street running even today Third Street is lined with busy produce distributor businesses with their crate and forklifts crawling out onto the pavement a lot of things along the line have changed since then Clinton is 3 Mi south or time table east of the Oakland yard [Music] passengers riding for the first time got to see this industrial side of life before the scenery would look much like the travel brochures they had seen [Music] before in a few years the BART commuter system would begin its [Music] construction here you can see the construction and progress as a 1970 era Zephyr Races by this is an AC Transit bus yard before buses took over and long before Bart the East Bay had electric rail service provided by the key system and also the SP red trains we covered both these electric lines in previous video [Music] productions numerous grade Crossings brought slow goinging with many vehicles testing their [Music] luck we passed the Pacific state steel plant in Union City this plant closed in 1978 next we cross Alam Creek that flows out of Nile Canyon where our tracks are headed rounding a 90° Curve will stop at the Niles Depot by 1956 it was renamed the Fremont Station great cars on the sightings are part of the facility here that interchanges with and crosses the Southern Pacific [Music] Railroad we've traveled 25 mil from Oakland at 11:22 a.m. it's our first stop we left the Third Street Station in Oakland at 10:45 a.m. behind F3 number 803- built in 1947 here at Niles on another day the lead unit is fp7 number 804a followed by a pair of B units [Music] [Music] the fourth unit number 593 is an unpowered steam generator car for the heating system three of these were purchased from the Great Northern Railroad by November 1968 to supplement the capacity of the heating boilers and the Aging locomotives the wp was in an economy mood since the CZ had been losing money for a number of years they had already decided to end the California ZR service soon and they weren't about to purchase new power at this point next we'll see a West bound Freight led by Passenger fp7 805a this wasn't that uncommon for short [Music] runs leaving East from the Station trains crossed the Southern Pacific track this Crossing was protected by a Mann Tower the orange tracks are the wp and the yellow tracks are SP in a small yard area in front of the station a 1959 built G P20 is busy moving a few cars [Music] around a gp20 heads eastbound with a short local on an embankment leading to the Niles Tower you can see in the distance here's a look at the tower looking toward the station from the other side of the tower we'll see a westbound work TR led by a 1955 built [Music] gp9 the Tower was burned down by vandals in the 1980s back to the wp Mainline at Niles Junction we will cross the SP line and head to Stockton through Niles Canyon the wp line shares the canyon with another SP track and Niles Canyon Road [Music] [Applause] [Music] suddenly the scenery promised in the travel brochures is delivered this is especially true in the springtime here the train passes by an old brick Factory that today only has a few tall Smoke Stacks to Mark its presence this Factory was built before the wp L tracks through here the structure above the tunnel portal is called The Secret Sidewalk by some locals today and they have fun debating its purpose tunnel one is 4,321 Ft in length [Music] we have a slow order here today to protect track [Music] workers tunnel 2 is 407 ft in length above the portal the date shows [Music] 1909 [Music] off to our left on the other side of the Pleasanton sunel Road the SP tracks bring a westbound Freight and a WP siding brings a waiting westbound Freight this is around mile post [Music] 43 the power now crosses the aroyo delal with a large High School in view this is the same Crossing from the Dome car this is in [Music] Pleasanton this would be the best car to ride on the staff on this train was the best qualified and had an unmatched degree of training even the passengers in coach had comfort in large reclining chairs with spacing for the longest lake Passengers The Dome seats were not sold and were available for all passengers the food was cooked on board by chefs when busy there were up to six waiters moving quickly in both Direction CS with trays of food down the narrow aisleway a good sense of balance was necessary balance efficiency and economy of movement was needed in the cramped kitchen area not to mention culinary skills in contrast to this activity passengers were like islands of calm enjoying the food and the view outside their windows The View North of Portola was beginning to look Majestic and worth pointing out to fellow Travelers this is on on the rerouted 27 Mi of the wp with new views of detained water and fine Bridges back in the post World War II era the passenger travel business was very competitive Travelers between San Francisco and Chicago had the SP the Santa Fe and the wp to choose [Music] from passengers also notice the dining car's table tilting a bit with a grade increasing [Music] here with gp35 number 308 on the point we meet a train with packaged Lumber [Music] loads up ahead is the bridge with tracks on the lower level and auto traffic on Highway 70 on the upper deck [Applause] between two tunnels is a brief patch of daylight this is the North Fork Bridge the old WP Mainline is visible at the other end with some stored cars on the old line off to the right you will notice poles that had wire grids if rocks slide down the wires are broken and the signals will alert the engineer that rocks are on the tracks ahead Rock slides were a chronic problem from the beginning in 1910 these Rock fences could never stop a slide but they were good at giving early warning if one [Music] occurred up ahead is PGA mile post 239.50 the High Bridge is for autos on Highway 70 this is from a high vantage point with a westbound Freight behind 6f units running down the grade that we are climbing on the [Applause] CZ one of the construction rules for the wp was that all grades be held to 1% or less less this was a big advantage over the SPs line over Doner that had 2% grades and a 2,000 ft higher elevation than the Feather River route on the wp the wp line between Sacramento and Salt Lake City was over 120 Mi longer than the sp's line but with the easier climb the wp was competitive [Music] [Music] on the sighing is a restored maintenance of whey train the canyon here was always in need of grooming everything else on the system was easy compared to keeping the Feather River Canyon open and safe [Music] up ahead a group of u30 BS wait with a freight on a siding in 1966 the railroad began buying General Electric u30 BS eventually totaling 21 units leading unit 754 came in by 1967 they had twice the horsepower of the old F7 locomotives from EMD they were built with EMD trucks salvaged from old f-units but with new GE traction Motors up ahead is The Rock Creek Bridge we'll cross it as a westbound first and then resume our eastbound [Music] run [Music] this is an auto bridge at Tobin below our WP Bridge here is at mil poost 253 we'll be on the other side of the river after crossing over this Bridge a series of short tunnels here have been nicknamed the honeymoon tunnels they were carved out of solid rock and here we find more rock slide detection fencing at times Rock slides have brought down Boulders the size of a house that weighed more than an F7 locomotive the more common smaller slides have been enough to derail trains and on such a narrow ledge the unpleasant thought was of locomotives spilling over the edge into the river [Music] below [Music] we'll retrace a on another day going westbound in the first dome car this would be around 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. if the train is on time judging from the Sun angle we're pretty close we are passing mile poost 2 62.5 approaching Beldon going westbound some of these tunnels have already received concrete Linings somehow they don't seem as compelling as the raw rock-faced tunnels the first of the honey Moon tunnels going west is number 22 here we are now at Rich bar mile post 264.7 heading east again in the [Music] locomotive the Feather River Canyon has long been known for its Scenic hotels and camps for [Music] visitors this is GRA Flat Lumber mill the wp once had a Spur to this location it must have been a steep run down there from up here around Paxton we reached 3,000 ft above sea level we've traveled about 270 M Tunnel 3 2 takes us to the Ketty y we'll cross the bridge into KY yard and next we'll take a diversion from the California zepher eastbound ride we're running over the KY y named for Arthur KY as is the yard ahead in the town nearby this westbound is headed for the East leg of Ky y this is the same scene but from above the Train the next scene is a Highline train running westbound on the west leg of the KY [Music] [Music] y the lead unit is 920d known for its oversized snow plow back in KY yard in eastbound grinds up the grade led by a [Music] u30b passenger F3 number 803a leads two B units and a steam generator [Music] car this abbreviated offseason California Zephyr has a mere seven passenger carrying [Music] cars from Ketty we'll head Eastbound and ride in the cab of a freight train to Portola [Music] this steam engine tender almost made it over the edge [Music] here up ahead is a westbound Freight it's waiting for us in a sighing the second locomotive is a Union Pacific pooled unit this was becoming a common site in the 1970s way before the up announced in 1980 its intentions to merge the wp into the up this is Quincy Junction that connected to the 3.27m long Quincy Railroad that served a lumber mill the Quincy opened in 1917 it's owned by the Sierra Pacific Industries WP and up pulled Cabo's before the [Music] merger we resume our run to Portola Over The Trestle east of [Music] quiny [Music] this would be considered as great scenery if we weren't already spoiled by the Feather River scenery in the canyon [Music] after we cross under Highway 70 our train will work its way up the Williams Loop this railroad spiral was in keeping with the wp's 1% grade [Music] mandate you can see the track above our location from here this engineering strategy is reminiscent of the sp's loop on their toah hat a line we are now crossing over the short tunnel we've just passed through a local behind a lone gp9 number 728 will run by us in the same direction of [Music] travel on the back is Caboose number 427 built in 1955 it was from a group of 35 ahead is Spring Garden with its 4630 ft Long [Music] Siding tunnel 35 is over 7,300 ft long although we've shortened it a bit [Music] here we've reached mile poost 300 notice the speed restrictions that are so prominent from about poga to after blairon where speeds go up to 40 this is Sloat that had a lumber mill associated with a mill back in Quincy [Music] this is the CIO Viaduct at Mile poost 314. 36 in another 7 miles we will be in Portola California today the wp facilities in Portola are part of the Western Pacific Railroad Museum the museum has an extensive collection of working locomotives and equipment and is open to the public from around April to October many of the things you have seen in this production have been preserved there as if the wp has never really left us tunnel 36 is a short 763 ft in length now we cross and recross the river when we reach Porta we will be at m poost 321 The Climb has us at 4832 FT with only 163 ft remaining the Peak at 4995 ft is 18 M ahead a westbound California zepher pulls into Portola to make a scheduled stop it will leave by 7:10 a.m. the trip through the Great Basin Desert was in darkness [Music] the brushless cleaners will clean the Dome car windows to remove dust picked up on the desert run and to better enjoy the scenery ahead in full daylight it looks like they missed a few spots on our window passengers will enjoy breakfast in the scenery we've already run through going east and by lunchtime they will be in Sacramento on their westbound [Music] [Music] trip we're going back through the other end of tunnel [Music] [Music] 36 we're on our way back West westbound to experience the Williams Loop once again first as a passenger and then as a track side viewer inside the loop near the tunnel portal [Music] we will return to the wp Mainline and see some highlights on the way across the desert to Salt Lake City this is the section the California Zephyr patrons missed this has been a Munitions Depot since 1942 an eastbound CZ passenger would be here at 7:30 [Music] p.m. we've crossed into Nevada at Flanigan this is where the SP modok line cuts into the wp it saved eastbound SP trains many miles to run modok trains to a connection at winam Maka here's the tie-in point these scenes are long before any locomotives had air conditioning temperatures here in the summer could be fatiguing the unending click clack of jointed track could eventually numb one's attention distant mountain ranges never seemed to get larger and time seemed to stand [Music] still we've reached gerlock Nevada at M poost 438 US Gypsum has a plant here that generated a lot of business for the wp when auka is a crew change Point our train will stop to change Crews after waiting for an earlier arrival to leave with their fresh [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] crew [Music] the SP and WP had shared tracks between a point near winoka all the way out to a point near Wells this dates back to World War I the wp line was assigned eastbound traffic and the SP line was assigned westbound [Music] traffic the SP and WP tracks run together through the Palisade Canyon along with the humble [Music] River at West Carlin a crossover track goes to the SP line the town of Carlin is ahead this is 4900 ft above sea level Carlin has a year year 2000 census of about 2,000 people this is the second crossover from the paired SP WP [Music] tracks we're approaching the 2342 ft long tunnel number 41 this is around M poost 649 the tunnel is receiving a new concrete tunnel lining on the other side is a portable tunnel platform [Music] the 1245 ft long Tonka spur has only an East End switch tunnel 42 is 172 ft [Music] long Elco Nevada is at 5,60 FT in elevation with a population of 18,000 [Music] today the brick Elco Depot on the left was built in 1959 it has been torn down and just about everything else here looks far different today the grade Crossings have all been eliminated trains can run through here now at higher [Music] speeds just past the tiny community of De the paired tracks pass under I80 at Allison on the way to Wells Nevada the SP and WP had a crossover just before the paired tracks split up we crossed the Nevada Northern tracks at shaer Nevada this westbound with up power and caboose is a WP train with pooled power we encounter more rock slide detection fencing through Cuts even out here in the desert after crossing the state line into Utah and passing Windover we're in Blair mile post 88.7 we are now on the eighth subdivision this is the edge of the Bonville Salt Flats it's so vast and flat here you can see the curvature of the [Music] Earth this is aragonite Utah named after the calcium carbonate [Music] mineral [Music] this is mile poost 868.42mhz down below this was filmed after a snow along the southern edge of the Great Salt Lake near stanbury Bay the Salt Lake Region once was called The Crossroads of the West supporting four major railroads the green track is the wp the red SP orange real grand yellow is the up by 1996 it all became up trackage at Mile poost 926 we're approaching West 200 South with the power plant visible on the other side of I80 off in the distance are the snow covered wasach mountains it's just one of the reasons to travel here to the greater Salt Lake Region long ago the wp tied up in Roper yard after passing by the Union Pacific the wp worked with the Rio Grand for connections east of here alos would soon be replaced by emdf units due to reliability problems with the ALCO Diesel and turbocharging system the train we're on is Alco powered but the meet with the office at CZ brings all EMD power as the crews from each train exchange greetings the Rio Grands Salt Lake City was a fine destination in its own right with a city visited by many for the lake nearby mountains and a city with its own attractions the Rio Grand Salt Lake Station was a grand but somewhat overbuilt Monument from the George Gould days of often misplaced extravagance as we leave the station we'll look at the CZ map and see how the westbound trip was scheduled to allow daylight travel in the most scenic areas the Rio Grand Ride was almost all daylight being the shortest segment of the trip notice the distance traveled on the Burlington Route in darkness compared to the Western Pacific and you'll have a better idea of the CBN Q's ability of running fast trains in the planning days of the CZ the CB andq was the senior planner and its credit rating helped underwrite the plan the queue was experienced at running trains efficiently and with high track speeds the queue served two demanding parents namely the Northern Pacific and great northern with St Paul to Chicago Connections their own Twin Cities train also had connecting service with the Northern Pacific and great northern cars such as these tacked on the end the CBN Q kept their track up to support speed safety and comfort and was never guilty of the Deferred maintenance so common in the' 60s the competition for business in their territory was fierce due to too many railroads and too much track built in the 19th century the passenger train was becoming a burden by 1960 but the CBN Q carried it well supporting mail and even commuter trains in one of the busiest rail areas of the country the CB andq was the Dependable anchor for the California Zephyr and was capable of making up for lost time on many an eastbound Zephyr that long Denver to Chicago run wasn't especially scenic but you could count on the q's partnership in those 21 years Partnerships weren't unusual the wealthy Union Pacific used The wob Bash into Chicago for several trains up also partnered with the SP on the city of San Francisco the SP and The Rock Island jointly ran the Golden State to mention a [Music] few however the partnership remembered best was the California Zephyr and the Western Pacific is the first Vision that comes to mind when people remember America's most talked about train the speediest part of the trip was on the SE and q's fast Mainline searing through the more ordinary scenery in darkness the war's end reawakened the interest in the California zeper it would take four more years before the train would operate over the CBN Q the Rio Grand and the Western Pacific but it was the last word in Zephyr and it would be worth the wait we leave the scenic San Francisco Bay area at 10:00 a.m. running down the old streets of Oakland and on the w P's tracks the wp was a latecomer to the West opened by 1910 and built mostly with money from the Gould Empire that owned the other partner of the California Zephyr the Rio Grand the Western Pacific had the Feather River Canyon route that was the main draw over the 928 miles to Salt Lake City in Utah the zepher continued through the Nevada desert and western Utah during the night to arrive in Salt Lake City [Music] Utah the passengers in the tailin dome observation car had the premium view with a bar for Pullman passengers and a quick climb up the staircase brought the famous dome car view of scenery the Denver and Rio Grand Western railroad bridged the zeper to the CBN Q in Denver Colorado the zephyr's menu included Fresh Brook Trout Prime Steak and dishes associated with the regions the train traveled through [Music] the Dome seats were unreserved and unsold seats and provided for all passengers coach and Pullman alike in the summer the Rio Grand's ride included sunlight all the way to Denver Colorado the California Zephyr left in darkness from Denver to run 1,000 34 miles to Chicago this was the fastest part of the trip and patrons would arrive in Chicago by 2: p.m. the next afternoon to better show the experience of leaving Denver eastbound we'll hop on a different train these views of the CBN Q Denver's zort to Chicago at the dawn of amtr era in 1971 give a few glimpses of late afternoon light the Denver ZR was equipped much like the California Zephyr the gleaming stainless steel cars and the silver e9s pulling up front were the influence of Ralph Bud of the CB andq the original California zhr 3 railroad Partners purchased the cars to support six 10c car trains the trains expanded to 13 cars with Rising popularity they all carried the California Zephyr name above the windows and Reporting marks of each Road at the car's [Music] ends [Music] the 2500 M Zephyr run took 2 and 1/2 days total and it was conceived from the start as a sightseeing experience it could compete with air travel with this Edge and the 2 and 1/2 days could still compare favorably with auto travel it offered more Comfort than both and passengers would arrive at either end of the system refreshed and in good spirits this strategy worked until the 60s in the expanded interstate highway system and with the arrival of jet air travel the cost of operation began to exceed revenues and the equipment was getting older The increased maintenance strongly suggested purchasing all new equipment all these factors were a burden that fell the hardest on the Western Pacific the wp was the first to realize the inevitable and the ICC allowed discontinuance in 1970 on March 22nd the Ralph Bud inspired California zeper tied up for the last time the California Zephyr experience lasted 20 years racing down the CBN Q's hot Mainline toward Chicago shows a well-maintained and operated line when the California Zephyr began operation on March 20th 1949 Ralph Bud was retiring Bud's Q was the strongest of the California ZR operators and it had the most influence on the Train's conception design and operation from the start the Q had the better Financial history and solid backing this greatly helped to drive the project when it started after the war everyone would miss the California zepher even the ones that never quite purchased tickets its passing was symbolic of some problems that were beginning to turn the rail industry upside down and it would take several decades and even government changes and laws to sort out the 77 California Zephyr cars built by the bud Corporation were larger and more refined versions of the original Zephyr they shared the same strong 18-8 stainless steel construction 18-8 is steel with 18% chromium and 8% nickel added for toughness and corrosion resistance The Zephyr cars all had the word silver in the car names to remind the public that they were riding something special the CBN Q Denver zeper continued all the way into the Amtrak era in 1971 with the CB andq itself already immersed in the Burlington Northern merger of [Music] 1970 the clean window policy was a standard that all the James Hill lines promoted and this car scrubber demonstrates the equipment the railroad industry was changing again and over the next 20 years there would be a lot of service changes mergers and even collapses the increasing labor costs eventually were 70% above the original costs the train was all state-of-the-art in 1949 but by the late' 60s the equipment was worn and difficult to maintain in the standards the train deserved back in Oakland at middle Harbor Road the eastbound Zephyr number 18 is preparing for its Journey the wp had trouble from the beginning with steam heating capacity and its F units eventually longer trains and aging boilers forced WP to buy steam heater cars such as this great nor an example these were painted to look like locomotives rather than break up the passenger car's stainless steel look the baggage car is a standard CBN Q unit and several other cars are non CZ in this train that was usually avoided but in later years equipment shortages and seasonally longer trains forced the compromise this train has five Dome coaches plus the tail observation dome for a total of six 1965 was the last year of any profit for the CZ each year thereafter the losses became higher of the three Partners the losses were hardest on the [Music] wp the old idea was to sell luxury not speed trips through the Feather River Canyon usually hovered around 30 mph a nice sightseeing speed on a full Zephyr 150 of the 250 passengers held coach tickets it became a tough sell to convince patrons that a two night sleep in a coach seat was a luxury trip as mere basic Transportation the train could only fail overall the CZ had a fine near 80% occupancy record that would have made many other roads happy however there will remain the issue that the train only held 250 patrons total per trip larger crowds like true cruise ships may have made a difference in the economy of scale we'll never know the wp was the first of the three Partners to file for discontinuance the most reluctant was the CBN Q if you rank the three partners by gross income you can see why the wp came to the conclusion first it was lower ranked in total income than the Rio Grand and it had a longer part of the Zephyr run the disasters of snowstorms floods slides and expensive wrecks that fell on WP in 1969 were the final blows a good company was now fully in the red and the passenger train was a luxury it could no longer afford WP had put everything required into the train to keep it first class but it was time to quit the last full Zephyr ran on March 22nd 1970 these scenes on the Rio Grand are a reminder that it took two other great railroads to put something together as worthwhile as the California zepher the CBN Q had always been a stable and strong railroad but the Rio Grand like the wp had spent decades and several bankruptcies to work its way into a well-run road neither could afford running passenger Service as things had been for much longer but their response to the matter had some differences the great stations across the US were becoming ghostlike and it was still a year to wait for the partial rescue with a forming of Amtrak there was one consolation for Zephyr rail fans the Rio Grand would keep their section of the train running Against All Odds the CBN Q ran their passenger service for another year until Amtrak started in 1971 the Q had become part of the huge BM [Music] merger the Rio Grand had no interest running Amtrak trains on its mountainous Freight hauling [Music] tracks the grand carried its then tri-weekly zeer from Denver to Salt Lake for 13 more years the California zepher served its purpose for those 21 years the wp as well as the Rio Grand had built themselves into very good railroads their performance as Freight Carriers was now assumed good in part because of their performance as passenger haulers it had been worth the effort the Rio Grand zeper was coach only but it sometimes carried five Dome cars and maintained the full dining car just as if nothing had changed it carried the tradition of America's most talked about train

Channel: Charles Smiley Presents Videos

Views: 97,696

Keywords: California Zephyr, Western Pacific, US Passenger Trains, California Passenger Trains, Chicago Zephyr, CB&Q Railroad, Denver and RIo Grande Passenger Trains

Id: fwwqQU-fTb8

Length: 60min 17sec (3617 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 02 2024