An EMD FP7 and two EMD SDP40Fs pull the eastward San Francisco Zephyr through the Sierra in 1975.
(Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
SAN FRANCISCO ZEPHYR
The San Francisco Zephyr was an Amtrak passenger train that ran between Chicago and Oakland from June 1972 to July 1983.
History
From the start of Amtrak in spring 1971 until summer 1972, Amtrak service between Chicago and Oakland was provided by two trains: the Denver Zephyr, which operated daily between Chicago and Denver, and the City of San Francisco, which operated thrice-weekly between Denver and Oakland. After several false starts, Amtrak consolidated the two trains into one, the San Francisco Zephyr, paying homage to the California Zephyr and The City of San Francisco.
Because of the refusal of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to join Amtrak in 1971 and its decision to maintain its Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Ogden, Utah, the San Francisco Zephyr used the Union Pacific's Overland Route between Denver and Ogden. The San Francisco Zephyr and the Rio Grande Zephyr were scheduled as to facilitate a connection between them in Ogden (but not Denver).
The San Francisco Zephyr traveled over rails owned and operated by three railroads: the Burlington Northern between Chicago and Denver, the Union Pacific between Denver and Ogden, and the Southern Pacific between Ogden and Oakland.
In July 1980, the San Francisco Zephyr was outfitted with Amtrak's new bi-level Superliner passenger cars – one of the last western trains to receive them – and began exchanging through cars at Ogden with the Seattle–Chicago Pioneer and the Los Angeles–Chicago Desert Wind. Between Ogden and Chicago, the Zephyr, Desert Wind, and Pioneer operated as a combined train.
In 1983, the D&RGW chose to join Amtrak, citing increasing losses in passenger operations. Amtrak re-routed the San Francisco Zephyr over the D&RGW's line between Denver and Salt Lake City, which was its original preference in 1971. The change was 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 renamed the train California Zephyr.
In media
In an episode of the British program Great Railway Journeys, broadcast in 1980, the presenter Ludovic Kennedy travels from New York to Los Angeles by rail, riding on the San Francisco Zephyr between Chicago and Oakland.
Route (Distance-City)
0 - Chicago
38 mi / 61 km - Aurora
83 mi / 134 km - Mendota
104 mi / 167 km - Princeton
131 mi / 211 km - Kewanee
162 mi / 261 km - Galesburg
179 mi / 288 km - Monmouth
205 mi / 330 km - Burlington
233 mi / 375 km - Mount Pleasant
280 mi / 451 km - Ottumwa
360 mi / 579 km - Osceola
393 mi / 632 km - Creston
496 mi / 798 km - Omaha
551 mi / 887 km - Lincoln
648 mi / 1043 km - Hastings
702 mi / 1130 km - Holdrege
780 mi / 1255 km - McCook
922 mi / 1484 km - Akron
956 mi / 1539 km - Fort Morgan
1034 mi / 1664 km - Denver Union Station
1085 mi / 1746 km - Greeley
1137 mi / 1830 km - Cheyenne
1184 mi / 1905 km - Laramie
1301 mi / 2094 km - Rawlins
1420 mi / 2285 km - Rock Springs
1435 mi / 2309 km - Green River
1535 mi / 2470 km - Evanston
1610 mi / 2591 km - Ogden
1831 mi / 2947 km - Elko
1859 mi / 2992 km - Carlin
1976 mi / 3180 km - Winnemucca
2147 mi / 3455 km - Sparks
2151 mi / 3462 km - Reno
2185 mi / 3516 km - Truckee
2251 mi / 3623 km - Colfax
2304 mi / 3708 km - Sacramento
2317 mi / 3729 km - Davis
2344 mi / 3772 km - Suisun-Fairfield
2361 mi / 3800 km - Martinez
2381 mi / 3832 km - Richmond
2390 mi / 3846 km - Oakland
Overview
Service type: Inter-city rail
Status: Discontinued
Locale: Western United States
Predecessor: City of San Francisco/Denver Zephyr
First service: June 11, 1972
Last service: July 15, 1983
Successor: California Zephyr
Former operator: Amtrak
Route Termini: Chicago, Illinois / Oakland, California
Stops: 36
Distance traveled: 2,390 miles (3,850 km)
Train numbers: 5, 6
Technical
Track gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)