The ''San Francisco Zephyr'' was an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passenger train that ran between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

from June 1972 to July 1983, when it was renamed to the

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

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 Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 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 The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

to join Amtrak in 1971 and its decision to maintain its '' Rio Grande Zephyr'' between Denver and

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

, the ''San Francisco Zephyr'' used the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

'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

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 carsone of the last western trains to receive themand 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 Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, which was its original preference in 1971. The change was scheduled for April 25, but a

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

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 ''

''.

In media

In an episode of the British program ''

Great Railway Journeys ''Great Railway Journeys'', originally titled ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figu ...

'', 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.

References

External links

{{Former Amtrak routes Former Amtrak routes Night trains of the United States Passenger rail transportation in Illinois Passenger rail transportation in Iowa Passenger rail transportation in Nebraska Passenger rail transportation in Colorado Passenger rail transportation in Wyoming Passenger rail transportation in Utah Passenger rail transportation in California Railway services introduced in 1972 Railway services discontinued in 1983 Former long distance Amtrak routes