On the rails again: The Amtrak Experience (12): Great American Journey by train

51 hours in the California Zephir # 5 from Chicago to Sacramento

As grand as it may look like, Chicago’s Union station was only one of several grand stations in Chicago. For a long time it had to share the fame with Dearborn station, LaSalle street station, Grand Central Station, Chicago and Northwestern Station and Central station. It was built in 1925 to serve the Chicago and Alton Railroad, Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Burlington Route), Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road), Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railway, the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Panhandle) and the Pennsylvania Railroad. When Amtrak took over all the passenger services in the USA Union station became the only long distance passenger terminal in Chicago.

Christmas tree in the main concourse of Chicago Union station

The decoration of the Christmas tree which 3 weeks after christmas still dominates the great hall of the station symbolizes those private railway companies. Instead of the usual ornaments it is decorated with the logos of different railway companies which once served the Chicago area.

The main concourse of the station

Like most of the grand station buildings of the time the station has a columned Beaux-Arts facade from Bedford limestone. The interior of the grand hall is decorated with massive Corinthian columns, marble floors, brass lamps and ornate clocks.

Amtrak first class and sleeper passengers have access to a lounge. After you show your ticket you get a blue wrist-band to show your status and have access to the amenities which not only include luggage storage, comfortable armchairs and sofas but also a good selection of beverages, drinks and snacks. The walls are decorated with photos of those famous engines and trains used by the railway companies competing in their race to Chicago like New York Central’s Hudson’s and Pennsylvania Railways T-1’s. Even today it is much more enjoyable to wait for a train here than anywhere in an airport for a plane. While we wait we are invited to make a reservation for our dinner on the train later. There will be two servings, at 5.30 pm and at 6.45 pm. The ticket in the sleeper compartments includes all the meals but only dinner needs a reservation. Lunch and breakfast are first come, first serve. Beverages are included, but only one alcoholic.

A photo of the T-1 Duplex steam locomotive of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the lounge of Union station in Chicago

Eventually boarding of Amtrak train # 5, the California Zephyr, is announced. It will depart Chicago at 2 pm and hopefully will arrive at our destination in Sacramento, California, around 3 pm two days later. At around the same time long distance trains leave to San Antonio in Texas and Los Angeles. We are ushered through functional frigid corridors to the underground platform where the enormous double deck coaches wait for us.

The underground platforms are far less attractive than the station building

Next to a baggage car where you can check excess luggage for free (another big difference to airlines) there are three sleeper cars, a restaurant car, the observation car with a cafe and kiosk on the lower floor and two cars with coach seating. The train is pulled by engines number 79 and 168, the latter built by GE in 2001, so hopefully when one breaks down the other will be able to pull us to the next station.

Historic Amtrak locomotive 281 in the Sacramento Railroad Museum

This type of engine replaced Amtrak engines F40 PH built by GM-EMD. They were the first engines ordered for Amtrak to renew a fleet taken over from the various private rail companies. Engine 281 built in 1979 was donated in 2001 to the California Railway Museum in Sacramento from Amtrak.

In the observation car

American trains are around 70 cm higher and 15 cm wider than we are used to in continental Europe. On the Zephyr you walk along the train on the upper level. Roomettes are arranged on both sides of the aisle with the beds arranged in direction of travel, while the larger bedrooms have beds perpendicular to the direction of travel like in European sleeper trains. Most of the toilets and the shower of the sleeper car are on the ground level. A rather narrow winding staircase connects ground and upper level and it requires some energy to get a bigger bag up into the compartment. In the middle of the car is a coffee machine which offers fresh coffee in the morning after six or how long it lasts. Two bottles of water are provided in each room and there is more close to the coffee machine.

My roomette compartment in the superliner

These Amtrak superliners have a bit of a worn-out impression. My roomette is of a similar size as in the unfortunate Cardinal train some nights ago but misses some nice features of that newer car. There is no sink in the room, there are less and less bright lights, no luggage storage under the lower step of the staircase to the upper bed, no storage space upstairs, less hooks for your clothes and there is no window at the level of the upper bed. The upper bed does not move down horizontally but is folded away so that there is no chance to store things on the upper bed. However, for one person there is enough space and I manage to press my bag into the space under one of the seats. There is more luggage storage area on the lower floor of the car. It is possible to sit at the table when the chairs are not used for the lower bed but while the upper bed stays folded down. For the time being, however, the upper bed is folded away. The conductor, who has quickly explained the facilities, will come between 8 and 9 pm to make up the bed. Great disadvantage: there is no Wifi on the sleeper trains.

W's private bedroom in the Zephir (Fotos W.Rogge)

The famous toilet/shower (Foto W.Rogge)

My friend W., who has joined me in Chicago for the trip to Sacramento, has booked himself the much more expensive private bedroom. It offers much more space. Seated it could accommodate three, and even when two are sleeping there is another chair to sit. Next to an upper bed, a seat, a wider lower bed, which when folded away, offers a wide sofa type seat, it offers a toilet which doubles as shower so that you don’t have to balance down the narrow stairs for the facilities on the lower level.

The historic sleeping car of the Canadian National

How sleeping cars used to look like in the great time of railroads before the second world war can be seen by this example in the museum ion Sacramento. Canadian National Railways Sleeping Car No. 1683 St. Hyacinthe was delivered in 1929 by Canadian Car & Foundry Company of Montreal. These all-steel Pullman type heavyweight sleepers had ten open sections, one drawing room, and one compartment. The cars were named for Canadian cities beginning with the letter “S”. These open section sleepers with aisle-curtained upper and lower berths became less popular with passengers who preferred the privacy of roomettes and bedrooms now used by Amtrak. In the museum, a mechanical device rocks the car to simulate motion, berths are made-up, a lone passenger is sound asleep in his compartment, and lights of passing towns and grade crossings flash by the windows. A soundtrack simulates the typical night sounds of a fast-traveling heavyweight passenger train: the rhythmic clicking of the wheels, the distant whistle of the locomotive, and the descending Doppler effect of passing crossing bells. And that is how we expect it to be….

Even the roomette of the Zephir is more luxurious than the historic car

As soon as the train has left Union station in Chicago and we are settled in we proceed to the observation car. On the way we pass the restaurant where the tables are already nicely and invitingly set for dinner almost four hours away. Underneath the observation car is the cafe which is open until 11 pm. It offers drinks and snacks outside the mealtime hours.

Restaurant car of the Zephir set for dinner

On its route of 3500 km to California the Zephir passes the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Most of the stops on the way are brief, but sometimes the train stops long enough to get off. These stops are announced in advance to give everybody the chance to stretch the legs and have a cigarette when needed. Smoking on the train, of course, is strictly prohibited and they do not want to leave any doubt that you are detrained at the next stop when you smoke or vape anywhere.

Stop in Galesburg, Illinois

Engine 3006 of the CB&Q

The first long stop is in Galesburg, Illinois. Galesburg has been inextricably linked to the railroad industry. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) had major freight yards here. Unfortunately their nice depot was torn down in 1983. But there is a small railroad museum and during our stop here it is only a short walk to admire the enormous Hudson engine # 3006 of the CB & Q on display next to the active tracks. Those engines would have pulled our train a century ago. Galesburg also has a Historic District which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Farming is the main business in the great plains

Endless views

It gets dark early this time of the year. With the last light of the day we cross the enormous bridge across the Mississippi river at Burlington at 5.30 pm. When we sit down at our reserved dinner table at 6.45 pm it is pitch dark outside.

Crossing the Mississippi at Burlington

For sleeping car passengers the meals are included. In coach class, passengers can buy meals; breakfast will set them back 20 $, lunch 25 $ and dinner for 45 $. Each table is set with real cutlery wrapped in cloth napkins and plenty of garnish of coffee milk, sugar, pepper, salt and ketchup or mayonnaise. At first we are a bit astonished that we have to share the table with others for lunch and dinner although there are plenty of spare tables left. However, it is a good way to meet and talk to some of the fellow travelers on the train.

Our chinese table companions for the first dinner

This time we share the table with 2 Chinese students. In the beginning they are absorbed to their mobile phones although there is no internet on this train and the network in the rural regions we pass through is surprisingly weak and incomplete. However, eventually we manage to get in a conversation with at least one of them while the other stays quiet and absorbed. They already studied together at a university in Guangdong province in China and now study engineering in Chicago for a semester. With all the Anti-Chinese propaganda on the rise in the west it is quite surprising that there still is such a number of Chinese students allowed to study at western and in particular US universities. They go by train to Sacramento for a weekend and then fly back to their university.

The salad starter

I choose salad as a starter, steak as main course and a cheesecake for desert. Next to free soft drinks one alcoholic beverage comes for free with the dinner. There is a selection of beers and wines, all of which are also available for sale in the cafe downstairs.

Historic dining car in the Sacramento Museum

The restaurants in the Amtrak trains have a long tradition. American railway companies were proud of their food service. Restaurants had fancy porcelain and cutlery with company design. On the California Zephyr there is no silver cutlery but there still is metal cutlery with the Amtrak logo on it. Although the food comes on plastic plates it has a nice Amtrak design. Since the kitchen on this train is downstairs we don’t get a glimpse into it. The crews on the famous signature trains were able to serve over 300 meals per day out of their compact kitchen. Cooking aboard a dining car had its challenges. The space was cramped, the kitchen hot, the work hard, and the hours long. Each railroad had "signature" selections: Southern Pacific's bottomless salad bowl, Northern Pacific's Big Baked Potatoes, and Fred Harvey Service on the Santa Fe featuring fresh mountain trout caught the same day.

Historic dining car kitchen

Although the fancy stuff is past time the meals turned out on the Amtrak trains are nice and served efficiently and friendly. The service can easily compare with the restaurants on European trains. In particular the railway companies of nations who are so very proud of their food could learn from Amtrak how a restaurant on a train should look like.

In the observation car at night

After dinner we have another beer in the observation car. It is almost empty and we stare outside to detect the few lights in the empty landscape of the great plains of Iowa. There are short stops in Ottumwa and Osceola before we reach Omaha, Nebraska, the next possibility to leave the train to stretch legs. In particular Ottumwa would pose a good possibility to break the long journey for a day. The arrival time at around 7 pm is convenient, there are plenty of historical buildings and hotels in town located close to the station.

Historic Omaha station

Most people seem to retire to their cabins or seats early. I am afraid that I have to climb down from my bed at night to go to the toilet in the lower part of the train when I go to bed too soon. So I am one of the few who get out at the long stop in Omaha. A tank truck pulls up on the platform next to the train to refuel our two Diesel engines.

Our engines in Omaha ....

Omaha played an important role for the discovery and development of the American West. The site was first touched by Europeans when the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark passed through here on their way to cross the North American continent for the first time in 1804. In 1866 the Union Pacific Railroad began with the construction of the first transcontinental railway to the west out of Omaha. In 1872 the Missouri river bridge was opened to link the transcontinental railway to the eastern rail network arriving at Council Bluffs across the river in Iowa. Eventually many major railway companies served Omaha. Union station is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. Today the California Zephyr is the only passenger train passing through Omaha.

... getting fuel by truck on the platform

The only disadvantage of my upper bed is how to get in. When the safety belts between the bed and the ceiling are suspended it is difficult to turn around in the narrow space when you get into bed with the wrong end first. Since I cannot sit upright in this bed it is also difficult to spread out the blanket nicely around my legs. I had turned down the heating of the compartment to the lowest level. After some hours of sleep I wake up, it is cold and I have to pee. Getting out and down the two steps to the floor of the compartment proves easier than getting in. I turn up the heating again and spread out the second blanket I have got for the unused second bed before I venture down the spiral staircase to the lower floor of the car to the toilets.

Getting back up into the bed with the feet in the correct direction is more difficult. Eventually I manage and when I wake up in the morning after a good night’s sleep it is cozy and warm. It is 6.15 am Mountain time and the first traces of the orange-red of dawn appear in the east. I have slept across the border of the time zone which is west of the Zephyr’s stop at McCook in Western Nebraska. Mountain time is an hour ahead of Central time. I have slept another hour more.

First signs of a new day

While wagons and horses were used to travel across the expanses of the North American continent the question of time was not such an issue. With the increasing thrust of extending railways to the west it became apparent that some agreement had to be reached about the time used for the timetables. Dangerous situations could arise when different times were used by the operators. Train stations setting their own clock made it difficult to coordinate train schedules and confused passengers. Time calculation became a serious problem for people traveling by train, train drivers had to recalculate their own clocks in order to know departure time. Since many cities in the United States used different time standards there were more than 300 local sun times. Railroad managers tried to address the problem by establishing 100 railroad time zones.

Sunrise not far from Denver

Eventually four standard time zones for the continental United States were introduced at noon on November 18, 1883, in Chicago, IL. Telegraph lines transmitted time signals to all major cities. When in October 1884 the prime meridian for longitude and timekeeping was set to passes through the center of the transit instrument at the Greenwich Observatory in the UK the four US time-zones were referred back to the prime meridian. The border between Mountain time and Central time does not follow the borders of the western plains states like Kansas, Nebraska, South and North Dakota.

Amtrak dining car menu

When I get up I not only discover that the freshly brewed coffee is ready in the machine next to the stairway down to the lower floor but also that the car has a toilet on my floor. So I don’t have to go downstairs anymore, I think.

Omelet breakfast

Breakfast is served after 6.30 am. There are several different choices and I take the omelet which comes with a croissant and baked potatoes. We are finished when the train approaches Denver Union station.

Denver Union station

Commuter train in Denver

Denver Union station is a terminus. To avoid having to bring the engines to the other end of the train it first pulls into a siding and then backs up into the station. Since the Zephyr arrived early there is plenty of time to walk into the station hall. The present structure was finished in 1914 and renovated in 2012. The original art-deco structure is preserved and the hall is decorated with fancy chandeliers and colorful paintings showing the landscape of the Rockies. The station also harbors the styleful hotel Crawford.

One of the paintings in Denver Union station

Denver is at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains and Amtrak runs a special train to Fraser Winter Park which has left a short time before our arrival. This train allows Denver residents and visitors to go for a day trip of skiing without having to worry about road conditions. Some of our fellow passengers on the California Zephyr also have taken the train from Chicago to come skiing here.

The observation car is full west of Denver

The line across the Rocky Mountains west of Denver is one of the highlights of the California Zephyr. Consequently all the seats in the observation car are taken. The car is open to everybody on the train, also to the guests in the coach class. Many have boarded the train in Denver just to ride this part of the line for a daytrip. I have eavesdropped that it is best to sit on the right side of the train for the ascent to the summit and caught a spot early before the train left Union station. After departure at 8.46 am the conductor announces a two hour limit for the stay in the observation car so that everybody gets the chance. If people don’t comply he threatens to close the car to everybody.

The eastern approach to the Rocky mountains

When the first transcontinental railway was built in the 1860’ies the route later called the Overland Route by Union Pacific ran from Omaha, Nebraska to Salt Lake City via Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 1890 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad built a line crossing the Rockies via Tennessee Pass from Pueblo south of Denver to Grand Junction. Both lines bypassed Denver and therefore the city was interested in a direct rail connection across the mountains to the west.

Eastern Rocky mountains

In 1904 the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway eventually built a railway crossing the Rocky mountains west of Denver via Rollins Pass at 3,554 m. However, the conditions on this line were a nightmare. In winter trains were often stranded for several and even up to 60 days during heavy snowstorms even though most of the summit and even the summit station were enclosed in wooden snowsheds.

Big ten curve

When our California Zephyr leaves Denver and crosses the last foothills of the Rockies there is basically no snow. While we admire the view, announcements describe the main sights of the line.

Hopper cars welded to the tracks to prevent trains being blown down Big ten curve by the wind

The first is Big Ten curve. Here the railroad turns by 270 degrees. In the middle of the curve is a row of 27 hopper rail cars filled with cement. They were permanently parked here and welded to a parallel track as a wind block after containers had been blown down from the rails in this notoriously windy and snowy stretch of track.

Eastern Rocky mountains

The line slowly climbs up while passing through 23 short tunnels. This still is the part of the line which was built in 1904. In 1928 the problematic line across Rollins Pass was replaced by the new, one tube Moffat tunnel at a height of 2816 m. It is the highest point any Amtrak train reaches. The tunnel is 7.3 m high, 5.5 m wide and 10 km long and has a grade of 0.8%. Next to the train it was also constructed to bring fresh water from the western side of the continental divide to Denver.

Rocky mountains towering above the Zephir observation car

After a train has passed, the tunnel is ventilated by massive fans to get rid of the Diesel exhaust. Sensors evaluate when the next train can pass, usually after 20-30 minutes. For safety reasons the conductor asks to stay seated during the passage in the tunnel and not move from one car to another.

Snow in the higher Rockies

Moffat Tunnel is owned by the State of Colorado. Freight trains are operated by Union Pacific under a lease agreement. The California Zephyr uses the route through the tunnel since it is more scenic than the traditional UP Overland route. Other passenger trains in the tunnel are the ski train and the “Rockies to the Red Rocks” luxury train to Moab.

Fraser winter park looks like a ski resort looks like

Close to the continental divide the scenery changes. There is plenty of snow at this height. The first stop after leaving the western gate of the tunnel is the ski resort of Fraser Winter Park. It is called the “Icebox of the nation” since it recorded the coldest temperatures in the contiguous 48 states: a temperature of -41.7 C on January, 10th 1962. Many people get off at the stop at Fraser Winter Park. We get the chance to change to a seat on the left side of the observation car where we have a better view for the rest of this day.

Winding across the Rockies

We now descend into the snow covered valley of the frozen Colorado river. The next stop at 11.22 am is Gramby. On Friday, June 4th, 2004, Gramby came to fame due to what would be known as the Gramby killdozer rampage. The local owner of a muffler repair shop, Marvin John Heemeyer, had built up a grudge against some fellow citizens and the mayor. He armored a bulldozer with steel plates and used it demolish the Granby town hall, the house of a former mayor, and a dozen other buildings. He killed himself after the bulldozer became stuck during the destruction of the hardware store.

Near Gramby

Lunch we spend with Todd and Robert from Indiana. Both work for Siemens which has a big production facility for trolleys and locomotives in Sacramento. Although their work involves industrial engineering they are enthusiastic about locomotives. It is their first time on the train. Todd has to do some work but Robert is here merely for the pleasure. Although they like the train trip they will return to Chicago on a plane. There is no doubt that today such long train rides are only for pleasure and less as means of transportation.

The young Colorado river

While we eat our lunch, in my case an excellent vegiburger accompanied by the well-known buttercake, the train follows the course of the young Colorado river along a spectacular valley. Gorge is followed by another gorge, on both sides towering walls of Rocks.

In the observation car

While the eastern approach to the Rockies involved one sudden climb to the summit the western descent will take most of the remaining day. I spend it in the observation car afraid to miss another spectacular moment.

The young Colorado river

Meanwhile the long time spent on the rails takes its toll. The toilet on the upper floor which I had discovered in the morning is permanently closed since it is overflowing. Similarly W.’s private toilet in his luxurious compartment does not empty any more and accumulates content. As far as I understand the pump which operates the toilets is out of order. However, W.’s shower is still working and hot. I have decided to skip the possibility to have a shower in the bathroom on the ground floor of the car. Without much exercise I guess I do not accumulate lots of debris on my body.

Stop in Glenwood springs

The next stop to stretch our legs is at 14.45 in Glenwood Springs. Town, station and platform are covered in a layer of snow. Many of the remaining passengers seem to get off here and we seem to have a rather empty train for the next night.

Glenwood springs hotel where Doc Holiday died

There are numerous hot springs in the area and even in town some facilities have wells of mineral water of a temperature between 34 and 40 C. One hot pool is right next to the interstate freeway I-70. Across the street is historic hotel Colorado. The hotel is known as the last domicile of Doc Holiday. After the shoot-out at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona and his pursuit of the Cochise County Cowboys with Wyatt Earp, Holliday came to Colorado, where the governor had denied his extradiction. Doc Holliday, a dentist by education, professional gambler and gunfighter, died in Glenwood springs from Tuberculosis at the age of 36. He is buried at the local cemetery. Later the hotel also welcomed President Teddy Roosevelt as guest. Since the I-70 seems to be not sufficient as an attraction for the town they also built a cable gondola up to Fairy and Kings Row Cave.

Street outside the station in Glenwood springs

Glenwood springs had a branch line to the well-known Colorado ski area at Aspen. It is long gone. Aspen is surrounded by numerous peaks with summits above 3500 m, and to the south the wilderness of the main peaks of the Rockies go far above 4000 m.

Along the Colorado river

Beyond Glenwood springs the track continues following the canyon of the Colorado river. The train is dwarfed by the towering cliffs forming the narrow gorges. Unfortunately the viaducts of named I-70 disfigure the gorge considerably while the train runs smoothly downhill at the base of the cliffs.

Western Colorado

After the Rockies we have left most of the snow behind

The next extended stop is at Grand Junction. Here the line across the Rockies via Moffat tunnel meets the former Rio Grande Western Railroad’s crossing of the Rockies via Tennessee Pass from Pueblo. The Union Depot therefore had some importance. The original building from 1906 is still there. Boarded up and abandoned it is waiting for a renovation after being bought by private owners in 2016. It is on the National list of historic places since 1991 and on the list of Colorado’s most endangered places since 2010. It is questionable why it was replaced by a non-descript modern building just west.

Stop in Grand Junction

After we have left Grand Junction at 4.30 pm the track again initially follows the Colorado river on its way to the Red Rock labyrinth of southern Utah. However, while the river dumps into the abyss of the Grand Canyon the train climbs up to traverse Utah further to the North. In the last light of the day we can enjoy the first views of Red Rock columns, table mountains and gorges before darkness obscures any further observation. At the horizon we discover the typical silhouette of the La Salle mountains which we have seen on many common trips to the Utah desert.

Grand Junction

Somewhere here a short line branches off to the south to close-by Moab, the center of the Canyonlands area and jumping board into the namesake national park and Arches national park. Unfortunately this line only sees the odd luxury train but no regular passenger traffic.

Approach to the red rock canyons of Canyonland in Utah

This dinner we share the table with two young women. Nancy is chemistry teacher for freshmen in the Chicago area. Laura is from Detroit and runs a retail store. Both travel in a roomette and have met on this train. Nancy is visiting an aunt in the San Francisco Bay area. For both it is the first time on a train. For Laura this is entirely new: Detroit as the mother lode of car dissemination is devoid of any public transport or rail service of any kind.

Not far from here the Colorado river will drop into the Grand Canyon

While Europeans already as children get used to visit places abroad and meet different cultures few US citiczens have ever been outside the United States. Moreover it is surprising how little Nancy or Laura know about their own country. While we speak of our long gone adventures in the wilderness of red rock canyons which must be hidden somewhere outside under the dark cloth of darkness they admit of never even having visited places like Yosemite, Grand Canyon or Yellowstone. Lack of vacation days, tight schedules and lack of money do not permit any longer vacation. Nancy will only stay for a couple of nights in San Francisco without a big chance of any sightseeing and will fly directly back to Chicago.

Utah sandstone

We are almost alone in the observation car while we drink our Good Night beer and stare into the dark. The regular sound of the horn of the engine is becoming familiar. There are no lights in the Utah desert. Although I had the intention to at least have a look at Salt Lake city station I already miss our earlier stops in Green River and Helper, Utah.

The LaSalle mountains in the last evening light

When the first transcontinental railroad was built the Central Pacific started to lay track from the west across the Sierra Nevada towards Utah territory and the Union Pacific from Omaha in the east. The two railways were competing in who would be able to lay more miles of track in a day. Eventually the owner of the longest part of the line would earn more money. Most of the work was done by Chinese and Irish workers. In May 1869 the workers of the Central Pacific broke the record by laying 16 km (10 mile) of track in 12 hours, a single working day.

Simulation of a workcamp in the California Railroad museum

It had been agreed that the two railroads would celebrate the conclusion of the works by driving in a golden spike at Promontory in Utah. However, the Union Pacific had not paid their workers for a while. When their president was on his way to Promontory to attend the celebration the rails were blocked by workers on strike. It was the first railway strike ever. Suddenly the president was quite quick in collecting funds. On May 10th 1869 Central Pacific’s engine # 60 “Jupiter” and Union Pacific’s engine # 119 posed face to face with a crowd of railroad workers to celebrate finishing the Overland Route. Not invited were the Chinese: none of them can be seen on the famous photograph documenting the event.

Early morning in Eastern Nevada

The trains of today do not pass through Promontory any more. In 1904 the Lucin Cutoff, a new 165 km stretch of track from Ogden to Lucin, a few miles east of the Nevada border, was built. It included a 19 km wooden trestle across the Great Salt Lake. This line shortened the trip by 70.5 km, eliminated 3,919 degrees of curvature, and removed 462 m of climb.

The Nevada desert

The original line passing through Promontory was abandoned. Today it is a national monument. For the 110th anniversary of the termination of the Overland route in 1979 replicas of # 119 and # 60, which had been scrapped early in the 20th century, were built from federal money and the scene of the golden spike recreated. At the celebration of the 150th anniversary finally also the contribution of 15000 chinese workers, many of whom had died in the desert, was sufficiently honored.

Sunrise above the Nevada desert

When I wake up after the second night on the train the sun just about rises somewhere to the east in the cold desert of Nevada. Plains of sagebrush and the occasional cottonwoods are crisscrossed by many miles of vehicle tracks which stay visible in this dry environment forever. Settlements seem to mainly consist of mobile homes, tents or makeshift shacks surrounded by numerous car wrecks, garbage and discarded machinery. And above all proudly flies the flag in the early morning sun.

The Nevada sagebrush desert

An announcement breaks the news that we will have an unscheduled stop at Sparks. Nobody is allowed to get off since it is an active freight yard. The stop will be used to pump off the shit from those cars where the containers are overflowing. My friend W. is looking forward to finally be able to use his overflowing toilet again and I might be able to avoid the spiral staircase to the downstairs lavatories. But our high expectations are disappointed. Although a truck parks alongside our car and hoses are connected the toilets upstairs stay unusable. They were able to empty the containers but not to repair the pump.

Freight yard in Sparks

After breakfast the trains stops in Reno, Nevada, a station which is reduced to a concrete gully without any view of the surroundings. Lots of people get in to enjoy another spectacular ride: across the Sierra Nevada into California. Again there is an announcement that a two hour limit will apply for the use of the observation car. Expectantly we have occupied two seats on the right side of the car.

Truckee, California

From Reno the train climbs up to Truckee in California, our next stop. A couple of cars and a caboose form a little museum around the renovated old depot. After Truckee the California Zephyr seriously attacks the grades of the Eastern sierra by passing through a double horse shoe curve.

Across the Sierra Nevada in the observation car

There is a lot of news about forest fires in California. While we sit on the train a devastating fire has destroyed neighborhoods in the outskirts of Las Angeles, for example in Altadena close to where both of us have met years ago. These fires have caused numerous lives. Worrying is in particular that these fires occur in the middle of winter.

"How is the view on your side?" Big hole tunnel

The forests here in the Sierra along the track to Donner pass locks healthy and there are no signs of recent fires. The scenery is covered in snow but far less than in the upper reaches of the Rocky Moutains near Fraser Winter Park.

Entering a snow shed

After the line had been built in 1868 snow was a constant problem. Central and later Southern Pacific had constructed snowsheds on long stretches of the line to be able to maintain reliable service in winter. The wooden snow sheds of the time are mostly gone. Some have been replaced by concrete snow galleries. The long stretches of galleries and tunnels in the Sierra were the reason that Southern Pacific introduced oil fired so called Cab forward steam engines. Driver and firemen on the ordinary steam engines with the cab behind the boiler had a serious risk of suffocation when the engines were traveling up step grades very slowly through snow sheds and tunnels.

The last cab-forward engine in the California Railroad museum

The California Railway museum in Sacramento owns the last surviving cab-forward engine. Engine 4294 was part of SP’s AC-12 class of locomotives, the last new steam locomotives acquired by the company on March 19th, 1944 and the last of 256 cab-forward engines built after the first was delivered by Baldwin in 1910 to Southern Pacific. With a 4-8-8-2 wheel arrangements these locomotives were not only used in the Sierra Nevada but also on the Tehachapi Mountains, the Shasta Division or the Modoc route. # 4294 occasionally pulled the famous Overland Limited, the predecessor of the California Zephyr, over the Donner Pass route between Sacramento and Sparks, Nevada. Already after 12 years it was replaced by Diesel engines on March 5, 1956.

The front part of the oil fired engine coupled to the tender

From the train we get a good view of Donner lake with the snow capped crest of the Sierra Nevada in the background. There is only little snow on the tree covered slopes above the lake which is not even frozen. This was different in 1846.

Donner lake

On April, 15th 1846 George Donner left Springfield, Illinois with a party of settlers for California. The departure was scheduled to leave in time after the spring rains to arrive in California before snowfall blocked the passes in the Sierra Nevada. On August 22th the group numbering 87 people in 23 wagons entered the Salt Lake valley. With just a month of summer remaining they had almost another 1000 km to go.

Another snow shed

In early November 1846 the Donner party finally reached Donner lake, below the crest of the Sierra. Their provisions were almost depleted. Then 1.5 m of snow fell in one night. There was no way to get across the pass. They had traveled 4000 km and were only 240 km away from their destination, Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento.

Donner lake

While most were stranded at Donner lake, some of the group had gone ahead and had reached Sutter’s Fort. Early February 1847 the organization of rescue parties started from there and San Francisco. Also groups of the settlers tried to cross the pass. Since the food ran out both those camped at the lake as well as the groups who had left to reach Sutter’s Fort resorted to cannibalism.

Donner lake

Eventually in March 1847, the first rescue party arrived and started bringing survivors across the pass down to Sutter’s Fort. On April 17th, 1847, they found the last survivor, Lewis Keseberg surrounded by half eaten corpses and brought him out. Of 87 emigrants, 39 had died and 48 had survived. Additionally two Indians were killed for food.

Observation car

From the train in a mild winter the suffering of the Donner Party is difficult to imagine. The railway crosses Donner Pass at a height of 2150 m. Much of the train line which was finished in 1868 looks like it was built except that the wooden snow sheds were replaced. However, a second track following a better route was built in 1925 through a 3,146 m tunnel called “The Big Hole”. In 1993, a 10 km part of the line across the summit including the original 506 m summit tunnel No. 6 was replaced by an easier route. Since part of the line is single track and not suitable for double stack container trains an upgrade is planned for the near future.

F7 engines of the Western Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads in the Sacramento museum

Already before world war II the American Railroads started to use Diesel engine at a large scale. However, WW II delayed the progress. To cope with the increase of traffic in war time more steam engines like the AC-12 were delivered instead of Diesels. After WW II production of steam engines besically stopped and the delivery of Diesels regained momentum. The California Railway Museum in Sacramento displays two engines of class F7b, Western Pacific 913 built by GM-EMD in 1950 and ATSF 347C built by GM-EMD in 1949. These iconic engines with their typical design dominated American railways for 2 decades and would bring the precursor passenger trains to our California Zephyr from Chicago to California.

Sugar Bowl ski area

The Sierra Nevada has its selection of ski resorts but the California Zephyr does not stop at Sugar Bowl but eases down its way towards Sacramento. While the climb into the Sierra Nevada is very steep from the east, the much greater difference in elevation to the west is managed in a gentle descent. The railway and the freeway I-80 follow the same route down along immigrant canyon, blue canyon and the canyon of the American river. Sometimes the two tracks from 1868 and 1925 of the Donner pass route are widely separated from each other. We have lunch while the train slowly ambles through the curves.

Snow in the Sierra Nevada

This time we share the table with a guy from Baltimore and a girl from the San Francisco bay area. I am somehow confined between the window and my huge neighbor. The girl wears a black face mask. Full of prejudices as I am I do not expect anything. However, again we get into an interesting conversation with total strangers. The attention of the girl is drawn to my camera. I am the only one who does not use a phone to take snapshots out of the window. It turns out that she is on her way to become an event photographer. She just has taken pictures at a dance festival in Nevada.

Descending towards Sacramento

The guy from Baltimore is an experienced Amtrak traveler. He is retired and frequently uses the train for his trips. He is eager to hear about my visit to Baltimore and my impression of his home town.

Descending towards Sacramento

The first stop after the summit is Colfax. You know that you are in California when you see people sitting on the benches of the platform enjoying the warm sun under the blue sky.

Colfax station

However, the picture changes quickly after we have passed the stop at Roseville, a big freight yard and the begin of the Donner pass line. Dilapidated business districts with ruined buildings line the tracks. The embankments are lined with garbage. Along the road parallel to the tracks we observe different degrees of homelessness. The more fortunate own rusty and battered campervans surrounded by trash. Others have to camp in a tent or makeshift shelters put together from cardboard boxes.

Sacramento Valley station

After a trip of more than 50 hours across 6 states and 2 time zones the California Zephyr arrives in Sacramento exactly on time. After several crew changes the two engines and the conductor of the sleeper are still the same. Although there were numerous longer stops on the way to compensate for possible delays it is quite a performance to arrive on time after such a long journey. I expressly wanted to do this trip in winter. Only the train offers the possibility to see the snow covered landscape without big risk and effort. The logistics of the trip seemed to be perfectly organized and I think there are few railway companies elsewhere who are able to reliably run a similar trip.

Interior of Sacramento station

At first, after you arrive at Sacramento station by train, you see a lot of highway bridges but no station. They offer to use an electric buggy to cover the distance to the station building. It turns out that it is not really necessary: the route of the buggy is much longer than the walking distance and those of the passengers who walked are in the terminal building at the same time as the buggy.

Tent of homeless woman in downtown Sacramento

We use the remaining daylight for a walk into downtown Sacramento. Only few people dot the streets this late afternoon and most of them seem to be homeless. There are makeshift shelters in entrance ways and under the enormous highway bridges cutting the town in two. A woman has set up her tent on the narrow strip of green between the sidewalk and the street. The tent is open and we see her sleeping inside. The stairs to the entrance ports of churches seem to be popular meeting places, maybe because the churches offer help, food and shelter. Others just drift down the streets, sometimes crossing in neglect of oncoming traffic. Car drivers honk, the homeless shout and scream.

Homeless in the street of Sacramento

Sacramento has an extended tram network. Most of the trams were built by Siemens which has a big manufacturing facility here. It therefore was quite embarrassing that Sacramento started to order trams from CAF. Meanwhile the latest generation comes from Siemens again. Like in Baltimore every stop has a separate high ramp to allow access for the handicapped. However, we see very few people traveling by tram.

Railway across Sacramento river

Historic freight yard of Sacramento Central Pacific station

Inside California State Railroad museum

The main reason why I wanted to spend some time in Sacramento was to visit the California state railway museum. The museum focuses in particular on the construction of the transcontinental railway and the early development of railways in California. The museum centers around a reconstruction of Central Pacific’s passenger station and train shed and the original wood frame Central Pacific Freight Depot from the mid-1860s. Situated at the Sacramento River it was the principal railroad freight depot for the exchange of cargo from the transcontinental railroad to riverboats until 1880.

The "Gov. Stanford", the first locomotive of the Central Pacific

The collection of rolling stock is displayed in Southern Pacific’s original roundhouse engine shed. The Central Pacific, who started the construction of the transcontinental railway from the west, had its first locomotive to be shipped around South America to California. It was a classic "American" type 4-4-0 built by Richard Norris & Sons in Philadelphia in 1862. It was named after their first president and Governor of California "Gov. Stanford." In the beginning it burned wood but was later converted to burn coal. It could haul three coaches or ten freight cars over the steep grades through the Sierra.

Southern Pacific's first locomotive "C. P. Huntington"

Southern Pacific's first locomotive, "C. P. Huntington", was named for the company's vice-

president. Originally purchased by the Central Pacific in 1864, it also arrived by ship at Sacramento. The engine hauled passengers and construction materials during the building of the first transcontinental railroad. Transferred from the CP to the affiliated SP, the small locomotive finished its service career at the turn of the century as a weed burner.

# 13, "Empire”

Next to the main lines short branch lines owned by local companies connected small towns to the big world. One of them was the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. On a 52 mile network it connected Reno at the transcontinental Central Pacific RR in Nevada via Carson City to Virginia City. The area had experienced an enormous gold rush after the discovery of the Comstock lode. In 1872 V&T ordered engine # 13, Ëmpire”, a 2-6-0, from Baird&Co in Philadelphia. It was used until 1913 sold in 1924 to the Pacific Portland Cement Company of Gerlach, Nevada, where it saw service until 1931. In 1938, the Empire was donated to the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. Although the Virgina & Truckee railroad eventually was closed down it is revived today and two historic railroads operate parts of the line in Virginia City and Carson City.

Device for delivering mail sacks to a moving train

Sorting mail in a train car

Railroads not only transported people and freight but they also acted as postman. Many passenger trains had post-cars. Employees were traveling on the cars and the mail was sorted during the journey. In small stations the train did no stop to deliver of collect mail. The mail car had an ingenious device mounted on the side to pick up mail sacks suspended on a post next to the track. When the train passed a pole picked up a sack and an employee pulled it inside where the contents were sorted.

Sorting mail in a train car

Sacks containing mail to be delivered were simply thrown onto the platform from the moving train.

# 1 of Nevada short line

Inside the former roundhouse a fake bridge is installed. A narrow gauge train reminds of the many short lines in the West. None of them survived. # 1 of the Nevada short line hauled passengers, cattle, and mixed freight in the West's desert mining regions.

# 12 Sonoma

# 12 Sonoma is one of three locomotives built in 1876 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia for the narrow-gauge North Pacific Coast Railroad. Although documentation of its early service-life is scarce (there are no photographs showing the Sonoma in service on the North Pacific Coast, for example), the engine is believed to have initially pulled both passenger and freight trains along NPC’s eighty-mile line between Sausalito and Duncans Mills.

Union Pacific 4466

Union Pacific 4466 built by Lima in 1920 is a typical yard switcher. The wheel arrangement 0-6-0 made these locomotives ideal for shunting in ports, freight yards and engine sheds. When I visited the museum almost 40 years ago the engine was still in service but now it is on display in the roundhouse.

AT $ SF #5925 and #5102

Many of the museums rolling stock is stored and not on display. In the former Central Pacific freight yard the visitor can admire to engines representing the latest development in steam engines at the end of their era. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe # 2925 was built by Baldwin in 1944. With a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 it would be suitable to pull heavy weight passenger and freight trains in mountainous parts of the AT & SF network until the arrival of the F7 Diesel locomotives.

AT $ SF #5102

Across the tracks Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe # 5021 was built by Baldwin in 1944. With a wheel arrangement of 2-10-4 it would be pulling heavy freight trains. Both these engines hardly survived for more than 10 years in active service until they were replaced by Diesel engines.

Homeless sleeping in entrance to building in historic old Sacramento

The California State Railroad Museum is part of Old town Sacramento, a recreation of the historic Sacramento of the end of the 19th century. The wooden sidewalks and verandas are suitable sleeping spots for the local homeless. When we amble around in the empty streets in the morning the first wake up in search for a breakfast. I am horrified by the sight of an old man in shorts, wild beard, and dirty clothes limping up and down the boardwalk. He is barely able to walk. I ask him whether he has had any breakfast and offer him a 20 $ note. He only accepts after I insist. Since he misses most of his teeth he is barely comprehensible. When I ask his age he tells me he is 47.