THE AMAZING CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR STORY-1940-1970
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ธ.ค. 2023
- This is the real story of the California Zephyr passenger train that ran from 1949 to 1970 between the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago by three railroads working together to furnish a luxury train in beautiful scenery.
This list is of the famous people that are represented by their filming of various trains and scenes.
------------- CINEMATOGRAPHERS -------------
Jim Escalante M.A. Bo Golson Tony Johnson
Robert W. Morris Ron Plies Steve Rusconi
John Schmale David Stanley Norman Holman
Nelson Rath Wil Whittaker Roger Graebar
Mark Cooper Gary McClain John Petros
George Capdeville Ken Shattock Paul Lukens
Bob Finan John Illman John Harder
Harre Demoro George Barnes Joe Blackwell
Darrel Dewald - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Relive the story of the "California Zephyr" and its history! www.cspmovies.com
Thanks for this. I rode the California Zephyr for its full route as a child a half dozen times, beginning in 1954, and ending in the mid-1960's. I then rode Amtrak's version of the Zephyr again in 1986 and again in early 2008 in order to give my children the train experience. Needless to say, the Amtrak experience was much more mundane than the original Zephyr. Boy, do I remember being excited as a kid to get on the train in Chicago to go to California! Great memories. Thanks again!
Very interesting Archie. I was 4 or 5 in '62 when mom took us to SLC aboard the Zephyr out of Niles.
I met an older boy en route that knew a whole lot about the trains & the route ( he said he was going to Chicago ). I specially remember him telling me about the desert flatlands being like quicksand after a rain-muddy & sticky. IIRC we kneeled on the floor of one of the domes & I was thourghely (sp?) mesmerized @ the scenery whizzing by. It was Very Hot in the dome & I remember getting sleepy & sweaty. And all of a sudden people we're realizing the windows could open so 1 by 1 the windows would open and a wonderfully cool breeze wafted through. Must of been a hallucination I figure.
Just today we walked by 3rd & Washington past the Hotel (under remodel/repair again) & the old Station, having a farwell lunch @ ButterCup for a co-worker. I always check out the old Union Iron Works bldg. when passing by.
TY Charles Smiley for your work on this.
Jay
Thank you for this video about The California Zephyr. My grandfather was a Conductor on The Zephyr, and my dad and brother were Brakemen on the WP. Using CZ to abbreviate the name feels a bit unfamiliar and awkward, but the historical detail more than compensates. Those of us who lived along the route, and for whom the WP was our way of life, we simply called it The Zephyr. Everyone knew what we were talking about.
In the 50’s and 60’s, I had the pleasure of riding the Zephyr several times from Portola west through the Feather River Canyon to Oroville, and east to Salt Lake City. There was nothing like The Zephyr!
I remember these trains in the 1950’s when I was young,aloha
When my father was transferred from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, in 1965, this was how we got from the East Coast to our eventual home in Napa, CA. We had a compartment, which was wayyy cool.
That's awesome.
One of my earliest memories is of standing with my dad in downtown San Diego, watching a giant steam engine shake the ground as it rolled out of the station. It seemed alive to me. As much as my grandson loves trains, he could never imagine standing 5 feet from one thundering by with the engineer waving in the cab. Great memory.
This is the train I remember from childhood. My favorite train.
Thank you very much for this beautiful footage of a bygone railroad era.
It was great to see these views of the train along the line with the various routes and operators through the years.
Thanks we love the California Zephyr it was super train!
I love the idea of a huge train trundling down the middle of the street
This is a great find for me on TH-cam. About 25 years ago in five weekend to weekend trips I rode all the AMTRAK rail west of St. Louis making connection in Chicago or Kansas City for some of the trips as my way to see The West. Very scenic was the AMTRAK Zephyr, the Coast Starlight and The Canadian I rode between Vancouver and Jasper as part of those trips. I rode the AMTRAK Zephyr twice as part of those trips. Thanks for all this history of the route. Also interesting was seeing all of the Western Pacific route at that time that differs from the AMTRAK route some .
A terrific video! Very informative and enjoyable! The west is the best for scenic rail travel and this video proves it. Away from the asphalt and the common motorists. Taking the back roads beside the rivers and through the tunnels and snowsheds! That's what traveling by train is like. See America! 🇺🇸
👏Excellent narration and footage. 👏😁👍
I just joined a N scale club as a new to the hobby modeler. They are in the benchwork phase of modeling the Feather River Canyon route. What a perfect time to join a club. Other than missing out on the benchwork build I'm excited to learn and help in building that fantastic route.
If you want to learn more about the WP we have THREE DVDs on the WP at www.cspmovies.com
thanks a lot, so great! special thank for the lot of amazing details.
Have really enjoyed seeing the history of the Zephry many of the F7s and the fabulous scenery. Have been watching many of the Amtrak videos done by rail fans of today. Many thanks from John W Sydney Australia
I rode most of the tracks shown in the video in 1969. I will never forget that wonderful experience. UP, Milwaukee Road, etc. to Chicago.
Wow, what special memories! Them were the days for sure!
This footage is amazing and shows me the train and route my parents used to ride from Omaha to San Fran. I’ve only seen video of the modern day Zephyr until now.
Wonderful video -- and so strange to think I must be one of the youngest to remember riding this train. I was four years old in 1966 when my grandmother took my sister and I on a ride from Sacramento to Oakland. My only ride on a "named train" before Amtrak! I remember standing with the crowd on the platform until that orange-and-silver engine blasted its horn and pulled up, very slowly. I remember the feather on the front. I loved the dome car. The views here are what I remember seeing.
"I loved the dome car. The views here are what I remember seeing."
Indeed Erik! I was 4-5 in '62 riding through the Feather River Canyon en route to SLC. I was near screaming looking at the Ginourmous Rocks! It was then I learned the word boulders from my sister. 8-).
🚂 Outstanding RR Footage 🚂
Excellent historical piece about passenger rail in the US. I had no idea Amtrak acquired the name to carry on the tradition. It was also a surprise to hear the journey started South(!!!) through Niles Canyon and Stockton. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent.
Another great presentation. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! We appreciate your support!
Very nice video/documentary. Thanks!
I use to enjoy watching the Western Pacific and those beautiful GP7s locomotives switching and kicking cars in West Oakland , East Oakland and San Leandro , just the sound of those roots blowers at notch 8 was amazing , this brings back lots of great childhood memories !
Beautiful footage. Excellent editing and narration. Thanks!
I remember those unmanned rail crossings all too well. As a kid, we stayed in a house very close to a dimly lit one (only had a single bulb light on each side of the track), but one that was always very busy. Day and night you would hear car drivers stop short of the rails, then wind up their automobile motors hard and hope to slingshot over the rails within a few feet of the nose of the loco. 1 in 6 wouldn't make it and then the whole town would come out to stand and gawk and stare in comical amazement at the sight of the carnage. Would be town gossip for days on end until the next time it happened. Battered, twisted wreckage and car parts would lie on the sides of the rails for days.
Night time would be the same story - you'd lie in your bed and hear the car drivers planting their foot hard flat, winding the revs up deep into the red then dumping the clutch, hoping to catapult the car to make it across. The motor of the car would be screaming louder than the horn of the train, some would make it, others well, not always. Clearly remember an old timer with a huge load of grain in his ancient Chevy, same story; he punished it HARD before taking a chance, but all it did was cough and backfire when it took the load and refused to pull over the rails. The loco hit it squarely and grain flew everywhere like a sandstorm. He was leaning forward in the cab of his truck with massive wide-open eyes, and in those last moments you could see the terror on his face and how tight his hands gripped that wheel. Birds had a field day with what lay all around.
Absolutely FANTASTIC video!!!
Beautiful! Thank-you.
I was continuously aware of the unemployed in the 1930's etc riding the rails.
Awesome film.
The train cars back then were more beautiful inside and out than what we have today. Dinning cars had tablecloths, china coffee cups . Cooks to make the food you orderd off of the menu. Todays Amtrak roomets are tiny. Coffee served in paper cups. Cafeteria style dinning car. The food looks frozen then zapped in a microwave.
Nice video. Was the golden age of rail passenger train service before things changed a lot...(takeovers, less ridership, etc..) Albeit, today things are not so bad it seems with a small resurgence of passenger travel..
Thanks for watchin
Al Perlman (formerly NYC & PC chief) took over the WP in December 1970, nine months after CZ's last runs. Perlman was fond of Jade Green (from his NYC days) and dictated that WP's signals and bridges also be so painted. Scenes herein that show jade green signals were taken after the CZ's last runs.
We love the Perlman Green check out our upload today! Cheers to the WP and 2024!
Wow! That was a fascinating and well put-together video! Thanks for that!
A beautiful video I wasn’t even thought of yet but I always loved this model train what a beauty
Nice document!
In 1979, I stayed in the Best Western Hotel across the street from the WP station, it was a restaurant at the time
miss all the good stuff
I had an uncle that was a brakeman workung out of Bloomington, Ca. He worked for the Southern Pacific RR! The operation is still working today out of Bloomington,. His name was David Stevens for anybody still around that worked with him.....A Super cool uncle, whom I miss very much.....Brad Watson😀, DHS, Ca😀
An America Gone and Greatly Missed
We agree, we love America and this trains!
simply can't stop to look this great vid -
The brickyard in Niles Canyon has been razed and decontaminated...to be or is now a protected area....maybe a future park.
That is why these images are so priceless! Cheers to the guys who filmed all of the trains!
Yep! in 1962 my late mother and late brother and I took the CZ from "Fremont" at Shinn up to Stockton with the return on the Westbound CZ...quite the trip! Prior to 1959, we lived in Lafayette, CA just about 200 yards from the Sacramento Northern line through Lafayette. At 7:15 or so every weekday, an old GE steeple cab would squeal its way around the curves with a few manifest loads....great fun!@@charlessmileyvideo
I lived Niles and train went right behind our house.
We now live in Venice, FL., but lived on Overacker until Dec 15th...8-9 moves each day.
Local in and out of Warm Springs to Albrea and to the Old Wobbly for the casting company and chocolate works.
Salinas Hauler each later morning and afternoon departure.
MOAOA manifest incl. autos from Benicia for the Pacific car haulers' unloading facility each AM to Warm Springs and late AM return to Oakland.
AMICHI is the TESLA autos from Milpitas to Chicago.
AROMI is the empty autos from Roper Yard in Salt Lake to Milpitas.
Sometimes the autos re-position from LA to Milpitas.
Occasional light poer moves. Best, PK
@@jopac4742
that was an awesome video thanks i am modeling a N scale train set using CB&Q and WP it has helps with the scenery and landscape and it looks like i might have to add some Rio Grande as well lol
Great video!
Cool video!! At 5:44...GEEZ, I hope that's a spring switch!!!!!
FLOODS of Memories Rode the CZ with my Grandpa who worked for the WP came here when the Eureka & Palisades was still operational ! Wow anymore footage of Rnd House in Carlin or any footage of this area I'm pushing 70 & decided to Model this area in the Transitions era. WOW man Thanks Sooo much
Just took the Amtrak California Zephyr for the first time last year. Wish I could've ridden it in its heyday in the late 1950s and early 60s.
I presume it's dubbed sound, but it fits really well. Lovely scene at 1:20, some cool cars as well.
Great Video, Thanks for Sharing !
A California Zephyr is a great story!! A feature for Amtrak California Zephyr is 53 years.
Well, the Amtrak Zephyr runs on former SP tracks over Donner Pass. But a trip there is on my must-do list with the family.
@@charlessmileyvideo That's great!
Such a shame these trains are long gone We need more passenger trains in America
Agreed, them were the days for sure thanks for supporting our channel and Happy New Year 2024!
I've been on this route three times. Twice Emeryville to Denver and once to Chicago. I am pretty sure this train still runs. Not quite the same route though. It's much cheaper and faster to fly. By the time you get to Reno you can be almost anywhere in the country. The food is even still decent. The trains still go 30 mph through the mountains. As a rail experience it is fine, but the railways needed to continue to invest, rather than just take profits. Railways were run into the ground. Even high speed rail, like in other countries, would still take 15 hours for a coast to coast trip.
@@nevco8774Almost every city in the US with a population of 20,000+ has an airport with commercial flights (many smaller cities too). The US airline system is far more robust and prominent than its counterpart in Europe. The US has less than half the population of Europe but has 3X the amount of daily commercial flights. There is far less cutoff “nowhere’s” in the US than you make it out to be (we got commercial flights to the most remote places in Alaska for crying out loud).
Also a high speed train that has to stop at every major metro area plus every small cutoff cities in the “flyover states” that lack a means of flying plus the ones that do would hardly be high speed at all. Forget about 15 hours were talking 20+
@@calebemerson9317 Have you driven across North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming? To right down on TH-cam majestic things about the USA from the comfort of a big coastal state is nice. However after driving those places you might change your mind. China has roughly the same size as the USA and high speed rail just works. There is no much excuse for the USA that a passenger train ride from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, PA is several minutes longer now in 2024 than it used to be in 1940. Middle of nowhere means small settlements without airports around 500-1000 population. People drive 6 hours from Montana to Idaho or Washington state to see a medical specialist.
Trains are the ultimate transportation. Flying pumps carbon in upper atmosphere eventually kill us all with greenhouse gases … it’s sexy but dead end for civilization. Don’t argue with I’m talking about 1000 years from now you only think 50 yrs ahead max
47:50; Union Pacific trains used the Chicago & North Western between Chicago & Omaha until 1955, when they switched to the Milwaukee Road. UP did use the Wabash from St. Louis to Kansas City.
This is very informative and shows a different route than the California Zephyr takes now. The observation cars are still there, though less luxurious. The dining cars are also still there, and the last time I was on one the food was still good. That was 2018. I've done the Emeryville to Denver trip twice and to Chicago once. Denver to Chicago is not worth the time and money. We actually went on to Boston South station, the Lake Shore Limited is not a patch on the California Zephyr, it's more of a poor people's mass transit than a luxury tourist experience. The good food also departs at Albany, if I remember right, and wasn't near as good as the Zephyr anyway.
Quite surprised that a 2 night train would not have had sleeping car accomodations. But cool to see that it was co-operated as single ticket/train over 3 separate railroads.
Western Springs at 53:05. I grew up there and saw the CZ go by many times. Rode the CZ between Denver and Chicago once, but also rode the Denver Zephyr between Chicago and Denver many times, when I was in undergraduate school.
nice , love to see the cz , can't believe all the shops in aurora at 52.45
The museum of science and industry in chicago, has a california zephyr interactive display. It pretty cool and very in formative.
The yard and environs at the "Fremont" yard are ghosts. The occasional pieces of MOW equipment are the only visitors to the yard, and the drywall facility is now a couple of piles of ground-up concrete. The whole area has a fence around it. The former main from Oakland to Union City is littered with trash and ripped-up sidings., and is even more seedy than in years gone by. Pacific States Steel is now apartments. The old roundhouse in Oakland is now occupied by Schintzer Steel....
It was a super place in it's hay-day but not it is a shell like you said. Great we can look back and appreciate the times gone by!
So little car and truck traffic in those days!
Great old video.
I Subscribed. I really like your train video. Good work. Greetings Joe 😊
Good job, could you please do “Milwaukee Road West” please? There are many people out there who are fan of the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pacific Railroad.
I was born in PA in 1965. My Grandma worked for the Union RR in the dispatch office. Both her brothers worked for the B&O. I rode the American Freedom Train in Pittsburgh in 1976. It's a shame what happened to our railroads in this country.
around 24:30 great piano music
Great train. I rode only the post-Amtrak Rio Grande operated Rio Grande Zephyr. Den to Glenwood Springs. Most beautiful 5.5 hours of high country rail running in America.
I was working as a train attendant on Amtrak around the time of the 1989 earth quake and I remember that pretty little pink station they had in Oakland. It was all in one piece and looking good the first time I saw it and the next time it had taken the effects of the quake and and had large cracks up and down near the corners of the bldg. I bet they took her down by now. going to Oakland after the quake was a real lesson to me of how powerful mother nature is. The resiliency of the rail road to tough weather was . During hurricane Katrina their were trains passing through the lake Pontchartrain causeway and there was an especially assembled super long train put together to bring people out of NOL before Katrina hit but some one thought it was a better idea to keep all the folks in the super-dome (I think) stadium (just next to the station).
That sounds real familiar Dach! The main station is still there on 3rd between Washington & Broadway. I believe it is currently closed (prior to Covid IIRC) a portion was previously used for the County of Alameda Credit Union.
Wondering if your thinking of one of the "switch houses" ( is that what they're called?) along the tracks? If you can narrow down the location I could 'track' it down 8-).
Jay
The Oakland Station is still there
I recognize some of that Jack London Square area architecture - especially that Union Iron Works building and the sign for what was then the Thunderbird Hotel on Broadway.
Was just there today Ace! The Union Iron Works & the "Parker MFG" bldg. on the corner are still standing.
20 or years ago the Hotel was 'The Inn @ Jack London' then a few years ago underwent a Big re-model (The Breeze ??? ) and as we walked by today a major renovation in progress.
The Butter Cup however is going strong after Covid.
Jay
Experience is spelled wrong on the "header". How could you miss that, Charles?
At 5:43 notice the switch points..is it a spring switch?? Because they go right thru it.
5:43 sprung, turn out
Yes it was, way to catch it they were rare!
Adoro essa época das locomotivas GM EMD F7 !!! No Brasil teve as GE EP4 elétricas, apelidadas de V8 ou escandalosas, cujo aspecto da frente da cabine eram bem semelhantes as GM EMD F7 !!! 👏👏👏👏🇧🇷
Incredibile!
I'm confused. In 1961 I took Union Pacific/Southern Pacific from Chicago to San Francisco. At about Ogden, Utah, the train split with one portion going to Los Angeles. At that point we lost our observation car, ostensibly due to tunnel height. But the Zephyr observation cars handle the tunnels with no problem.
I'll mention that our route included Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming, and the plains scenery was breathtaking.
Any comments, please?
That's a totally different rail line.
The train you took was the CZ's rival, the City of San Francisco. The portion on Donner Pass in CA has tighter curvature and dangerous low clearance icicles on tunnel entrances. Because of this, until the 80's dome cars not built to the SPRR's clearance specifications were banned from this route.
@@mikehawk2003 Thanks, Mike. I appreciate the clarification.
What is the name of the piano music @ 23:16? Very nice!
it's production music for radio and TV work. You have to pay for a license to use it.
experience is misspelled.
I'm glad to see the original right of way before the Niles depot was close And the Emeryville station was opened
It is in a state of limbo this right of way the bart tracks parallel the route into Fremont
It's not used except for storing cars
You will occasionally see an engine on the tracks
The transit and freight main is over a mile to the west
Very odd to see no crossing gates
Now that makes sense because the Niles depot has move from that location
Something amtrack got rid of
There kitchen cars
Is was cheaper to switch to prepackaged food
This old route was a much longer
Interestingly, after the UP took over the WP, the route along time river in the Feather River Canyon got washed out by storms. It took a lot of work and expense to restore the washed out line to operation. I'd like to know the source of the music.
Great documentary! I am curious - would it get hot in the dome cars? I could see the clear western skies and a blazing sun creating a bit of discomfort.
from my previous reply "... It was Very Hot in the dome & I remember getting sleepy & sweaty. And all of a sudden people we're realizing the windows could open so 1 by 1 the windows would open and a wonderfully cool breeze wafted through. Must of been a hallucination I figure."
grew up in Desoto Mo where ther was a MoPac repair yard love trains
That is cool, must have seen some really neat action there growing up. That is why we all live trains I think, what did you see?
@@charlessmileyvideo so many steam trains coming in for repairs every night they would set by the station idling all night I lived two blocks away and I would go to sleep by the sound of the trains,my dad worked his whole life at the shops
Third and washington looks better on google maps than it did then
Did anyone catch the run-through switch at 5:45?
or was it a spring switch?
So, I wasn't the only one to notice that.
If it is, it's the simplest one I ever saw. There is usually a rack or spring housing between the rails, some quite large and it would be easy to see.
Ah, now that I look closer I can see the target has "SS" on it.
🙏🙏🙏🙏
Maybe I'm not seeing this correctly but, I'm sure I saw, from the cab @5:42 or so, that switch just after the diamond was lined against this train. It didn't appear that anyone could have thrown it quickly enough. To prevent it. It's unusual, but it could have been a "spring switch" but not likely as those are very rare. Anyone else notice this?
I saw that too! Had to be a spring switch. There’s an “SS” on the stanchion.
Does the San Joaquin run on the line or ex-SP?
SP line from Oakland via Tehachapi and Los Angeles.
Thanks, but I was referring to the segment from Sacramento to Stockton
@@Robbi496 The San Joaquin runs on the former SP Fresno sub from Sac to Stockton.
5:43 the switches are incorrect
For that place and date, California was it
I got nervous seeing the cars going right in front of it like that!
Went to sub school in 1953, that’s how Uncle Sam provided transportation as far as Chicago, 20th Century to NYC.
Wow, that is interesting!
Question: Has the rock-fall sensor system changed at all since this time?
Nope, still in use today. It's an efficient and cheap system that doesn't need to be altered.
Thanks Mike. @@mikehawk2003
At 5:42 did this train run thru a reversed switch ?
It sure did, pretty incredible to think about now really! You should have been a detective! Cheers!
Too many ads in this California Zephyr video inserted by TH-cam.
Sorry Jeffrey I guess they have to pay the bills. Thanks for watching our upload though and supporting the channel.
Aurora Branch RR -> turns into; The Burlington Route -> turns into: The CB&Q -> turns into; The Burlington Northern -> & finally: The BNSF
You can still ride a similar train from Toronto to Vancouver
😳 A train. Right in the middle of a downtown street... 🚆 🚉 🚄 😳
It is interesting that "zephyr" rhymes with "heifer".
Does anybody know why they switched over from my aerodynamic engine to one of them flat nose engines I like that older engine it's more streamlined
It's not practical for US trains to be designed as such. Not only are there very few points where the aerodynamics would be useful, but it often hinders visibility especially rearward.
Saif ne channel delet krdiya
its absurd that a major city has a train station in the middle of the road.
This was the compromise the Western Pacific had to deal with as they were the last major railrosd constructed in the western US. The rival Southern Pacific Railroad owned all of the good land that could be used as private right-of-way.
do purchase videos of trains ,
magnesium
*_Wait, he said its so vast and flat you can see the curvature of the earth... I see... I see... I see flat earthers heads exploding..._*
Actually, you can’t see the curvature of the earth until you’re somewhere above 60,000 feet, so we flat-earthers are still okay. 😉
(I’m actually a commercial airline pilot and even we don’t get high enough to see the curvature; while many military jets could get that high under the right conditions, my understanding is that only the SR-71 pilots back in the day and astronauts really ever see the curvature.)
"ExperiAnce"?
Yep. It happens every now and then. It's not in the original production, but in the youtube upload.