San Francisco Zephyr

San Francisco Zephyr
An EMD FP7 and two EMD SDP40Fs pull the eastward San Francisco Zephyr through the Sierra in 1975
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(s)	Amtrak
Route
Start	Chicago, Illinois
No. of intermediate stops	36
End	Oakland, California
Distance travelled	2,390 miles (3,850 km)
Train number(s)	5, 6
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend Distance      Station 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 Illinois/Iowa border 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 Iowa/Nebraska border 496 mi (798 km) Omaha 551 mi (887 km) Lincoln 648 mi (1,043 km) Hastings 702 mi (1,130 km) Holdrege 780 mi (1,255 km) McCook Nebraska/Colorado border 922 mi (1,484 km) Akron 956 mi (1,539 km) Fort Morgan 1,034 mi (1,664 km) Denver Union Station 1,085 mi (1,746 km) Greeley Colorado/Wyoming border 1,137 mi (1,830 km) Cheyenne 1,184 mi (1,905 km) Laramie 1,301 mi (2,094 km) Rawlins 1,420 mi (2,285 km) Rock Springs 1,435 mi (2,309 km) Green River 1,535 mi (2,470 km) Evanston Wyoming/Utah border Desert Wind and Pioneer to Los Angeles and Salt Lake City 1,610 mi (2,591 km) Ogden Pioneer to Seattle Utah/Nevada border 1,831 mi (2,947 km) Elko 1,859 mi (2,992 km) Carlin 1,976 mi (3,180 km) Winnemucca 2,147 mi (3,455 km) Sparks 2,151 mi (3,462 km) Reno Nevada/California border 2,185 mi (3,516 km) Truckee 2,251 mi (3,623 km) Colfax 2,304 mi (3,708 km) Sacramento 2,317 mi (3,729 km) Davis 2,344 mi (3,772 km) Suisun-Fairfield 2,361 mi (3,800 km) Martinez 2,381 mi (3,832 km) Richmond 2,390 mi (3,846 km) Oakland

The San Francisco Zephyr was the name adopted in June 1972 for the Amtrak passenger train between Chicago, Illinois, and the San Francisco Bay Area in California. Previously Amtrak had called it the City of San Francisco on the tri-weekly run west of Denver and Denver Zephyr on the daily run between Denver and Chicago. (The refusal of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad to join Amtrak in 1971 had required a routing through Wyoming, avoiding the California Zephyr's traditional run between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah.) For passengers wanting to use the Rio Grande's service and continue on Amtrak, the timing of the trains was coordinated to facilitate a connection in Ogden (but not Denver) with the D&RGW's Rio Grande Zephyr.

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, Utah, 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.

External links

Media related to San Francisco Zephyr at Wikimedia Commons