California Zephyr discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

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CdSull502 said:
Just got a revised departure time for my CA Zephyr departure from Emeryville in August. I have a roomette.
New departure time is 8:25 AM. Does that men I get breakfast on board? Thanks.
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My suggestion, based on experience, would be to call Amtrak about 7 to 10 days before departure and ask them. At that point, information should be more accurate.
 
joelkfla said:
....

Where was the street running?
View attachment 36259
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Well, they ran in 3rd Street in Oakland. The station at Washington Street is still there. It was an area of warehouses back then. There might have been someplace else, but this was an area often accessed.
 
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Rasputin said:
Sorry to have to ask but where are the controls to adjust the speed of this video. Thanks.
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The playback speed controls are not available watching the video within my post.

You have to link out to the FB page. Click on the "f" next to "Facebook Watch" at the bottom right of the image in my post. Once you link out to the FB page, the Settings "wheel" at the bottom right of the image brings up the playback speed options drop down box.
 
Rover said:
The playback speed controls are not available watching the video within my post.

You have to link out to the FB page. Click on the "f" next to "Facebook Watch" at the bottom right of the image in my post. Once you link out to the FB page, the Settings "wheel" at the bottom right of the image brings up the playback speed options drop down box.
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I just clicked on the image to pause, clicked again to resume, repeat, repeat, ...
 
Willbridge said:
Well, they ran in 3rd Street in Oakland. The station at Washington Street is still there. It was an area of warehouses back then. There might have been someplace else, but this was an area often accessed.
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Not sure if it’s that, but after discharging Oakland passengers at its Oakland station, the CZ continued on to Middle Harbour Road, where San Francisco passengers transfered to a Santa Fe “Train Bus” for the ride over the Bay Bridge to the San Francisco terminall…
 
railiner said:
Not sure if it’s that, but after discharging Oakland passengers at its Oakland station, the CZ continued on to Middle Harbour Road, where San Francisco passengers transfered to a Santa Fe “Train Bus” for the ride over the Bay Bridge to the San Francisco terminall…
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It kind of looks Midwestern to me, but without watching the video & seeing more, that's just a wild guess.
 
IIRC, the train would stop for just a few minutes outside one of the major casinos. I'm not sure there was even a station. The conductor would make a very severe announcement that the train would only be there for a brief moment and that there were no slot machines within the short walking distance. He said if you get off the train, you will be left behind. The train then advanced to another station about a mile out of town for servicing and crew change, and there was absolutely nothing there.
 
Rasputin said:
Weren't there one or more places on the Western Pacific where the CZ did some street running?
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Of course, 3rd Street in Oakland, but I looked in the Open Railway Map at other likely places where WP engines would have led the train and did not see anything.

Note to younger readers: before Amtrak, the California Zephyr on the Western Pacific bypassed Reno. The WP had a 33-mile long branch from Reno Junction to Reno. At one time it had a passenger train from Portola on it, but by the October 1944 Guide they did not schedule connections with either of the main line trains.

In that same wartime Guide, the SP at Reno had three daily mainline trains plus an overnight train between Oakland Pier and Reno. In addition, every three nights the streamlined City of San Francisco came through. And, of course, many extra sections and troop trains.
 
Willbridge said:
Of course, 3rd Street in Oakland, but I looked in the Open Railway Map at other likely places where WP engines would have led the train and did not see anything.

Note to younger readers: before Amtrak, the California Zephyr on the Western Pacific bypassed Reno. The WP had a 33-mile long branch from Reno Junction to Reno. At one time it had a passenger train from Portola on it, but by the October 1944 Guide they did not schedule connections with either of the main line trains.
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I was just going to say that…the WP CZ didn’t go thru Reno on its Feather River Canyon route. The Amtrak San Francisco Zephyr did, and later CZ. It used to cross Virginia Street at grade, and tie up traffic during its brief station stop, within view of the famous neon “Biggest Little City in the World” sign, and lots of casino’s, before they built the “trench”.
Back then, it continued 3 miles east to Sparks, to change crews and service the train …
 

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