The year was 1960 and I was just a boy of eleven years of age when my sister, who was a "Zephyrette," took me along for one of her round trips from Chicago to San Francisco on the original, pre-Amtrak California Zephyr . The Zephyr went as far as Oakland and then the passengers rode buses across the Oakland Bay Bridge to SF. Even though fifty-one years have gone by and I will be sixty-two years old in less than a week, that trip on the Zephyr when I was eleven years old stands to this day as the most exciting adventure of my entire life!
We left Chicago's Union Station on a Sunday afternoon and returned the following Sunday. The trip was two and a half days out, two days in San Francisco, and two and a half days back; it was the best week of my life!
I spent most of the daylight hours on board the train up on the observation deck of a Vista Dome car. I have never seen as many sets of railroad tracks as I saw while we were leaving Union Station. I got my first look at the warehouse district of Chicago as we headed west and was impressed by the huge number of dingy old buildings. I saw the farms and the small towns of northern Illinois and finally the mighty Mississippi River as we crossed over it just at dusk. I saw the Rockie Mountains, the Sierra Mountains, and the spectacularly beautiful and rugged Feather River Canyon in northern California from my lofty seat in the dome car. I fell in love with those western mountains during that trip.
I was treated like royalty by the porters and the stewards. I was a little boy from a Lower Middle Class family getting his first taste of "first class." The stewards were dressed in spotless white jackets. The dining car tables were covered in linen table cloths and set with real china. There were fresh cut flowers in vases on all the tables. The food was out of this world.
I got to see the Pacific Ocean somewhere south of San Francisco on a little trip we took while we were on our two day stay in the city. I also got to see China Town, Fisherman's Warf, and Alcatraz (from the mainland).
What a great trip for a little boy who hadn't really been anywhere in his life!
One thing about that trip that I did not know until just a couple years ago is that I was a STOWAWAY! Little kids don't worry about who is paying for what as long as they get to have fun, and I never thought to ask my sister who paid for my trip until recently. I asked her if she paid my way or if Mom and Dad did. She shocked me with her answer; no one paid my way! She checked with the crew ahead of time and apparently got the message that they were willing to "look the other way" if she brought her little brother along for one of her trips. Is that cool or what?
I would dearly love to hear from anyone who ever rode the CB&Q/DRGW/WP California Zephyr.
Tom
We left Chicago's Union Station on a Sunday afternoon and returned the following Sunday. The trip was two and a half days out, two days in San Francisco, and two and a half days back; it was the best week of my life!
I spent most of the daylight hours on board the train up on the observation deck of a Vista Dome car. I have never seen as many sets of railroad tracks as I saw while we were leaving Union Station. I got my first look at the warehouse district of Chicago as we headed west and was impressed by the huge number of dingy old buildings. I saw the farms and the small towns of northern Illinois and finally the mighty Mississippi River as we crossed over it just at dusk. I saw the Rockie Mountains, the Sierra Mountains, and the spectacularly beautiful and rugged Feather River Canyon in northern California from my lofty seat in the dome car. I fell in love with those western mountains during that trip.
I was treated like royalty by the porters and the stewards. I was a little boy from a Lower Middle Class family getting his first taste of "first class." The stewards were dressed in spotless white jackets. The dining car tables were covered in linen table cloths and set with real china. There were fresh cut flowers in vases on all the tables. The food was out of this world.
I got to see the Pacific Ocean somewhere south of San Francisco on a little trip we took while we were on our two day stay in the city. I also got to see China Town, Fisherman's Warf, and Alcatraz (from the mainland).
What a great trip for a little boy who hadn't really been anywhere in his life!
One thing about that trip that I did not know until just a couple years ago is that I was a STOWAWAY! Little kids don't worry about who is paying for what as long as they get to have fun, and I never thought to ask my sister who paid for my trip until recently. I asked her if she paid my way or if Mom and Dad did. She shocked me with her answer; no one paid my way! She checked with the crew ahead of time and apparently got the message that they were willing to "look the other way" if she brought her little brother along for one of her trips. Is that cool or what?
I would dearly love to hear from anyone who ever rode the CB&Q/DRGW/WP California Zephyr.
Tom
I didnt get to ride the Pre-Amtrak Zephyr but did have Similar Trips on the SP Sunset Ltd. :wub: and the MoPac Texas Eagle! :wub:
