Maglev
Conductor
This trip was meant to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the Trans-Continental Railroad, but nobody else ever caught on to that significance. It was my wife's first trip across the country by ground transportation, and my first time on Amtrak in a sleeper (I went across Canada in an open section lower in 1975, and took a round-trip cross-country on Amtrak in coach at New Year 1978). We flew from Maui to San Francisco, and spent a couple days doing tourist stuff and riding BART. I had lived in Oakland as a child watching BART be constructed in 1966, so it was fun to zip over the segment I saw under construction.
We rode the Thruway bus from the Ferry Building to Oakland, and my memory is that the Oakland station was on the waterfront. We had twoP30CH's F40PH's as locomotives to Salt Lake City, where we joined the Desert Wind and switched to what I knew as an AMD-103 "Genesis" locomotive and a "Pepsi Can" Dash 8. The Pioneer was not running the day we got to Denver.
Our Superliner Deluxe Bedroom on the California Zephyr seemed modern, spacious, and comfortable. I liked the old style folding chair (which went under the bed at night) over the new, safer, fixed chair; as it was more comfortable and it was nice to have that extra floor space at night. But our Heritage Bedroom on the Broadway Limited was a disappointment. We were first assigned to a room with a long couch, but that seemed awkward so we were moved to the other style Bedroom with two chairs. Still, the car was in poor repair and there was a urine stain on one of the seats. As sometimes happened in those days, someone was smoking through the night. But the Amfleet Dinette on that train had a much better suspension, and the food was good if not freshly-made. When we got to Greensburg, my wife thought it was a real honor that the train was spotted for us alone to get off our sleeper.
Several of these photos are taken outside an open window, which is something that I no longer due for safety and legal reasons. But I should note that just before taking the picture of the Mississippi River, I opened the door to let out a passenger because neither the SCA nor Conductor were there.
Climbing the Sierras
Colorado
Colorado
New locomotive
New type of car
Colorado
Mississippi River
Breakfast on the Broadway Limited
We rode the Thruway bus from the Ferry Building to Oakland, and my memory is that the Oakland station was on the waterfront. We had two
Our Superliner Deluxe Bedroom on the California Zephyr seemed modern, spacious, and comfortable. I liked the old style folding chair (which went under the bed at night) over the new, safer, fixed chair; as it was more comfortable and it was nice to have that extra floor space at night. But our Heritage Bedroom on the Broadway Limited was a disappointment. We were first assigned to a room with a long couch, but that seemed awkward so we were moved to the other style Bedroom with two chairs. Still, the car was in poor repair and there was a urine stain on one of the seats. As sometimes happened in those days, someone was smoking through the night. But the Amfleet Dinette on that train had a much better suspension, and the food was good if not freshly-made. When we got to Greensburg, my wife thought it was a real honor that the train was spotted for us alone to get off our sleeper.
Several of these photos are taken outside an open window, which is something that I no longer due for safety and legal reasons. But I should note that just before taking the picture of the Mississippi River, I opened the door to let out a passenger because neither the SCA nor Conductor were there.
Climbing the Sierras
Colorado
Colorado
New locomotive
New type of car
Colorado
Mississippi River
Breakfast on the Broadway Limited
Last edited:
