California Zephyr

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I may have an opportunity to see it sometime this weekend. If I do, I'll check for the freight cars and report back. If somebody else beats me to it, I won't. :lol:

seajay
 
I too will keep an eye out for you, I did not see the Zephyr today but I did see the American Orient Express in the Oakland Yard.
 
Passed the Oakland yard around 1:15 this morning and saw them starting to build the consit. Also saw the switcher with three Amtrak Express cars so I'm figuring there will be express on today's (11/3) EB Zephyr.
 
The number of Express cars has seemed to drop significantly since 10/27. There was only one mail car on the rear of EB Train 6 for the last two Sundays, when there is usually 10-12 Express cars on the rear.
 
Last Thursday's 6 had at least 10 of the express cars on the back. I saw it on my way out as it was running a bit late.
 
Well, I guess the last two Sundays were a fluke. It sounds like nothing has changed. :(
 
Thanks for the info. guys. I returned from my trip and experienced freight on the end on 5 and 6. An intersting side note. On 5, the sleepers were at the back of the consist. On six, the sleepers were on the front. It seems like the Zephyr is almost a "push/pull" operation. Except that the engines switch ends in Oakland.
 
I am not quite sure how the Zephyr is operated. I don't think it is just a push/pull operation though because it seems like the coaches are on the front of train 6 half the time and on the rear about half the time when I see it go through Martinez on Sundays. The funny part is that the Amtrak computers have even been wrong a few times. The computer said the coaches were on the rear, but when the train pulled in the coaches were really on the front, and vice versa. Does anyone know why they change the order? Do a few of the Zephyr trainsets have them arranged opposite the other trainsets, or are they switched in Oakland or Chicago? Was the order of the train affected by the Express Cars, or has it always been a normal thing? The Coast Starlight ALWAYS has sleeping cars on the front and coaches on the rear. Do the other long distance trains "switch" the order like the Zephyr?
 
Well I can't speak to west of the Mississippi trains, but most of the trains on the east coast don't flip-flop the sleepers and the coaches. While the NY section of the LSL has the sleepers on the rear as well as the Twilight Shoreliner, most east coast trains have the coaches on the rear. That pattern does not seem to change, at least based upon my own personal observations.
 
I think when the Viewliners were first introduced in 1996 they were put on the rear of the train followed by a Diner, Lounge, then Coaches. I'm not sure which arrangment works best and/or why done a certain way? Does anyone have a guess?
 
I'm used to the Sleepers in the front. The benefits I see are for the crew, in the diner they only have to walk through 2-3 cars instead of one. However, with the Sleepers at the rear (and not the dorm) you have less food traffic (i.e. no crew going to the lounge), along with less likely to hear the locomotives.

As for personal preference, as stated above, I prefer the Sleepers in the Front, as that's the only way they've been when I've ridden.
 
Viewliner said:
I'm used to the Sleepers in the front. The benefits I see are for the crew, in the diner they only have to walk through 2-3 cars instead of one. However, with the Sleepers at the rear (and not the dorm) you have less food traffic (i.e. no crew going to the lounge), along with less likely to hear the locomotives.
As for personal preference, as stated above, I prefer the Sleepers in the Front, as that's the only way they've been when I've ridden.
Click to expand...
I meant the Dorm would be behind the sleepers, not up front.
 
I can tell you exactly what my experience was this summer. And after this Christmas break, maybe I will have worked 5/6 a couple more times. I worked 5/6 several times this summer, and here is what went on every time. For the most part, the same consist goes back and forth, back and forth. Once in a while, in Chicago a little switching goes on. But most of the time in Oakland, the engines, baggage, and crew car (transition), get brought to the other end of the train. As for when the coaches are in front, or the sleepers in front....I think that is random out of Chicago. However, once the consist is set in chicago, generally the turn around in oakland can be expected to be the opposite.
 
Then that tells me that the first part of the train (power, baggage, trans dorm) is run through the wye at the Oakland coach yard. Thanks, it makes some sense to me now. :)
 
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