California Zephyr - 1950s Travelogue, Western Pacific, Burlington, Rio Grande 31210 HD

[@lawrencemargetich9740]

I was on this trip in 1948 from NYC to Chicago and onto San Francisco on the California Zephyr. I was 11 years old and to this day can always recall the wonderfully trip. Brings back lot’s of memories. 4:47

[@rolfehartley]

I did this trip as an 8 year old boy in 1959. Thanks for taking me back!

[@estelleadamski308]

A wonderful time to be alive in America! This film just amplifies it, when everyone dressed up to travel. Amtrak does not have the majestic feel as the old trains. I just loved this so much. Thxs for posting!

[@PeriscopeFilm]

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[@estelleadamski308]

@@PeriscopeFilm yes, I did sub! I meant in the 50's it was a great time to be in America, not now!

[@johnthemachine]

if you were white.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

@@johnthemachine There's a race baiter in EVERY video.. sad...

[@chrislewis7238]

This is still a great trip, I took it last winter. Absolutely beautiful ! If you haven't done it yet, I encourage you to do so. Take the train, you won't regret it.

[@tattyshoesshigure5731]

Looks absolutely wonderful! In the 1950’s our North London dentist used to have National Geographic mags in the foyer which carried ads for The Californian Zephyr with great photos of this (for post war U.K!) impossibly glamorous , futuristic train which entranced me as an 8 year old... now 70, I’m still totally entranced by it!

[@JAMESBOND-jm2lj]

Thanks for this wonderful video. My Grandpa was an Engineer and my Dad a conductor for Western Pacific with 75 yrs service combined..My Grandpa's engine is in the railroad museum in Portola CA

[@mikemintun1587]

My Grandfather was a conductor on the California Zephyr. It was a real thrill to ride this magnificent train!

[@jasonatkins6926]

That is cool.

[@oldermusiclover]

if you have never read them or heard of them check out a series of books about a Zepheritte mysteries by Janet Dawson

[@usmale4915]

I am a native of beautiful Colorado. Our first house was about 600 to 700 feet from the tracks that the California Zephyr ran on. We always waved as it headed west and again for the one coming back east! The engineers would usually blow their horns and wave back to us. I miss those days. And, I was born in 1949! Thank you for the great video!

[@TheBandit7613]

I was pushed out of Colorado when it was invaded by Californians. Colorado is now crowded, expensive and full of road rage. I dread going back to visit family. It's just not the same anymore.

[@jimratliff2753]

I rode the Zephyr a number of times with our own private room that opened into our folks room. First class service and fun. Food was top notch.

[@Celluloidwatcher]

I traveled to California on the Amtrak Desert Wind coming from Chicago and took the California Zephyr going back, and each time I saw the beauty of the Rockies with the Colorado River winding along the train route. It was so beautiful; I took so many pictures with an old 35mm camera. Thanks for sharing this video. It brings back memories.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Thank you for letting me be a passenger 60 years ago. I loved every minute.

[@PhilNelson_internet_fossil]

I was a passenger (about) 60 years ago. I loved every minute.

[@wcstevens7]

Such a exciting way to see America in all its glory.

[@muddabber9925]

yeah, but, now? holy....

[@Face2theScr33n]

@@muddabber9925 It still runs. Usually an 8 passenger car train. John C Dvorak reports on it Sundays and Thursdays at 9:15 in the morning Pacific time, on the No Agenda Show with Adam Curry. 8 cars is a stable economy, under 8 means economic contraction and over 8 is indicative of US economic growth. Or maybe the wealthy are blowing their money because they know it'll be worthless soon... noagendashow.net

[@jadenhancock]

Same

[@wendysuecapps5114]

'85 to '89 I rode the CZ from Galesburg, Illinois to Osceola, IA and back from home to college in Lamoni, IA!! I loved it... only one trip back to school that I was miserable...but not about the train... I had come down with strep, throat on fire and burning up with fever... my family also used to go from Galesburg to Chicago, and then Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the summers of my childhood...Grandma & Grandad!!

[@romevicki1]

I enjoyed this video...I was born in 1949 so it was good to see what was in style and how San Francisco looked back then....thank you.

[@Wiseguy1408]

In Jan "54, when I was 14, we rode the SP Coast Daylight from LA to SF, rode the ferry across the SF Bay and then rode the California Zephyr to Chicago. I spent most of the time on the Zephyr in the dome!

[@thetooginator153]

I did the same trip twenty years later, and I was 15 at the time. It was my first time on a trip by myself. The only difference was that I was driven from Marin to Emeryville (I didn’t start from LA). I spent the summer with relatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I wish someone had told me how close to NYC I was! I didn’t know anything about the East Coast at the time. Like you, I spent most of the time in the dome, which got a bit too hot for most people in the middle of the summer. My first dinner was with a wonderful woman in her seventies. That was the first time I felt like a genuine adult. I looked older than my true age and the waiter gave me the wine list, so I had my first glass of wine with my steak dinner.

[@Charg23]

I just see the publicity of this film in NatGeo magazine december 1955 I investigate and found this video ❤

[@johncollins9592]

I took Amtrak's California Zephyr last july in a sleeper bedroom..it was a great trip!

[@romansroad2007]

John Collins how much is it cost ?

[@erisdiscordia1649]

@@romansroad2007 Probably more than it does now. I've heard that they're gonna try airline-esque fares for train travel, but I have no idea if that would be less or more expensive.

[@steveevans4093]

@@romansroad2007 I paid around $750 from Denver to San Francisco for my son and I. Much cheaper to fly but the train is sure a great experience. Don't plan on being on time. That does include 3 good meals a day in the dining car. More environmentally friendly too. The Amtrak website will help you out.

[@RandomRandomnessKCMO]

Steve Evans roomette prices? Bedrooms are usually 1200$+

[@chrisfeeney3559]

Very nostalgic video. Particularly the way San Francisco is described so beautifully in contrast to all the negative news and images of homelessness and destruction today.

[@gojuraisforever9574]

I love videos like this.

[@cynthiahawkins2389]

BTW back in the day - if you were fortunate enough to be an African American employee on one of these trains - you had a highly coveted, 'plum' job. The trains were often booked way in advance, and service aboard was upscale, and truly something to brag about.. I remember my friend's father put his sons and daughters through college, with tips he earned portering/serving food and beverages on several of these great, elegant trains (keep in mind: this was still the Jim Crow era)..

[@shimshonbendan8730]

@@dogie1070 I have absolutely no idea what you are saying. "Gang bangers invite discrimination"? "Only a bully can be so mean to others who mean no harm"? Your comments have zero to do with what Cynthia said.

[@dogie1070]

@@shimshonbendan8730 you're right. I will remove the post.

[@patrickgloss2096]

Thanks Cindy God!

[@amberlinmchugh8115]

Like a Pullman porter? I've read about that. Very good job if you could get it. With no crazy experience or education requirements you could make a good living

[@tpxchallenger]

Portering was a relatively good job for a Black man at the time but it did not become a decent job until after the rail porters unionized in 1945. Before then their pay was almost non-existant and they earned money through tips. Promotion above the job of porter was out of the question. They were given no rest time on shift, the shits were often 48 hours, or more. Uniforms they paid for themselves as well as any missing linen or towels. They had to suffer indignity and humiliation without complaint and could be fired for simply speaking out of turn, or almost any reason. That said, yes, the Railway Porters formed the basis of the Black middle class. Considering what those old timers had to deal with they must have been class acts themselves.

[@antonioesposito1801]

Thank you so much for sharing this video. I took this unforgettable trip two years ago and it's one of my best travel ever 💝.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

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[@cynthiahawkins2389]

Goodness, I remember traveling, as a little girl, on a train South, to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia..where my father brought mom and me, to where he worked for the summer at the Greenbrier..oh those were the old days, all right!!!

[@alrozanski8352]

Being a model railroader, this video is superb

[@FunkyDPL]

An experience that just doesn't exist anymore. I was born about 25 years too late for this. However, it is nice to live vicariously through films like these. I would have loved to enjoy that warm pool and see San Francisco before it went into the toilet (literally!). At least when I visited in 1994 it was still relatively clean.

[@1940limited]

Beautiful. What a nice way to travel.

[@AppleworldToday]

As a lifetime Denver resident, I remember when our Triple-A baseball team was called the Denver Zephyrs in honor of the train. I still have my Zephyrs baseball cap!

[@usmale4915]

You're right; me being a Denver native, one would think I would remember that! Thanks for the memories!

[@cynthiahawkins2389]

I have seen this before. I always love the dining car part..(17:54) "boning a trout is tricky..."

[@chrisallen7911]

How glorious it was back then. What fun that would have been to ride!

[@thebigl156]

It’s Zepher still runs everyday!

[@HB-ji8lh]

Amtrak: upscale this movie to 4K and air it as national wide commercial.

[@sandman1318]

The old trains were great in so many ways. But the one bad thing I remember from many journeys was the rough ride. I was never able to sleep unless I took a sleeping pill. But put me in a bed on a modern Amtrak train and I have no problem easily falling asleep every time.

[@thefareplayer2254]

Depending on how long ago you rode, it may have been jointed rails, which at 80mph would have been very bumpy. Nowadays, it’s all continuously welded rail, making straight track completely smooth except for over crossovers and diamonds.

[@Freshstart6354]

@@thefareplayer2254--- Or switches, but you are 100% right, but they do maintain the tracks better & have better suspension on the new cars. The old steam engines with their drivers pounding away on the tracks & their weight was hard on the joints like you said. You know your shit, my Father & my Brother were engineers on the UPRR, & I was a Hostler for two summers.

[@tedlederman3167]

Rode Amtrak California Zephyr recently. Ride quality was terrible. Problem is not the tracks but poor maintenance of Amtrak cars!

[@fordlandau]

Still one of the greatest train journeys ! But not as splendid a train. The Feather River route was finished years ago. The Zephyr now uses the Union Pacific via Donner Pass.

[@martinleicht5911]

That was spectacular !! 🍺 😎 👍 🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

[@divox9pqr]

Vista dome cars should be updated and returned to service. Or, the dome portion should be added to the current observation car. You would get a more complete view of path of the train and the surroundings.

[@fred1barb]

It was a thrill to watch the Zephyr rolling through east Oakland. It was the high point of a trip to the dumps! I'm sure Dad did it deliberately. We would read out the car names as they passed, Silver Sagebrush and so on. I wanted to ride that train, but never had the chance. Even then though it was obvious that many or most of the seats were empty.

[@logancoker5205]

I love the California Zepher

[@makn7122]

a very nice film-thank you

[@patrickmcshane7658]

looks so beautiful, nothing what I took a few years ago.

[@jayyoung4534]

Those were glorious times in domestic travel. Luxury all the way. From LA to LaSalle, all Americans enjoyed living "the life of Riley" for 39 hours. I was one of them. In fact, all America was glorious -- downtown theatres, bus stations, train stations, sidewalks, parks -- you name it, we were in the forefront of railroad travel. Oh, for those days again!

[@RG-od8ri]

We now lead the world in ugly predatory storage facilities.

[@LesterMoore]

Wow. What a luxury those folks had back then. "The friendly train staff see to the needs of the passengers." Quite unlike the commanding unfriendly barked orders of the TSA staff today. "One of the many pleasures of the California Zephyr is the opportunity for travelers to get up and walk about." Unlike the aircraft where today you're shoehorned like sardines with prohibitive foot and legroom. "For some travelers who so desire, there is the club car where friendly conversation may take place, making new acquaintances. One of the favorite cars is the dining care where travelers may select from the selections of culinary delights prepared by the train's Chef which are served up by the courteous train stewards." Not exactly like the bag of peanuts pitched to you by the unsmiling flight attendant. Yes how times have changed. For the abysmal worse. Nice to see how Gramps and Grandma were treated though.

[@richmanwisco]

You get what you pay for. Want luxury travel and fine dining? Open up the wallet. Don't want to spend the money? Then peanuts it is. There's a reason why luxury train travel disappeared. Not enough people were willing to pay for it.

[@johnthemachine]

you can BUY service like this today. It just COSTS MONEY. Tickets on the new luxury rocky mountain train are over 1000 bucks a person. Flying in a plane cross country today for 300 bucks is the equivalent of taking a greyhound bus in the 50s.

[@LesterMoore]

@@johnthemachine Thank you for this update. As Mom and I don't gamble, drink like fishes and smoke like trains, we will look into this style of train travel.

[@Ed_Okin]

7:03 “the graciously rounded end of the rear car…” (as two ladies walk by and show their backsides) Coincidence?

[@alistairmcelwee7467]

Gotta love the background music!

[@marvwatkins7029]

I rode it many times, mostly pre-Amtrak. Truly a great ride.

[@dogie1070]

Wouldn't it be fun to travel back in time in a Zephyr to the 1950's?

[@Freshstart6354]

Pancake Circus --- I'm ready let's go!

[@andyharman3022]

On my bucket list to do before I die: Take a long trip in a train with Vista Dome cars. I've wanted to do that since I was 6 years old.

[@romansroad2007]

Andy Harman How old are you now

[@gregsells8549]

In 2000 I took an overnight train from Montreal to Toronto with a Vista Dome observation car. I slept in an upper berth, ate a continental breakfast in the observation car, then looked at Lake Ontario from the dome. Not as long as Toronto to Vancouver, but it filled my bucket list. Unfortunately VIA doesn't run it anymore.

[@dindog22]

I'd love to go back in time to ride it

[@TheBandit7613]

It's still running.

[@cynthiataylor2597]

Classic. Tsa... Good to see... I'd love to see it in person!! Too bad this doesn't happen today. Love it. Makes sense, see our history.

[@Rex1942g]

My dad took the Zephyr a few times and always brought back tons of slides of the train's beautiful journey through the Rockies and Feather River Canyon. Today's namesake is a pale comparison of its storied predecessor!!

[@JamesJohnson-bo9pt]

Much has changed. A cartoon in a San Francisco paper depicted Simon LaGree standing over a fair damsel he had tied to the train tracks. The fair maid exclaims in the caption, "Thank God...I thought you were going to make me ride the train!"

[@Face2theScr33n]

So some guy put a hit piece in the paper? Who cares, I've heard good reviews on it.

[@barbaradarnell.3802]

There is a nonmoterized trail in Glenwood Canyon . Extremely beautiful,very accessable.

[@TrailWright]

I traveled that train a couple of weeks ago from Denver. Wow, Uncle Sam needs to see this video. It might learn a thing or two. Just saying. Thanks for sharing...

[@cats0182]

Uncle San knows this video. Uncle San also knows that the railroads that operated this train are no longer separate railroads and/or are no longer in existence. Uncle San also know that the railroads wanted out of the passenger business because it was bleeding them dry. Rather than let the marketplace sort out rail travel, Uncle Sam stepped in and created AMTRAK. For better or worse, that's what we're stuck with. The days of the 20th Century Limited, Broadway Limited, California Zephyr, Denver Zephyr, Super Chief are gone forever; they won't return.

[@steveevans4093]

@@cats0182 Socialized RRs have worked well in Europe and other places. The failure of long distance trains in the USA involves a lot of factors. Sure Amtrak could do better with more funding and ridership but they loose money on every long distance route. I am glad they have kept some of these routes alive. Long live Amtrak (or something better.)

[@allandavis8201]

I always wondered what the humps on top of some trains seen in films and documentaries from the USA were, now I know, another puzzle solved, thanks PF. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@death2pc]

Love this. Love the music. The xylophone definitely adds some zip..................

[@fernandorangelpinheiro2544]

fantastic

[@marvwatkins7029]

Notice at 22:20 the dome observation's curtains were closed, because the train wasn't moving and it was probably in the station or yard anyway.

[@tpxchallenger]

You can still ride this exact equipment on VIA Rail between Vancouver and Toronto. Stainless steel cars made by Budd in 1953. The sleepers are particularly popular and are sold out for most of the summer, especially between Vancouver and Jasper. Silver service in the dining cars.

[@Duececoupe]

So many great trains that's no more, that I'd have loved to travel on, Olympian Hiawatha, Empire Builder, Super Chief, Daylight, California Zephyr, 20th Century Limited Panama Limited....traveling by train back in the was more classy than it is today, you dressed for the occasion! Oh well, born too late.... Great video! 👍👌👏😍

[@nanajodi201]

Indeed - but not too late for the hats and heels brigade! I agree it would be nice if people took more pride in their appearance in public - but I don't think I'd want to return to the Hats and Heels that were seemingly mandatory and ubiquitous. Have you ever seen a pair of those heels? Wow! My Mother's were 6", easy. And it seemed like she had them in every color!

[@gasousa6559]

You didn't miss anything..train rides are boring and uncomfortable...learn to fly..!!

[@johndahntu5318]

AmTrak still operates the California Zephyr as well as the Empire Builder to this day, I was on the Zephyr a couple of days ago...

[@johndahntu5318]

people don't dress up as nicely but there's still beautiful full lounge cars, dining cars, and the ride is really quiet and comfortable for the most part. There's power outlets and a lot of legroom in coach, which now has recliner seats that are comfortable to sit in for hours and hours. The service isn't the same but it's better than what you'd find on commuter railroads and coach class flying

[@Freshstart6354]

@@gasousa6559--- You never taken the California Zephyr, or the one that takes you across Canada I think it's the Canadian Pacific. We are all doing fine, stay on the plane, while we enjoy the picture of nature in it's splendor.

[@rays2729]

Train leaving on track 4 for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga!

[@lorettacaputo6997]

I don't know what is more interesting in this and other similar videos....the documentation of railroad transportation or a look back at clothing styles and American society at that time. Either way, a very nice glimpse into the past.

[@beccacertifiedpersonaltrai3636]

Back when I was a kid, we rode the ACL, then SCL along the east coast. I too, remember dressing up to ride the train. I second the comments below alluding to how sharp people dressed back then to many of today's travelers.

[@koichinishi9075]

Must've been nice to have "white privilege" back then....

[@satanofficial3902]

The preferred term nowadays is "melanin-challenged" instead of "white". Thank you for your cooperation.

[@Freshstart6354]

​@@koichinishi9075--- What nationality is your name?, just curios.

[@koichinishi9075]

@@Freshstart6354 Curious as to why bro?

[@gregleuze6657]

I would take that trip in those cars today.

[@mayankthakur9335]

Back then care was taken to wash train windows at all major stations for clear view .

[@Freshstart6354]

Mayank Thakur --- On the California Zephyr they would wash the cars while you sat in your seats in Denver, Colorado & Salt Lake City, Utah, while they changed power, going from one rail road to the other, there were three separate rail roads that ran the California Zephyr from Chicago to Oakland, (BRR, DRGRR, WPRR).

[@captainmorgan757]

@@Freshstart6354 When you typed "BRR", do you mean, perhaps, the CB&Q (Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy)? I've never heard of the BRR, especially in connection with the California Zephyr.

[@Freshstart6354]

@@captainmorgan757 --- You are correct, I did mean CB&Q RR not BRR (Burlington Rail Road), I do know the difference, thanks. My father worked 45 years for Union Pacific my brother worked 44 years, I worked only two summers for UP, never could get on full time, I retired from Kellogg's. I appreciate your help.

[@TheBandit7613]

@@Freshstart6354 Why couldn't you get FT? I was thinking of sending my kid to UP. I work for a local public works. If everything else fails, I'll get him in PW. Union with a pension.

[@Freshstart6354]

@@TheBandit7613 --- At the time of me wanting to be hired for UPRR, it was mid 70's & UPRR was being pressured to higher minorities, in other words, Female, Black, & Hispanic.

[@Yogasefski]

Hoping to take this trip next year.

[@Sokx41]

I rode the Zypher from California to Chicago in Jan 1960, on a return trip to college at Denison University in Ohio after hitchhiking the other way. I remember very little about the train, just the pretty college girls traveling on the same train, including a friend. I rode coach but I may have had access to the dining car because my Doctor father paid for the ticket. What is most remarkable to me in this historic video is the stylish clothes that people normally wore in those days. So unlike the gross attire of today.

[@smadaf]

"Modern, fluorescent lighting is soft and glareless, yet ample for reading."

[@jimciancio9005]

Wow! That's awesome stuff!

[@193322009]

Notice how nice people dressed in those days while traveling, unlike today's overweight sloppy dressers with their eyes glued to their tablets, cell phones and computers. The older Zephyrs were only one story high and had more room than today's two story cars. I've been on this route several times between Oakland and Denver and I find the scenery just as good, if not better, than some of the Canadian routes that we experienced. If you have the time this is the best way to travel!

[@bobsmoth-iv3sp]

Stuart , Can you keep your political comments to political videos ?

[@MerleOberon]

Seems to be touchy people here, thanks, I got to ride on the old New Haven RR, remember tablecloths, candles on the table, sure was a different era.

[@chrisevans1274]

I grew up next to a railroad. How I loved the trains, I remember making to stop my Mom, to watch a train maybe with 25 wagons, in order to go home and draw that train.

[@Freshstart6354]

Chris Evans --- Wagons?

[@TheCloakedTiger]

Amtrak does not even come close to this... I wish train travel would be as beautiful and as classy as this again...

[@richmanwisco]

How much money you got? Consider renting a private car?

[@RG-od8ri]

Their funding is continually butchered.

[@JohnDoesItAll]

The Western Maryland scenic Railroad has a Vista Dome car. Reserved one for my girlfriend and I for my birthday and it was pulled by the C&O 1309❤

[@8176morgan]

A nice nostalgic railroad film. Looks like it was shot in the late 1940's though, not the 1950's.

[@mitchdakelman4470]

The motive power you see in this film : CB&Q F units, the DRG&W Alco PA's and WP F units would most likely indicate the film was photographed circa 1949 when the train was first inaugurated. Those CB&Q Fs were eventually replaced with E8s and the PAs on the Rio Grande segments were replaced by F7s in the early 1950s.

[@8176morgan]

1949 could well be the date. I was judging the film from types of cars seen in the footage and not by the types of trains of which I know nothing.

[@medicbabe2ID]

Anyone else get their hearts broken seeing how beautiful San Francisco was back in the day? 🥺

[@marktufts7756]

love the denver union station

[@cats0182]

The CZ actually terminated in Oakland, CA, not Emeryville.

[@johnp139]

Why are they in the observation car with all of the curtains closed?

[@tracynation2820]

Superb. 💙 T.E.N.

[@tracynation2820]

I love the Zephyr. A proper passenger train with a proper round tail Vista Dome observation car on the rear. I wonder what an Amtrak View Liner would look like as an end of the train "observation" car? My favorite was the Rio Grande, because they ran the F units as an A-B-B set, not A-B-A, so the train looked more streamlined to me. Edit: I was lucky to get to ride this train, as my Dad was in the Air force and we could have flown to where we were going, but Mom won out and I got the train ride of a lifetime. They would retire the Zephyr in favor of Amtrak, but she was a lady till the end. I was nine years old, and thank you for the memories. 💙 T.E.N.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

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[@Baynewsvideo]

11:15 that's a pretty cool shot for those days.

[@FirstLast-nt6hu]

I bet there's nothing quite like boning a trout on a train

[@keywestjj]

The "wonderful goodness of a mountain trout" no less!

[@TheGhostrider9667]

That’s not even legal in 27 states…

[@needlenosekw]

A view of beautiful Glenwood canyon before destroyed by I70. Go thru there now makes you sick.

[@dknowles60]

the mississippi river bridge has been rebuilt

[@johngreen3543]

You do not have to pay a toll fee to cross. The bridge is from Burlington, Iowa to Gulfport Illinois.

[@johnavast5939]

ahhh Chicago- if only we could figure out what it was that happened to this city......

[@Nudnik1]

Charles Kettering Detroit diesel invented this first diesel engine train. Also freon AC air conditioning. Electric start lights for cars for AC Delco. Changed the world.

[@TheBandit7613]

It's an EMD F-unit

[@ednorton47]

@@TheBandit7613 Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation was founded in 1922 and purchased in 1930 to become a division of General Motors. Inventor, Charles F. Kettering, was a founder of Delco and head of research at General Motors from 1920 to 1947. Delco was sold to GM in 1918. In 1938, GM began diesel engine production under their Detroit Diesel Division. Locomotive engines were made under their Cleveland Engine Division. In 1962, Cleveland Engine products moved over to GM's EMD Division (Electro-Motive Division).

[@sean6975]

If you want this experience you will have to ride The Canadian. Only it's updated. They still use their renovated streamliner's.

[@youtuuba]

Nope. The modern AMTRAK California Zephyr is almost identical to what is shown here, except the cars have a more modern look and furnishing, and the passengers don't dress up. But the train route and schedule is virtually identical, and you can still ride in fairly wide, comfortable reclining seats with footrests (in COACH), or in a Superliner bedroom that is nearly identical to what is shown here, plus you also have the option of the smaller Superliner Roomette that give you all the comforts of a bedroom, but without your own shower and toilet, for much less money. The only real difference is that the Superliner train does not have this same kind of observation car. I agree that the VIARAIL "Canadian" is probably the only cross country passenger train that still uses this old kind of bubble-dome observation car. I have had the pleasure of riding the Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver, and I did very much like being in the bubble domes for as much time as possible. However, while the Canadian has a nice passage through the Rockies, I think the California Zephyr has valid claim to the longer stretches of amazing scenery, and the mountain passes are more immediate and spectacular for the most part. Still, there are many excellent and rewarding scenic areas on the Canadian, and those bubble dome cars cannot be beat. Too bad the Canadian (Toronto-Vancouver, single person room) costs about three times as much as the California Zephyr (Chicago -San Francisco, roomette with one person in it), everyting else on the train being almost identical (of course, the Canadian is a 4 day trip, whilst the Zephyr is a 3 day trip).

[@sean6975]

You are missing my point, only the Canadian offers the vista dome experience now a days,

[@youtuuba]

The problem was that no point was clearly made.... the comment was that one needs to ride the Canadian to get the experience shown in the video. .. it was not qualified to be in relation to the vistadome experience only. So my reply was that almost entirely the modern California Zephyr experience mirrors that of the video, but then I added that the modern trip is missing the Vistadome and that indeed I think only the Canadian offers that these days.

[@werksdesign]

sean haugen made his point. That is to experience this level of travel, on streamliners with vista domes, you have to travel The Canadian. He wasn't disputing the modern AMTRAK.

[@youtuuba]

Sean Haugen wrote only ’to experience THIS' without being clear what he meant by 'this'. Hence his point was not clearly made, and a reader would probably assume he mentioned the whole experience, not specifically the VistaDome. Hence my reply.

[@annalorree]

I have ridden the modern California Zephyr west to east, but very much wish I could have ridden it during its heyday.

[@Bigbuddyandblue]

Passengers staring at closed drapes in the observation car. 😝

[@skatesneakerlover]

I couldn't understand that stupidity either. They probably thought they were in a theater and were waiting for the house lights to dim and the curtain to rise on act 1.

[@joeguzman3558]

The most beautiful time in USA

[@2quintly]

And a beautiful train it was. Back when the people of the United States understood what "class" really was.

[@MidnightAspec]

My has rail travel in America changed, and not for the better. I suppose the same can be said for all forms of travel in America.

[@thejourneyplanner9037]

the dining experience has changed just a tad.

[@cadespencer6320]

what about the sunset limited

[@johnmcdowell5739]

OMG. Cigarettes and straws and oh ,the cfc hairspray- all heading for California !

[@bobsmoth-iv3sp]

Radio active materials salesmen had to travel too

[@MerleOberon]

And the passenger compartments were probably sprayed down with DDT.

[@nanajodi201]

Will you look at that hat? Eesh, somebody is going to lose an eye to that feather!

[@keywestjj]

Should be considered a lethal weapon (at 19:30) but she obviously wore it in honor of viewing the Feather River right then ... and those other ladees' headgear?!? 'Um, just "why", comedy .... ??

[@hujiaming6151]

The good, old, happy times, used to exist, in USA......

[@connorweber4141]

Anyone know the music or similar recordings to the background music here?

[@Baynewsvideo]

18:00 I sure miss those days when they de-boned your trout for you.

[@Ed_Okin]

Did they just drop a fishing line out the window of the train to catch the fish?

[@ednorton47]

@@Ed_Okin Probably loaded onto the train at Denver or Glenwood Springs for westbound trains.

[@historyboy08]

this is before the 1950s. It was done sometime after March of 1949.

[@keywestjj]

"the tempting goodness of a mountain trout" .... ?? Huh, say what?? Fun video tho ... we alternated between this train to NorCal and the Super Chief to SoCal on our frequent 1950's-1960's trips from the midwest to the Golden State.

[@Popesontour]

No mention of the Cleveland Steamer! My ex has ridden her many many times!!!

[@thebeaches]

This is not HD quality. It’s too grainy...

[@1001saar]

Great stuff. From a time when travel was a pleasure and not a time to be abused but moron employees of corporations driven by $ instead of transporting humans beings.

[@Ed_Okin]

Anyone keeping count of how many times the narrator uses the word “thrill”?

[@nedeljkomrkic408]

Locomotives were exchanged ???

[@ednorton47]

This route traveled over 3 different private railroads, perhaps with each company using its own locomotives. Also, a more powerful locomotive may have been needed to pull the train over steeper grades in the mountains.