Chasing Amtrak's "Heritage" P42 #156 on train #6, the California Zephyr

On Tuesday May 10 the Amtrak California Zephyr #5 went west with #156, the Phase 1 painted P42 GE Genesis locomotive. My buddy on youtube, user NarodnieMstiteli, caught the westbound run at Verdi, NV.

Luckily the next day the same trainset came back over the Sierra Nevada and Donner pass as the #6 California Zephyr. I first caught it in Verdi, on Quilici Ranch Road.

I thought I was done but I caught up with the train along W. 4th street, west of McCarran Blvd. After a "ride-along" shot and then a "no-tripod" shot, I decided to follow this train a little longer -- halfway to Lovelock!

So next we take a long (5 minutes) shot of this California Zephyr heritage #156 coming out of Reno's railroad icon, the Reno Trench. Then there are more shots of the train heading out toward Fernley, and the final shot at Ocala.

This train was really hauling at full speed and I had trouble keeping up with it. While I was rushed and didn't get the tripod set the way I wanted in some shots, I think the video is all worth posting. Enjoy!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• amtrak
• heritage
• 156
• california
• zephyr
• verdi
• quilici
• ranch
• truckee
• river
• sierra
• nevada
• p42
• genesis
• phase
• reno
• trench
• ocala

[renorailfan]

Hey around 3:20 there's supposed to be a title saying, "hold on we're not done yet" but I guess that didn't make it into my final edit. I was trying to bang this out so it didn't sit for weeks like my other videos do sometimes. especially on the virginiatruckee channel.

[renorailfan]

ouch I forgot to adjust the volume before I uploaded this sorry if I blast your speakers at the start.

[HUTCHtopher]

The heritage units look better than the current Amtrak scheme.

[renorailfan]

@HUTCHtopher yeah, I am a fan of Phase 2 and 3 but this is really cool too, I think this is Phase 1?

[CoastStarlight11]

This was shot the day after I flew to Alaska! Amazing! I actually shot video of that 156 engine in year 2008 when it lead a detoured eastbound California Zephyr through the Feather River Canyon.

I know every single spot in this video where you were at. Also you were at Ocala crossing on May 11th, 2011. The big rig T'boned the Zephyr at Ocala Crossing on June 24th, 2011.

[MiNameIsNash]

Very good chase!!! But, can I say something I don´t like??? The zoom, try to use it just a little, do not abuse using it. By the way, you have an excellent camera, nice images!!!

[HUTCHtopher]

@renorailfan Yep phase 1. the original Amtrak scheme found on the the ill fated EMD SDP-40F 's

[supersix54]

Outstanding. Thank you for sharing.