San Francisco Zephyr

Union Pacific GP40X 9002 leads Amtrak F40ph 323 and 335 as the westbound SFZ makes a station stop at borie, WY 9/14/82. Rail travelers were taken by bus to and from the boarding site and Cheyenne.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Amtrak
• Union
• Pacific
• SFZ
• Zephyr
• railroad
• railway
• passenger
• train
• GP40X
• F40ph
• Superliner
• Gort

[decline2state]

When the San Francisco Zephyr left Denver, did it have to reverse direction, or was there a wye for a turn-around? I've seen maps of the area, and it seemed that trains going N (timetable W; i.e., toward Wyoming) and E (toward Nebraska, Chicago, etc.) left initially in the same direction. Did Amtrak follow the common European practice of reversing the train (creating at least part of a giant zig-zag)? I seem to remember reading that such was the case, with the train reversing again at Cheyenne.

[e44e33]

When it actually went to downtown Cheyenne, it reversed direction for just that leg of the trip. Later, when it began stopping at the little "station" at Borie (not much more than a parking lot and waiting shuttle buses) outside of Cheyenne (see mapquest) it did not reverse. As I recall, there's a wye northeast of Denver Union Station.

[RCdash9]

The San Francisco Zephyr? I didn't know there was an Amtrak train name like that.

[e44e33]

D&RGW was still running its Rio Grande Zephyr which had been its portion of the Cal Zephyr. Amtrak ran the other two legs (Chicago to Denver, ex CB&Q, and Salt Lake City to San Francisco [actually Oakland], ex WP) and bridged the two segments on the UP through Wyoming.

[lexmarks567]

why was the gp40x on the train did they need extra power

[e44e33]

Cab signals. The Amtrak F40phs didn't have them and the UP did. When I first rode this train UP used an E8 as the lead unit.

[SCREAMINGTHUNDERBOX]

That noise is the world class superliner toilet flush.

[daninthedomecar]

Amtrak units have cab signals for the UP but UP did in order to earn incentive payments. The SFZ had a pool of units that were UP compatible. even in 2007 amtrak sets up some units to lead for detours in the summer.

[AnthonyA5555]

Back when the lounge car has three bottom windows. Today, it removes 1 window.

[nanba25]

nice video, thaks for sharing

Did they provide small portable steps to help travellers inside the carriages, as there is quite no platform height here ?

[LostOzarkRambler]

Good old Borie. Nice one.

[844jim]

Love it! Amtrak #323 is second unit, lead the Pioneer many times over the Overland Route in Wyoming.

[jfsa380]

I wish amtrak always had freights running head-end

[BNforever2009]

Were these GP-40X's geared for 90mph service w/ the Amtrak trains?

[DJGENEX71]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 5*****!

[CoasterFan2105]

The oldest Amtrak video on youtube, nice job.

[gaycowboy31]

I passed through Borie on the California Zephyr a few weeks ago on a reroute across Wyoming what a great ride indeed I finally got to ride across Sherman hill on Amtrak seeing sights not open to railfans anymore what a shame and we arrived in Denver almost 3 hours early

[horselovermc]

UP runs the locomotive because it is their rails not amtrak.