California Zephyr
The streamliner California Zephyr was launched in 1949 by the Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, and the Western Pacific Railroad. Operating from Chicago to Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco, the Zephyr featured Vista-Dome observation cars that afforded passengers expansive views of the mountain landscapes that the train passed through, including the 6.2-mile long Moffat Tunnel through the Continental Divide, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was marketed as “the most talked-about train in America.”
Like other passenger trains in the 1960s, the California Zephyr saw declines in passenger numbers, and the route began to lose money for the railroad. The route was discontinued in 1970.
Today, the California Zephyr runs between Chicago and San Francisco, still carrying passengers through the scenic mountains of the western United States.
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad | California Zephyr Brochure, c. 1950s
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad | October 1950 Timetable
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad |California Zephyr Brochure, c.1950s
Burlington, Rio Grande, & Western Pacific Railroad | California Zephyr Brochure, c. 1960s
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad | May 15, 1966 Timetable
![Rio Grande timetables issued May 15, 1966 showing the California Zephyr passing by a river in a mountain landscape](https://sites.northwestern.edu/amtrak50/files/2021/04/CA-Zephyr-5-16-66-Timetable-Hough-128x300.jpg)