 Heading
Westward toward the Rockies in The
Observatory car.
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 Birch Grove and The Observatory follow
the California Zephyr west
of Denver.
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 Birch Grove
sleeper car, second from last Amtrak Car, above. Photo taken from
open vestibule of The Observatory.
DeWitt Chapple, Jr. , owner, watching the world go by from The Chapel Hill observation deck (right). |
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 Brian Collins,
owner of the Birch Grove,
watches the computer-GPS in the Chapel
Hill lounge while guests enjoy the observation platform.
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 Original
European Railcar Emblem adorns the wall of the Chapel Hill's elegant
dining room.
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 "I'll ride private rail cars 'til the cows come home." |
 As we ascend
the Rockies, and start through switchbacks and tunnels, a coal train
awaits below on a siding.
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 Some pretty
nice digs have cropped up on the way to the summit.
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 The long
sweeping curves at lower levels allow you to see the whole Amtrak
California Zephyr train in front of you.
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 Some curves
were sharp enough to see the next two cars in front of The Observatory:
The Birch Grove and Caritas.
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 Some tunnels
seem to fit naturally into the terrain.
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 The shortest
tunnel is only 78 feet and the longest, 6.2 miles long
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 There are 31
tunnels between Denver and Winter Park, and each one has different
characteristics including the Entrance.
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 Gross
Reservoir, with its 340 ft high dam, supplies Denver with fourteen
billion gallons of water.
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 Why they are called The Rockies. |
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 School House along the Zephyr Route |
 Approaching Moffat Tunnel |
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 After the 6.2
mile long Moffat Tunnel, we emerged onto a plateau already showing fall
colors.
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 (Left) Sensor
wires in rock slide areas signal trains of obstructions.
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 Heading into another tunnel above the river. |
 Looking back,
one realizes the extreme task of carving a railroad through this canyon
with 3 tunnels that look like mouse holes against the massive canyon
wall.
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 While stopped
for a red light, this glass-like lake below The Observatory even kept
it's smoothness even with a duck splashing on the far side.
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 A curious sight
along the river. Was it a tunnel to divert the river during the
construction of the railroad?
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 When the Amtrak
California Zephyr looks like a model train, you know you are in
the
grand geography of Colorado.
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 Eventually, we
saw fishermen, kayakers, and rafters enjoying the river below our
passing train.
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 Mackenzie pours Chardonnay |
 Yours Truly enjoying a glass of wine before dinner, in the lounge of The Observatory. It is hard for me to take the camera from my eye in this splendid Colorado Countryside, but hunger and a glass of wine can get the job done. |
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 Chef Bill,
always available after meals to discuss the trip's agenda.
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 There is no
better way to watch a sunset than from a classic dome rail car like The
Observatory.
Passengers curious about the menu for dinner can peak into the kitchen and see Chef Bill's notes. His board also indicates the care shown by the Cincinnati Railway to clients dietary needs (Right). |
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 Before sunset,
we arrived at Glenwood Springs Station.
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 Across the
river from the station is the Historic Hotel Colorado.
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 As we left
Glenwood Springs, my last photograph of the day was a meet of our train
with a freight.
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 Bruce and I were looking out the vestibule in Winnemucca. Bruce was infatuated with this hotel, and the stories its walls could tell. |
 "Britannica"
Bruce, the most knowledgeable Passenger Rail Authority I've ever met.
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 The lower level
lounge in The Observatory as
we race westward across the Nevada desert.
View of the same area from the steps to the dome (right). |
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 Same view as
above, but from the end of the car showing the two four-tops for
dining, which make into two beds to increase the car's capacity.
Right, Yours Truly next to the stairs to the dome. |
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 Nevada desert
outside the large picture window of
The Observatory, with the wide
screen adjacent.
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 Sparks, Nevada,
UP Station with The Nugget Casino and Hotel's towers in the background.
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 The new trench
through downtown Reno eliminating grade crossings in the congested
downtown casino area.
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 Truckee, California, Flying "A" Service |
 Truckee Station |
 Donner Lake is
bordered on the South by Shallenburger Ridge along which the main
East-West Union Pacific Rail Road tracks and their "snow sheds" are
located. The Lake itself is totally within Nevada County (Town of
Truckee)
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 Richard watches
intently as we navigate the Sierra Nevada. He will remember every
detail of this trip as he has all his many world-wide rail trips.
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 Curving slowly
through the Sierra Nevada Range (no "s" on the end, "Sierra Nevada" is
already plural).
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 After a
complete day of Private Railroading, I was a bit bleary-eyed as we
passed Sacramento!
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 The next thing
I knew, I'd had a good night's rest and awoke with our private cars in
the yard with Amtrak California commuter cars in Oakland, CA, ready to
be hitched to the back of the Coast
Starlight on our last leg to Los
Angeles.
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 Chef Bill, DeWitt Chapple, Jr., and Brian Collins work to clean the dome's windows. |
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 Amtrak 794's
crew awaits the southbound Coast
Starlight when they moved our four
private cars to couple for the trip to Los Angeles and eventually San
Pedro, CA
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 The Coast
Starlight arriving in Oakland to take us on to Los Angeles.
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 The Pacific
Parlour Car, Santa Lucia Highlands, was in the Coast Starlight consist
for the sleeping
car passengers between Seattle and Los Angeles.
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 Another private
car was tucked behind the California Amtrak cars in Oakland.
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 Soon we were
attached and heading for the Oakland Station at 11:05 a.m.
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 A large group
was ready to board the Coast
Starlight in Jack London Square in Oakland.
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 Steven
"Kodachrome9319" Welch was on the Oakland Platform. He's a friend
of a
friend of mine, Andy Smith.
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 We were soon on
our way past Oakland Stadium toward Los Angeles through familiar Coast
Starlight scenery.
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