Sacramento to Denver, California Zephyr, July, 2004 Pt1a

California Zephyr through Wyoming?!

Part Ia of III

Carl Morrison for TrainWeb.com. July 21-26, 2004

Comments and/or corrections welcomed at Carl@Trainweb.com

(Click any picture which has a 'pointing hand' when the curser is over it (and the photo has a thin blue border), to get a double-sized copy, click BACK, in your browser to return to this page.)

We were finally on our way and it was way past lunch time! As we reboarded, a few of us heard, "The dining car is closed for lunch," but went to the diner anyway and were welcomed by A. Walton to have lunch anyway. Mr. Walton, our friendly server, has 31 years of service at Amtrak, starting after his Viet Nam service. He was pleasant with the customers each time I saw him throughout the trip, pretty much a model employee, I'd say.

Tablemates for lunch were Charles Lee Miller, Darlene Miller, Lindsey Miller, and Mary Lee Bock, (below) from St. Clair, and Bourbon, Missouri. Charles may have seen the hubcap I lost near Union, MO, off my '56 Chevy in early May, but that's a whole 'nother story! At this point, the Millers were disappointed that we were going through Wyoming rather than Colorado because one of the reasons for their trip was to go through the Rocky Mountains. Being a midwesterner myself, I told them they might not be disappointed because of the great mountain views they were soon to see in the Sierras.

They were pleased the next morning to find out, after our stop in Salt Lake City, that work had been delayed one day and we would go through the Rockies after all! I saw them at breakfast the next day and they were pleased.


Al Nahmi, also joined us for lunch. He remembered a quote that from his mother that seemed most appropriate for this day, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything." Thanks, Al.	My seat at lunch afforded me this view of two snow plows (rotarys) awaiting colder weather in Roseville, CA, and this sign:

I noticed this young reporter, Shawn White, observing and photographing the repairs. Send your story to TrainWeb.com, Shawn!	Shawn's dad, Michael Whites.
Click either menu for a larger, readable, copy.

Pay no attention to the price. If you are in a sleeper, your meals are included, so eat up! and have dessert!

While at your first meal in the diner, check out the same menu for the other meals you will be having there (above). If you are in a sleeper, someone will come by your room and ask what time you'd like to eat: 6 pm, 6:45, 7:45, etc.

I-80 parallel to the railroad.	Sierra View
	Reservoir in Yuba Gap.

Great views at every turn.


Down to Virginia Street in Reno with old tracks where new trench will go. We are on new temporary track and station one block south.	Boarding at new, temporary station in Reno.

Applegate, our 632 Car Attendant., at Reno where we entered at 8 pm (scheduled at 4:16 pm)	Nugget's east tower where we stay for Hot August Nights in a week. Sparks, we had a crew change "on the fly."
The end of July 23, 2004. sunset 8:13 pm. Partly cloudy, mostly clear.	The beginning of July 24, 2004, Salt Lake City, UT

July 23, Chris went for supper at 6 since he'd skipped lunch, I had chosen dining time of 7:30, but was not called until 8:30. Note, except for the first call, others seem to be later, so if you do not want to eat late, take the 6 pm, or anything later you can add 45 minutes to an hour to for realistic time of seating. I wasn't really hungry because lunch had been at 3 pm after our SAC to SAC electrical adventure. For lunch I had ordered Burger, chips, slaw, and Sierra Mist with apple pie ala mode. By the time dinner was over, 10 pm, I found I couldn't get to sleep in the upper bunk of our economy room, perhaps too much water at dinner! I had forgotten that I always get a Deluxe room for two reasons: bathroom IN the room, and enough room for a chair besides the two seats during the day and upper and lower berth during the night. This makes two great advantages: room to change clothers in the room and being able to go to the bathroom any time without leaving your room. But, I'm not as dumb as I look: A comp. economy room is better than a deluxe or coach out of one's own pocket!

Finally got to sleep and up at 5:30, showered, and dressed before Salt Lake City Stop (pictures below).

	Time for fuel fillup, baggage, new crew, and a stretch for passengers for 30 min.

Michael photographs Shawn in front of 201.
Twin tunnels at Thistle, UT. A landslide in 1983 had cosed the canyon, blocking the RR and Hwy 6, The slide is shown at the right with the old hwy. and old RR cut.

Past the slide, the old site of the town of Thistle, which became covered with water as the water from the river backed up and created Lake Thistle.	Where the slide came down.
The opposite end of the twin tunnels for the RR which took 3.5 months to complete and get the train running again..	An original Thistle house that had floated to the top of the lake.

Lower Gullily Loop.
Spanish Fork Creek below the rails	Highway above.

Kyuane Tunnel	Toward Soldier's Summit
Castle Rock, west of Helper, UT.	Utah RR station and water tower.

Utah RR station and water tower.	Helper, Utah stop for stretch.
At Helper, UT

At Salt Lake City, it had been obvious that we were going to take the Colorado route rather than the Wyoming route as announced, and the reason for us to take this trip. Helper, UT, was the first time we had to ask the Conductor why the deviation from the plan. Chris asked and found out that: The track work, or Moffett Tunnel work, had been delayed a day. This made a lot of people happy that they would be able to see the Rockies, but it eliminated the reason for us to go on this trip. Hopefully, tomorrow when we return from Denver, we will go through Wyoming as planned. Going this way put 3.5 hrs. on the trip that we could have gained back if we'd gone east through Wyoming.

John and Peggy McLaughlin, Reno, NV. John repairs mining equipment and he and Peggy have a rare, Canadian built 1938 Willys 2-dr. sedan, red of course! If you go to Hot August Nights, in Reno, look for them and their car at the Hilton. Look for me in a red 1957 chevy convertible!
The sky became more interesting broadening the view.	Old fence posts and old telegraph poles added interest.

	Soon we reached the Colorado River and followed it for 238 miles. There were many rafters.
As it was in the Sierras, every turn revealed a new view.


	Navajos, above center, were prevalent. One had footholds carved out to climb down and up to the top of the plateau.

	On some curves, we could look right up the river.

The Utah Colorado border looked much like this with 'Utah/Colorado' painted in white on the sandstone. Colorado means 'color red' in Spanish.

I liked the solitary cottonwood tree.
	and solitary boatman.

	There were many rafters (left), but it must have been cooler than usual because there was no evidence of the traditional maneuver causing most California Zephyr announcers to call it "Moon River." The river got wider and slower.

2:30 we stopped at Grand Junction where I took pictures of the station for Steve Grande of TrainWeb. The old station has cyclone fence around it and a little evidence of restoration...a long way to go. The temporary station, which was there 2 years ago when I passed this way, is still being used.

I called friends, Leon and Flora Loucheur in nearby Clifton, CO, who I had visited in May, and left a message that I had passed through their neck of the woods. I even saw their place on the banks of the Colorado River from the train, when we were east of Grand Junction!

Grand Junction	old station
Grand Junction	new station.

Inside new station.
Outside new station.	Detail of Old Station sign

Chris kept me informed about sights coming up so I took quite a few photos as the light faded for the day. Glenwood Springs and Glenwood Canyon after that were particularly interesting. The Canyon has the very expensive I-70 running through the canyon with Hwy. 6, the RR and the river and a jogging and biking trail. The canyon walls were vertical and there were many scenic shots to take.
"With the exception of a couple of places, the old US-6 readway was eliminated during the construction of I-70," Don Merchant. (Thanks for the information, Don)

Close to Flora Loucheur's Clinton, CO, home.	Palasades School
	Red rocks began appearing after Clifton's fruit and vineyard valley and before Glenwood Springs.


Glenwood Springs, stretch break.

	I-70 and access road with bus and rubber boats.
	In Glenwood Canyon, there was already a river and a railroad before they built the 4-lane I-70 stretch through here with a jobbing/bike trail! It cost more than the space program, according to some sources! Much of I-70, as you can see, is bridges, or at least east and west bound lanes are separated.

	Shoshone Dam, named after the Shoshone Indians, in Glenwood Canyon.
Lake above Shoshone Dam powers a small dydroelectric power plant. There was very little water in the river below the lake. (Thanks again Don Merchant)	Thunder head and rainbow and rain below.

Magazine Cover of Glenwood Canyon.

View from our dining window from 6 to 8 pm...

1110

Chris found out that the reason for our delay was a freight hanging out on the main line (above) from not getting completely onto the siding before it had mechanical problems.

Guests at our table were my traveling partner, Chris, Al, who we had met earlier on the trip, and Mary from the coach cars (not pictured). Across the aisle were Lois and Jim Morris of Alamo, TX. They had already traveled west on the California Zephyr, to San Jose, CA, through Wyoming on another work day. They were returning back to Denver on the California Zephyr now through Colorado.

Left, at a meal earlier in the trip, I met Alice Wallerstein, from Washington, DC, who had traveled to Denver, then to Tacoma, WA, to visit a friend she had known since third grade, then back to Denver on this train, then to DC.

At 6 pm, we went to the diner for supper. The train stopped as soon as we were seated, with a UP frieght outside the north side and carmel colored water outside our window running through the Colorado River. Chris felt that with this much silt in the water, there must have been flooding upriver. As it turned out, we did not move through dinner, nor for an hour afterwards, making it nearly 2 hours that we sat in one spot. There were no announcements in the diner as to why we were not moving. After dinner, Chris asked the Conductor why we were stopped, and why there were no announcements. The Conductor told him he had made 3 announcements, but the couldn't be heard in the diner. Why not? What if we had been ordered to detrain in an emergency? The reason we were stopped was that a UP freight had not pulled completely off the main line onto the siding. For what reason, I do not know. Finally, after two hours in one spot, the freight moved on past us, and we continued, now nearly 5 hours late.

Passengers were beginning to talk of missed connections at their destinations, but cell phones did not work at this location.

At this meal, I finally had the T-Bone that had been at the top of the Dinner Menu this whole trip. I enjoyed baked potato, vegetables, Sierra Mist, and this time for dessert, cholocate cake.

At 9:40 pm we made a quick stop at Granby, 5 hours late by the schedule.

Through the 6+ mile long Moffett tunnel, they instructed everyone to stay in their car and not go through the two pneumatic doors to go between cars. This would allow diesel exhaust to enter the cars and become unpleasant and unhealthful. It took 12 minutes.

Don Merchant sent me this further information about the tunnel from, The Moffat Road by Edward T. Bollinger and Frederick Bauer: "...the apex elevation is 9,238.88 feet, and that is located 2.64 miles from the east portal. The elevation at the east portal is 9,179.06 feet, and at the west portal is 9,084.18 feet. It took 4 years to complete, 1923-1927, and nineteen lives were lost. After track was laid, etc. it officially opened on February 26, 1928.

My wife, Sue, called about midnight when we were in West Denver, wondering how our trip was going. All was OK at home as well. We got to the station about 1 a.m., got our luggage and drug it to the LaQuinta Inn for some much needed rest in a bed on firm ground.

Thanks to freind Bob "Rock Island Line" Williams for early corrections to this report.

About using TrainWeb photos:

I often get requests to e-mail photographs I take to people I meet on trains. It is easier than that to use my photos! TrainWeb allows you to use any of our photos at no cost, just reference them properly. When I tell folks this policy, I see relief in their faces and they say, "I'll quit worrying about taking photos of the rest of the trip and just use yours." It is as easy as that! One exception to the Policy: I DO have higher resolution photos than those we use at TrainWeb and you can e-mail me for copies of specific photos, in my articles (not other TrainWeb reporters). Those photos are $10 per 5 x 7 and $20 for an 8 x 10, but you'll probably find those online, especially the 640 x 480 resolution sufficient. For all the details go to the Photo Use Policy At Trainweb [ http://www.trainweb.com/photos/photohdr.htm ].

--Carl@TrainWeb.com

California Zephyr 2004 Through Wyoming

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