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" logos such as this often adorned the ends of observation cars on the ''California Zephyr''.]] The ''California Zephyr'' is a 2,438-mile (3924-km) Passenger Train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwest ern and Southwest ern United States . It runs from Chicago, Illinois in the east to Emeryville, California in the west, passing through the states of Illinois , Iowa , Nebraska , Colorado , Utah , Nevada , and California . This route is one of the longest and most scenic routes run by Amtrak. Before Amtrak commenced operation, ''California Zephyr'' (the ''CZ'', or "Silver Lady") was a passenger train operated jointly by the Chicago, Burlington And Quincy Railroad (CB&Q), Denver And Rio Grande Western Railroad (D&RGW) and Western Pacific Railroad (WP), along almost the same route. The CB&Q, D&RGW and WP inaugurated "''The most talked about train in America''" on March 19 , 1949 . It was the first passenger train in regular operations in North America to use Dome Car s, and was purposely scheduled so that her patrons passed through the most spectacular scenery in the daylight. THE PRE-AMTRAK ''CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR'' Before Amtrak operated a train with this name, the ''California Zephyr'' was operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad from Chicago to Denver, Colorado , the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad between Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah , and the Western Pacific Railroad from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. Trains ran with cars of mixed ownership; cars cycled in and out of the consists for service, repairs, and varying passenger loads with the seasons. This train was the first in the nation to use Vista Dome cars. The first train was christened in San Francisco by Eleanor Parker while California 's Lieutenant Governor Goodwin Knight and WP's President Harry Mitchell watched. For the inaugural run in 1949 , every female passenger on the train was given a corsage of "silver" and orange orchids that were specially flown in from Hilo, Hawaii . The women who worked as car hostesses on this train were known as ''Zephyrettes.'' The train traversed the route's 2,525 miles (4064 km) in 2½ days. Equipment used . Men and women sit on upholstered chairs and couches and at booths. The men wear suits and ties, and the women wear dresses or skirts and sweaters. Bottles of Coca-Cola are on a table at a booth. The windows have blinds and floral drapes and a painting of a mountain landscape hangs on the far wall.]] The passenger cars used when the train was inaugurated in 1949 were as follows:
The forward section of the first Vista-Dome car was partitioned off and reserved for women and children only. There was a door in the corridor under the dome just behind the women's restroom that provided access to the reserved section. In later years, the reserved section was opened up to all passengers and the door and partitions were removed. Like the train's operation, ownership of the cars was split between the three railroads almost evenly across all car types. Each car was owned by a single railroad, but the ownership of the cars on any specific day's run of the train depended more on what equipment was available at the terminals than whose railroad the train was operating over at the time. In 1952 an additional Pullman sleeper (6 double bedrooms) was added to regular service on this train. With the new cars delivered that year, cars arriving in Chicago on the ''California Zephyr'' were made available for use on the '' Ak-Sar-Ben Zephyr '' for an overnight round trip to Lincoln, Nebraska . When the cars returned from Lincoln the next day, they were placed back in the westbound ''California Zephyr's'' consist for the next train out of Chicago that afternoon. AMTRAK ERA As ridership fell during the 1960's the Western Pacific repeatedly petitioned the ICC to drop its section of the train west of Salt Lake City without success. On February 13,1970 the ICC released an order stating, "operation of the train was no longer required". Final operation of the train was made on March 22, 1970 with a west bound train terminating at Oakland, California. The ''California Zephyr'' had operated for 20 years and 2 days. The Chicago, Burlington And Quincy continued to operate the remaining train as ''California Service'' and the Rio Grande as the '' Rio Grande Zephyr '' until May 31, 1971, though the train terminated at Salt Lake City. With the establishment of Amtrak in 1971 the new system began operating its ''San Francisco Zephyr'' over the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy route to Denver, and Union Pacific's "Overland Route" west of Denver where the train then ran over the Southern Pacific tracks west of Ogden, Utah. The Rio Grande railroad initially opted out of Amtrak and continued to operate its section of the former ''California Zephyr'' as the '' Rio Grande Zephyr .'' In 1983 the Rio Grande Railroad reversed its decision and joined Amtrak. In July 1983 Amtrak ceased operation of the ''San Francisco Zephyr'' and launched operation of a new ''California Zephyr'' over the CB&Q and Rio Grande legs of the original trains route. West of Salt Lake City the route operates on the Western Pacific track to where the WP meets the old Southern Pacific track near Wells, Nevada . From Wells to Winnemucca (where the 2 tracks meet again), Nevada the Zephyr uses WP track eastbound, Southern Pacific track westbound. West of Winnemucca the Zephyr uses SP track. TIMELINE on July 15 , 1951 .]]
COMMUNITIES SERVED beside the Colorado River on March 21 , 1949 . The Denver and Rio Grande Western locomotives and passenger cars travel in opposite directions on parallel tracks. Placards on the dome cars read "Silver Hostel" and "Silver Pony."]] From east to west, the communities with regular station stops on this train included:
Station stops The ''California Zephyr'' runs as train 5 westbound and 6 eastbound, making the following station stops: , Train No. 5 — the ''California Zephyr'', led by GE Genesis P42DC locomotives #132 and #167 — "cools its heels" for a few minutes before continuing west on September 27th , 2004 .]] ; Illinois
; Nebraska ; Nevada
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