California Zephyr

CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR TRAIN TRIP
ROSEVILLE - RENO
December 7-8, 2006

On our list of “1000 Things to Do/Places to Visit” is to ride the California Zephyr train from Roseville, CA to Reno, NV in the wintertime with snow on the Sierra.

In December 2006 we finally had the opportunity to board this historic train that travels from Chicago, IL to Emeryville, CA.

The California Zephyr was the premier transportation from the west coast to the Midwest during the 1940’s with the scenic dome cars, sleepers and a well-appointed dining room with classic and distinctive china place settings.

We see snow-covered rocks when we reached Emigrant Gap at an elevation of 5243 ft. With the sun highlighting the snow on the boughs of the green pines, firs and cedars, the scenery is quite lovely. After traveling through some of the renovated snow sheds, we began the descent into the Reno Valley area. Although we had traveled Highway 80 many times, seeing the Sierra Nevadas from the train provided a new and interesting vantage point.

For those yearning for the allure of transportation that is sometimes overlooked during these modern times, we recommend a ride on the comfortable California Zephyr. Be prepared for the train schedule to vary, however, as our train to Reno arrived 40 minutes late and our train leaving Reno arrived 9 hours late—but don't blame AMTRAK (the Union Pacific RR only lets passenger trains on their tracks when there are no freight trains on that section)!