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I am thinking of travel on the Zephyr from Chi to Emeryville in December. I have only taken the Zephyr in May and September.
I was wondering about the snow and if the train is delayed for long periods by the snow.
Eric Member # 674
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I have only heard of the worst-case scenarios, which is the train being stuck in a drift for several hours, or having a broken rail caused by cold temperatures affect its on-time performance. I'm sure that there can be long delays, though, as nature will do whatever it wants, as we have seen repeatedly lately.
zephyr Member # 1651
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chaslett: "I was wondering about the snow and if the train is delayed for long periods by the snow."
Donner Party ring a bell? Like the winter weather that introduced these pioneers to a novel cuisine, the Sierra snows have also been a part of rail pax lore. The most notorious was the stranding of the City of San Francisco in 1952.
A couple of years ago, the Amtrak Zephyr was about 18 hours late due to snow delays. I was on the Coast Starlight at the same time, and it was also about as late. Also due to snow problems. But the Zephyr got all the press because they ran out of food. Alas, we Starlighters had plenty of food, and, oh yeh, wine in the Parlour Car. Ergo, no sympathy, no press. The outside world never knew how precariously close we were to running out of the 99 cabernet sauvignon.
But the good news is the Zephyr diner did not have to pull out the Donner Party Cook Book.
The Zephyr is often late. I've been a "guest" on this train many times, and have never arrived OT. Never ever. But your odds of "lengthy" snow delays (i.e., snowbound so long that the aforementioned cookbook is under consideration) are slim.
chaslett Member # 1012
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I have ridden the Zephry many times too. Actually, I have been on time or early 4 times!!!! Other times late by anywhere from 2-6 hours late. Thanks for the information.
Tanner929 Member # 3720
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I've seen the documentary on the stranding of the City of San Francisco on the History channel. Does everybody here pad there schedules when traveling on trips over 400 miles?
zephyr Member # 1651
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Tanner929, thanks for mentioning the History Channel documentary on the marooned City of SF. I'll try to catch it if they run it again.
A good overview of the story of the snowbound City of San Francisco is at:
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