Streamliners
With their colorful livery and sleek, air-streamed outlines, the stunning streamliners left an indelible stamp of glamor on the great age of rail.
California Zephyr: The Original Dream Train
California Zephyr: The Original Dream Train
The most spectacular of all the scenic domeliners that spanned America in the 50s and 60s, the original California Zephyr was the gold standard for luxury long distance train travel.
View video clip below
Three great railroads—the Western Pacific, the Denver & Rio Grande Western, and the Burlington Route—joined forces to launch this beam of silver on its transcontinental journey. In all-new footage never before released, we board the five-dome consist in the mist by San Francisco Bay, snake through the Feather River Canyon, wind over the Wasatch Range, race across the Utah desert, and vault the Colorado Rockies into Denver.
The view from the domes unfolds before us and we see the majesty of purple mountains, red desert and fruited plain, tied together by the silver ribbon, the original California Zephyr. 42 min.
VIDEO CLIP: Here the train enters Middle Park, a vast meadowland stretching north and south through the heart of the Rockies. Moffat Tunnel, over six miles long, was the culmination of a 5,000 foot climb from Westwater in Utah. Few travelers can ever forget the descent at night from the Moffat Tunnel to Denver. A mile below the train, the lights of the city spread like jewels on black velvet. Because for half the year this descent was made in darkness, the train’s direction is reversed in the next scenes and we will follow the progress of Westbounds starting at dawn in the high plains in Colorado.