Nostalgia & History > Info Needed

This is a silent 16mm motion picture film clip from the library of Virgil and Lavada Staff. Information needed about this clip. http://www.trainorders.com//avshare/thumbnails//848-medium.jpg

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looking west from crockett near the nantuckett restuarant. approx mp 25.5

This is Amtrak train 6 approaching Crockett,CA. At this time the train was known as the "San Francisco Zephyr" and operated on the UP east of Ogden, UT to Denver, via Cheyenne.

The engine consist has an SP FP-7 leading three E units. The lead unit only operated from Oakland to Sparks, NV while the E units continued onto Denver.

The trains in this time frame were known as a "Rainbow Era" trains since each one had multiple paint schemes from the contributing heritage railroads that joined Amtrak. You can discern passenger cars of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Burlington and even the Baltimore and Ohio (the dome sleeper) viewed on this train. The time frame, I would estimate is 1974 or 1975.

Phil Gos

My guess would be that was circa January 1974, shortly before the SDP40F's would take over that train. The SP did not like the plows or icicle breakers on the E-units and insisted on the FP7 to lead over Donner in adverse weather. As Phil said, the FP came off at Sparks and returned on #5 the following day. When the SDP's did arrive, SP still wanted the F units to lead over Donner although that practice ended in early 1975.

The F-units would remain on the hill only for the Reno Fun Train and the last all F unit train over Donner was in March of 1976.