Nostalgia & History > The lost joy of dutch-door travel over Donner Pass

Winter or summer, I didn't spend much time sitting down while riding the old San Francisco Zephyr over Donner Pass and the crews were OK with me there. Great days! First picture is from the summer of '78 and the second from the winter of '79/80.

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It's a shame they won't allow dutch door viewing anymore. Back in 1989 I road the Amtrak California Zephyr thru the Rockies and actually didn't know if dutch door viewing was forbidden or not, but I took a few opportunities to open it and enjoy the view but was mindful of the porters just in case.

I did ride the San Francisco Zephyr over Donner Pass twice as a teenager in the 1970's but can't remember if I opened the dutch doors or not. It was a treat none the less.

Cheers, Jim Fitch

I loved the doors too, our train broke down on donner, i actually left the train for a few minutes and walked around in the forest, after hearing we would be there for a couple hours.

The best part of dutch door viewing was the feel of the morning dew- which, of course, I've spelled wrong.
SR

Retention toilets made dutch door riding better at the end.
And it is still a wonderful experience, and can be approximated a few places such as the viewing platforms on the Rocky Mountaineer or Alaska Ry.

Wonderful photos! This was when real vista-domes were new on the SFZ (and the Starlight).

In reference to the smell and taste of Morning Doo, you learned early riding the vestibules never to yawn...

ShastaDaylight

No better place to ride.

Well done! Both shots are coming into Truckee.

I have stolen the odd few minutes here and there, but it's much more enjoyable when it's not at risk of getting booted off the train. I was fortunate enough to take the Pullman trip from New Orleans to Chicago once, they were fine with open dutch doors, they stayed open most of the trip. Was probably the last time I'll get to appreciate something like that, at high speed on the main line.

I know it's frustrating to be locked in, and I'm sure guilty of popping windows myself (but as an Amtrak Alumnus-  I know people and take advantage of the fact), but you have to try and understand the issue from Amtrak's POV.  You can't believe the things the public can do-   I worked Long Haul trains for about 8yrs before switching to Regional trains where windows are all fixed.  In that short time I had 3 seperate incidents where I found passengers more outside the window that in!  Hanging out up to their waist!!   So when a member of a crew isn't amused, odds are they too have seen some crazy shi....
SR

Rode the SP Daylight several times in the early 1960's from LA to San Francisco and back with the door half open all the way except for lunch. The cool mist at the time felt good until we found out what is was. When we arrived in SF our faces were also dirty with diesel oil. Ah, those were the days!

Larry

My son Josh and I road the Desert Wind in the early 90's from Fullerton to Grand Junction. We had the dutch door, or window, open to Salt Lake, no problem. Was outside of Salt Lake I got yelled at over the PA system to close the window, violation of Federal something, etc. When I got back to my seat people were saying "who would do that". I kept quiet. Was a fun trip overall.