California Zephyr

So being able to take that knowledge and put it into the world of model trains and Broadway has been my manufacturer for long, long time from when I was a kid.

My dad had some of our California Zephyr cars growing up.

Um, I have an original, uh, Santa Fe Northern that I still have.

It's part of the reason why I'm a big Santa Fe fan was because of the, uh, the 3751 that still operates in California.

So Lorenzo Monsanto wrote and said, come to my cabin, no one will know, etc.

So I had sneaked into San Francisco, as I say, coming 3,000 miles from my home in Long Island, Northport, in a pleasant roomette on the California Zephyr train, watching America roll by outside my private picture window.

Really happy for the first time in three years, staying in the roomette all three days and three nights with my instant coffee and sandwiches.

Up the Hudson Valley and over across New York State to Chicago, and then the plains, the mountains, the desert, the final mountains of California.

So Lorenzo Monsanto wrote and said, Come to my cabin, no one will know, etc.

So I had sneaked into San Francisco, as I say, coming three thousand miles from my home in Long Island, Northport, in a pleasant roomette on the California Zephyr train, watching America roll by outside my private picture window, really happy for the first time in three years, staying in the roomette all three days and three nights with my instant coffee and sandwiches.

Up the Hudson Valley and over across New York State to Chicago and then the plains, the mountains, the desert, the final mountains of California.

All so easy and dreamlike compared to my old harsh hitchhikings before I made enough money to take transcontinental trains.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, because most of our cars, um, we have, I think there's four of, um, California Zephyrs, which were-

Mm

... our iconic cars that-

Consider, if you can, modeling something like the BNSF Mendota sub, which sees not just two long-distance trains a day, one each way, but four.

The California Zephyr and the Southwest Chief both run together from Chicago to Galesburg before splitting and going their separate ways.

If you can arrange your layout to model such a co-running situation, maybe running one long-distance train the full length of the layout but another half the distance before it peels off at a junction, then you can squeeze in even more long-distance train action than otherwise.

As for higher speed rail, I don't think too much would be different from regular speed intercity trains, but I do have some thoughts.

So Lorenzo Monsanto wrote and said, come to my cabin, no one will know, etc.

So I had sneaked into San Francisco as I say, coming 3,000 miles from my home in Long Island, Northport, in a pleasant roomette on the California Zephyr train, watching America roll by outside my private picture window.

Really happy for the first time in three years, staying in the roomette all three days and three nights with my instant coffee and sandwiches.

Up the Hudson Valley and over across New York State to Chicago and then the plains, the mountains, the desert, the final mountains of California.

But I will say one thing.

I mean, if you want to try the rails and do Amtrak, I mean, our buddy John Lee's done the California Zephyr through California and those areas, and he said it was absolutely spectacular.

And a lot of people like doing the...

Empire Builder, which goes through North Dakota and that whole area.

Maybe if I got paid.

Were you on the California Zephyr?

I think so, yeah.

Amtrak?