42-639: Burlington Northern Depot or Burlington Northern Station may refer to: Any one of many former train stations on the Burlington Northern Railroad , including: in the United States (by state then city) Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad ( reporting mark BN ) was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in
84-571: A complicated reverse move along street running tracks to reach the wye at West Oakland. The train was cut back again to Emeryville on October 26, 1997. Service between Reno and Denver was suspended for about a month in April 2020, as part of a round of service reduction in response to the coronavirus pandemic . Frequency was reduced to tri-weekly in October 2020, but was restored to daily service on May 24, 2021, after additional Amtrak funding
126-1002: A high ridge between the American and Yuba Rivers , through Emigrant Gap . The line empties out into the California Central Valley , and then runs along the San Pablo Bay , with stops in Sacramento and Davis. It crosses the Benicia Bridge and has stops in Martinez and Richmond , where BART provides connections to Berkeley and Oakland. The trip ends in Emeryville , where Amtrak Thruway service provides connecting service to San Francisco . [REDACTED] BART : O Orange Line , R Red Line From east to west
168-679: A matter of weeks before the end of service of the original California Zephyr , which had been operated by the CB&;Q, in conjunction with the Denver and Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads, and continued to operate the North Coast Limited , Mainstreeter , Empire Builder , Western Star , Denver Zephyr , " Gopher ", and " International ", until Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in May 1971, thus becoming
210-554: A very intertwined history, due to the efforts of James J. Hill , the railroad tycoon who had founded the Great Northern Railway. Hill purchased an interest in the Northern Pacific in 1896 as the railway endured a period of financial turmoil. Hill attempted to merge the two railways but was rebuffed by the leaders of the Northern Pacific. In 1901, the two railways teamed up to purchase nearly all shares of
252-585: Is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall after the Texas Eagle 's triweekly continuation from San Antonio to Los Angeles , with travel time between the termini taking approximately 51 1 ⁄ 2 hours. Amtrak claims the route as one of its most scenic, with views of the upper Colorado River valley in the Rocky Mountains , and the Sierra Nevada . The modern train
294-656: Is also where the train enters Utah . The Colorado River portion of the trip is informally called "moon river", as whitewater rafters pull down their pants and moon the passengers. In Utah, the train follows the southern rim of the Book Cliffs to their end near Helper . The Zephyr crosses the Wasatch Mountains , cresting at Soldier Summit before descending into the Wasatch Front to arrive at Salt Lake City . From Salt Lake City to Emeryville,
336-587: Is the second iteration of a train named California Zephyr ; the original train was privately operated and ran on a different route through Nevada and California. During fiscal year 2023, the California Zephyr carried 328,458 passengers, an increase of 13.1% over FY2022, but down from its pre- COVID-19 pandemic ridership of 410,844 in FY2019. The train had a total revenue of $ 51,950,998 in FY2016,
378-772: The City of San Francisco , which operated three times a week, between Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area. Eventually, however, after several false starts, Amtrak consolidated the two trains into one, dubbed the San Francisco Zephyr , homage to both the California Zephyr and the San Francisco Chief, between Chicago and Oakland. The Rio Grande continued to operate the Rio Grande Zephyr between Denver and Ogden. In 1983,
420-695: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway merged with the Burlington Northern to create the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. However, the merger was not official until December 31, 1996, when a common dispatching system was established, Santa Fe's non-union dispatchers were unionized and the implementation of Santa Fe's train identification codes systemwide. On January 24, 2005, the railroad shortened its name to BNSF Railway. The Burlington Northern traversed
462-616: The California Zephyr, it was not eligible to participate in Amtrak's formation . On April 12, 1971, the WP refused to cooperate with Railpax, and the SP route between Ogden and Oakland was chosen instead. On April 26, the D&;RGW elected not to join Amtrak. The contract specified that Amtrak could later increase service, and D&RGW feared that would crowd its single-track mainline that competed with
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#1732793138634504-642: The California Zephyr. This created a massive train of 16 Superliner cars running from Chicago to Utah, easily the longest train Amtrak had operated outside of the Auto Train . Amtrak required at least four EMD F40PH locomotives to pull this behemoth over the steep grades of the Moffat subdivision. To ease the load, Amtrak began splitting the Pioneer from the Zephyr and Desert Wind at Denver in 1991, while
546-540: The Desert Wind continued splitting from the Zephyr at Salt Lake City. The Pioneer and Desert Wind were both discontinued in 1997. The western terminus of the train was cut back to Emeryville station when Oakland Central station closed on August 5, 1994. The California Zephyr was re-extended to Oakland with the opening of the Jack London Square station on May 12, 1995. However, this required
588-498: The Fort Worth and Denver Railway in 1982. The railroad relocated its headquarters from Saint Paul to Seattle, Washington in 1981, as well as its parent company and sister companies. All of Burlington Northern, Inc's non-rail operations were spun off to a new company, Burlington Resources in 1988. The railroad once again relocated its headquarters in 1988, moving from Seattle to Fort Worth, Texas . On September 22, 1995,
630-809: The Humboldt River near Wells , which it loosely follows until the river's end in the Humboldt Sink near Lovelock . Here, the tracks cross the center of the Forty Mile Desert ; on the other side of this desert valley is the Truckee River , which provides the line's path to Reno and up the Sierra Nevada in California. In California, the tracks round Donner Lake , crest the Sierra Nevada at Donner Pass , and descend
672-659: The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument could be established. On November 21, 1980, the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway was acquired, giving the railroad trackage as far south as Florida . In the early 1980s two independently operated railroads, owned by Burlington Northern Inc. were absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad; the Colorado and Southern Railway was absorbed in 1981, followed by
714-672: The Puget Sound region through Everett, Washington . The former Northern Pacific turned southwest towards the Tri-Cities , then northwest to Yakima, Washington , and crossed under the Cascade Range at Stampede Tunnel, descending to the Green River Valley at Auburn, Washington where it connected with existing NP lines from British Columbia to Portland, Oregon . The Spokane, Portland and Seattle ran southwest to
756-700: The Supreme Court ruling Northern Securities Co. v. United States . Although the ruling forced the three companies to be operated independently, they were still closely linked, even sharing a headquarters building, the Railroad and Bank Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota . In 1905, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was founded. Like the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, this new railroad
798-830: The Zephyr route loosely follows Interstate 80 , traveling along the south shore of the Great Salt Lake and across the Bonneville Salt Flats towards Nevada. After crossing into Nevada at Wendover, Utah / West Wendover, Nevada , the route passes the Toano Range , via Silver Zone Pass, across the Goshute Valley , tunnels under the Pequop Mountains and then skirts the northern edge of the Ruby Mountains . The line first reaches
840-735: The Zephyr switches over from BNSF to Union Pacific tracks. Westbound, the train is routed over the Central Corridor for the trip through the Tunnel District . The line crosses the Continental Divide via the 6.2 mile-long Moffat Tunnel under James Peak . Leaving the Moffat Tunnel, the tracks then follow the Colorado River from Winter Park Resort to Ruby Canyon , west of Grand Junction , which
882-556: The 19th century, the United States government distributed land to railroads as a way to open up the American West and the 9,677-foot (2,950 m) peak was granted to the Northern Pacific. It was inherited in the 1970 merger by Burlington Northern. Following the eruption the land including the volcano was subsequently transferred in a land swap between the railroad and the United States Forest Service so
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#1732793138634924-643: The Burlington Northern, a single track was constructed in 1972 into the Powder River Basin to serve various coal mines. The expansion was a source of traffic unprecedented in United States railroad history. In 1971, the first full year for the new railroad, trains carried 64,116 million revenue ton-miles of freight, by 1979 the total was 135,004 million. Most of the increase was attributed to Powder River coal from Wyoming. The Burlington Northern, along with handling freight trains, briefly operated inter-city passenger trains. The BN had started operations just
966-630: The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, giving both a needed connection to Chicago, the nation's railroad hub. That same year, came the next attempt to merge the railroads with the establishment of the Northern Securities Company , a trust that controlled all three, with Hill serving as president. The company was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Antitrust Act and in 1904 the Justice Department won in
1008-485: The D&RGW elected to join Amtrak, citing increasing losses in passenger operations. Amtrak re-routed the San Francisco Zephyr over the D&RGW's Moffat Subdivision between Denver and Salt Lake City, its original preference from 1971. The change was scheduled for April 25, but a mudslide at Thistle, Utah , closed the line and delayed the change until July 16. With the change of route, Amtrak renamed
1050-535: The DRG&;W between Denver and Ogden, Utah , and the WP west of Ogden. The California Zephyr route would serve more populated areas (including Denver and Salt Lake City) than the Overland Route, would run through rural communities that lacked good highway access, and could attract passengers to its scenic routes. However, since the WP had shed the last of its money-losing passenger service by terminating
1092-655: The Tri-Cities, then followed the north bank of the Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington . With the acquisition of the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway the route was extended into the South Central and Southeastern United States . Transport Statistics shows BN operated 23609 miles of line and 34691 miles of track at the end of 1970; it shows 4547 SLSF miles of line not including QA&P and AT&N. At
1134-585: The UP's double-track route. The D&RGW chose to operate the Denver–Ogden Rio Grande Zephyr . Amtrak scrambled to piece together a Denver–Cheyenne–Ogden routing on the UP. Between the spring of 1971 and the summer of 1972, passengers traveling between Chicago and Oakland would have to travel on two different trains: the Denver Zephyr , which operated daily between Chicago and Denver, and
1176-831: The Western United States. As of 2024 , a typical California Zephyr has: As with the other long-distance routes, Amtrak plans to fully replace the P42DCs with ALC-42 locomotives by 2027, and the Superliner cars with new long-distance cars by 2032. The west-bound train is Amtrak number 5 (number 6 eastbound). Upon leaving Chicago Union Station , the train travels along the Metra BNSF Railway Line , with an intermediate stop in Naperville , Illinois . After passing through Aurora, Illinois ,
1218-495: The continental divide at Marias Pass , while the former NP line routed through the southern part of Montana (which was spun off to Montana Rail Link in 1987), crossing the continental divide at Mullan and Homestake Passes . At Spokane the routes split into three. The former Great Northern route ran west to Wenatchee, Washington , crossed under the Cascade Range at New Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass , and descended to
1260-488: The earliest days of railroading with the chartering in 1848 of the Chicago and Aurora Railroad , a direct ancestor line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , which lends Burlington to the names of various merger-produced successors. Burlington Northern acquired the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996, to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (later renamed BNSF Railway ), which
1302-412: The end of 1981 BN showed 27,374 miles (44,054 km) of line and 40,041 miles (64,440 km) of track. At the time of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens the summit of the volcano that was blasted away was owned by Burlington Northern. Following the eruption, Burlington Northern agreed to a land swap with the U.S. government and exchanged its square mile (2.59 square kilometer ) of land on
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1344-476: The exact spot the train switches lines depends on the direction of travel. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, the California Zephyr operated in tandem with the Seattle -bound Pioneer and Los Angeles-bound Desert Wind . Since 1980, the Pioneer and Desert Wind had exchanged through coaches with the San Francisco Zephyr at Ogden. The exchange point was moved to Salt Lake City when the latter train became
1386-610: The last "new" Class I railroad to operate its own passenger trains. The BN also operated a commuter line inherited from the CB&Q from Aurora, Illinois to Chicago Union Station . This line is still owned and operated to this day by the BNSF Railway under a purchase-of-service agreement with Metra . In May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted , the BNR owned the land around the summit of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. In
1428-405: The last year that route-specific revenue data was given. Prior to the 1971 creation of Amtrak , three competing trains ran between Chicago and the East Bay , with bus connections to San Francisco: Railpax (renamed Amtrak in late April 1971) originally intended to revive the California Zephyr as part of its original route network, using the Burlington Northern (ex-CB&Q) east of Denver,
1470-465: The most northerly routes of any railroad in the western United States. These routes started at Chicago, Illinois and ran west-northwest to La Crosse, Wisconsin . From here the routes continued northwest through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Grand Forks, North Dakota . From Grand Forks the routes ran west through North Dakota , Montana , and Idaho to Spokane, Washington . The former GN routed through North Dakota/Northern Montana, crossing
1512-482: The mountain for national forest land elsewhere to allow for the creation of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument to preserve the volcano and allow for its aftermath to be scientifically studied. California Zephyr The California Zephyr is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville ), via Omaha , Denver , Salt Lake City , and Reno . At 2,438 miles (3,924 km), it
1554-411: The train as the California Zephyr . The modern California Zephyr uses mostly the same route as the original east of Winnemucca, Nevada . The train uses the route of the former City of San Francisco , along the Overland Route ( First transcontinental railroad ), between Elko, Nevada , and Sacramento. Across central Nevada, the two rail lines have been combined to use directional running . As such,
1596-419: The train passes through the Illinois prairies, using the Burlington Rail Bridge to cross the Mississippi River in Burlington , Iowa . After running through southern Iowa, the Zephyr reaches the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa and Omaha , Nebraska . From Omaha, the train travels overnight through southern Nebraska and northeastern Colorado , making a morning arrival in Denver. At Denver,
1638-403: Was Louis W. Menk , and the CB&Q's president was William John Quinn . Under the leadership of Budd and Menk, the newly established holding company , Burlington Northern, Inc. purchased the four railroads and merged them into the Burlington Northern Railroad. Budd became the company's first board chairman and CEO while Menk became the company's first president and COO. To further expand
1680-416: Was co-owned by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific and allowed both to access Portland via the Columbia River Gorge. Leaders attempted to merge another two times, in 1927 and 1955, but were unsuccessful. The four railroads were finally cleared to merge on March 2, 1970, after a legal challenge that once again went to the Supreme Court. By that time, the GN's president was John M. Budd , the NP's president
1722-439: Was included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 . A resurgence of the virus caused by the Omicron variant and associated staffing and equipment shortages caused Amtrak to reduce the train's service to a five days a week Tuesday through Saturday schedule from January 19 to May 23, 2022. As of June 2022, daily service had resumed. The California Zephyr uses Superliner equipment like Amtrak's other long-distance trains in
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1764-482: Was owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation . That corporation was purchased in 2009 by Berkshire Hathaway , which is controlled by investor Warren Buffett . The Burlington Northern Railroad was the product of the merger of four major railroads: the Great Northern Railway (GN), the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (SP&S) and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q). The four railroads shared
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