Serving Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Cheyenne, Ogden, Sacramento, Oakland, and intermediate points
Amtrak train numbers: 5 and 6
Predecessor railroad train numbers: See City of San Francisco and California Zephyr
The San Francisco Zephyr replaced City of San Francisco as the name for Amtrak's Chicago-Oakland train that avoided the Rio Grande Railroad's Denver-Salt Lake City route, running from Denver to Ogden via Cheyenne instead.
Beginning in 1979, the San Francisco Zephyr connected at Ogden with two new Amtrak trains, the Desert Wind to Los Angeles and the Pioneer to Portland and Seattle; several years later, both trains were combined with the Zephyr for through service to Chicago.
When Rio Grande dropped their Rio Grande Zephyr service in 1983, Amtrak switched to the more scenic Colorado route instead and restored the historic California Zephyr name. This left Wyoming without Amtrak train service until the Pioneer was rerouted in 1991.
Condensed historical timetables:
READ DOWN READ UP
(1975) (1980) (1980) (1975)
3:00P 6:15P Dp Chicago Ar 1:25P 12:35P
11:55P 3:05A Omaha 4:03A 3:20A
9:15A 12:20P Denver 6:05P 5:25P
11:50A 2:10P Cheyenne 3:30P 2:20P
10:00P 11:59P Ogden 6:50A 4:25A
12:15P 1:24P Sacramento 2:27P 11:55A
2:20P 3:59P Ar Oakland Dp 12:25P 10:00A
The Amtrak Train Names Project | 
