Amtrak train 5, the tri-weekly westbound San Francisco Zephyr, crosses the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains as it heads west from Chicago to Oakland … but, oddly, not to its namesake city of San Francisco, as there is no convenient way to cross the San Francisco Bay without adding nearly two hours to the trip, so a bus connection across the Bay Bridge is utilized. Amtrak SDP40Fs 598 and 620 are in charge of this train, traveling through snowy Donner Pass, part of the original Transcontinental Railroad’s route from Oakland to Omaha, completed on May 1, 1869. Imagine riding over these mountains in 19th Century wooden coaches! (Soda Springs, California – March 18, 1978)
