Re: What if the D&RGW had joined Amtrak?

Kelly Anderson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> An urban legend that I had heard was that Rio
> Grande rationalized keeping both the Zephyr and
> the Silverton branch because the profit from the
> Silverton offset the losses from the Zephyr. When
> the Silverton was sold to Bradshaw, then the
> Zephyr had to go.

I suspect you labeled that one correctly. What I recall hearing back in the day was that losses on the Zephyr had been climbing quickly in the late 1970's and early 1980's, that it was getting harder to find parts for the 1948 era(mostly) CZ passenger cars, which were also requiring more and more work just to keep them safe & operable and the good time-keeping of the SFZ[1] convinced them that they could indeed trust Amtrak on their rails. And that was in the days when the SFZ/DW/P was sort of the Amtrak version of the "City of Everywhere."

Hank

[1] the BN generally did a good job on handling Amtrak trains in the 1980's & early 1990's. After I moved here I was working nights at a C-store and you could pretty much set your watch by #27 & #28 (Portland section of the E going through. That all changed later on. Into the early 2000's though I would often come back from visiting in Portland and arrive in Spokane with time to get into my car and drive home (16- 20 miles) and be home before the scheduled arrival time in Spokane!