Super Chief vs California Zephyr

[beagledoggg]

I have several videos on both the Super Chief and the California Zephyr. I never rode either so I was wondering which was the better train. I am especially interested in the quality of the Dining Car food and service, especially the Turquoise Room.

[daveklepper]

From personal experience, I can say the food on both trains was excellent and served well.   I am not aware of any differences in the food served in the Turquose Room and that in the regular dining car, since the same menue and kitchen served for both.  In the 1950's, the CZ was better only because of the scenery, and both trains were clean, well maintained, comfortable, etc.  Perhaps the speed of the SC made up for the marvelous scenery of the CZ.   In the 1960's however, the CZ got a slightly threadbare and worn look, while the SC kept to a very high standard up through Amtrak and even for some months afterward.   Also timekeeping on the CZ became rather miserable, while again the SC kept mostly on time.   I still prefered the CZ, but only because of the marvelous scenery.   The CZ did continue to serve Rocky Mountain Trout in the diner between Denver and Salt Lake City, and that was tops for me for the food on both trains, but that was strictly personal preference, and others may have enjoyed a specialty of the SC more.   The french toast on both trains was terrific. but not featured at all breakfasts.   Crews remained helpful and friendly on both trains, but obviously the moral was better on the SC.   Note that the SC operated up to and through Amtrak.   In fact, the ONLY change I notice on the SC was the use of ABBBA F-units instead of two more modern passenger locomotives, after the Amtrak takeover on 1 May 1971.   But the CZ stopped running around 1 January 1969 (correct the date if you wish), and the replacement service required a change of trains in Ogden to the SP City of San Francisco with no Western Pacific passenger service.   The lounge-obs and diner ran only Salt Lake City.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The last date of through service on the California Zephyr was in March 1970, I'm not sure of the exact date.  At any rate, it was shortly after the BN merger on March 2, 1970.

After a few further adjustments, the remnants of the California Zephyr became a tri-weekly Omaha-Ogden addition to the Nebraska Zephyr, which ran daily between Chicago and Omaha.

[passengerfan]

 I have to agree with Dave regarding his perception of the two trains except I found the SC crew to be far better as far as service went. Remember their were no coach passengers on the SC and ratio of crew to passengers was better on the SC. I have always regetted not riding the CZ the entire distance but chose instead the RDC between Oakland and Salt Lake City. That trip on the RDC was one of the most memorable I have. But did ride the CZ from SLC to Chicago. Have ridden Amtraks CZ on several occasions and the Southwest Chief and find them very bland. The one thing I found on the SC that made it stand out was that you were never rushed to do anything , difficult to explain but I felt more relaxed on the SC than any other train I rode. At one time I was riding the SC three times at least a year and never had a complaint. I keep pretty good trip reports on my travels and would rank the SC number 1 the CZ about 5. My number two would have to be the GN Empire Builder. My family rode that train yearly from 1947 until 1972 and it was amazing when I look back at it how thw crew members remembered us year to year and my mother sent several of the crew Xmas cards for quite a number of years. We did not always have the same crews but they were all excellent. 

[wjstix]

  Perhaps the speed of the SC made up for the marvelous scenery of the CZ.  

It's a little bit of an apples and oranges comparison, since the California Zephyr went to San Francisco and the Super Chief to Los Angeles.

[daveklepper]

In general, my west coast trips included both cities.   In my comparison, I only referred to the service first class passengers received, and discounted my coach experiences, whether they were on the El Capitan, which I also sampled, or coach on the CZ.   I never felt rushed on any of these trains.  Including coach travel.   Never was rushed to leave the dining car because of other diners or the crew cleaning up.   But moral is important, and this held up on the SC, but lagged toward the end on the CZ.   And again the time keeping and fresh look of the equpment.   I am glad to have the date cleared up.  I did ride the replacement service described, with the change in Ogden.   I also rode the City of SF, City of LA, North Coast Limited, but never the Empire Builder, pity!    All these trains had more of a fresh look even toward the end than did the CZ.

But that rocky mountain trout on the CZ was special, also the number of domes.  And the windows were generally quite clean. 

[diningcar]

The SC did not have the spectacular views of the CZ between Denver and Grand Jct. but the SC was scheduled so that the best of Colorado, NM and AZ could be seen during the day. The stop in Albuquerque with the Indian venders and the native narrators between Alb. and Gallup added a unique ambiance. Also Santa Fe provided a booklet 'Along the Way' which told a story of the landscape as you traveled.

I always thought the Fred Harvey food and service was the best although all RR's worked hard to compete. 

[gbrewer]

Well, the CZ was also scheduled so the best scenery was during daylight hours (Colorado mountains and the Sierra crossing).

I rode the CZ but never the SC. I did ride the Texas Chief several times though, and agree that the SF certainly always did very well on dining car service -- not that I remember anything to complain about on the CZ diner.

[Texas Zepher]

I have several videos on both the Super Chief and the California Zephyr. I never rode either so I was wondering which was the better train.

I would say neither was a "better" train.   As a prior poster noted it is an apples and oranges comparison, not only because of the route but because of the type of customer the train was designed for.  The CZ catered to vacationing travelers of multiple-classes.  It had everything from a special women & children dome coach to first class compartments.  As others have mentioned was scheduled to pass through the more scenic parts of the country during the day time.   The SC on the other hand was designed for the 1st class only traveling business people (read that executives & movie stars).  There were no coaches or parlor cars on the SC.  Everyone had a sleeping room.  It was scheduled to leave LA & Chicago at convienient times for business travelers and get to the other end as quickly as possible.  Woe be to a Santa Fe employee that made the Super Chief late.  A completely different business model from the CZ.

I am especially interested in the quality of the Dining Car food and service, especially the Turquoise Room.

As a prior poster noted, the menu in the Turquoise room was the same as the regular diner; however, I've heard some interviews with cooks from the train and they indicated that in the Turquoise room one could order things that were not on the menu.