Like many of you, I hesitate to read books and view movies with railroad content because the inaccuracies are so jarring…. GGIs pulling trains in California, hatches and handholds so the bad guys can fight on the roof of a moving train, etc. etc. I even was consulted on one of Clive Cussler’s books and he took artistic license to suit the story line.
For Christmas my daughter gave me Death Rides the Zephyr and Death Deals a Hand by Janet Dawson. Both are set on the California Zephyr.
In Death Rides the Zephyr the main character is a Zephyrette and so far the only technical detail I’ve found is reference to the “fish tail” shape of the observation car as opposed to “boat tail”.
The entire consist is described from the WP F Units to the Dome Observation and the crew and their duties are accurately portrayed.
Having ridden private car charters behind Amtrak Chicago-Sacramento on the Silver Solarium and Silver Rapids (both cars in the consist of the eastbound CZ) and up the Feather River to Portola am greatly enjoying the author’s descriptions of the parts of the CZ route that I rode.
If you have a chance to read either book I am sure you will enjoy it as well!!!
Charlie Vlk