City of San Francisco, ca. 1966

I need one of you old-timers to settle a bet for me. I told a pal of mine that my wife and I traveled on The City of San Francisco between Omaha and Oakland in late 1966. I recounted for him a memory of a "dinner stop" in Ogden, Utah (around an hour, as I recall) where we got off the train and ate in a restaurant near the station. He said this was highly unlikely as the schedule wouldn't allow this. Wasn't Ogden an engine/crew changeover point and wasn't the long stop a scheduled one?


Ocala Mike

Just as every flight used to go through Atlanta back in the day, so did pax trains in Ogden. Indeed the Ogden station was a major hub for those traveling est-west/west-east. the station sits right at the end of 25th street in downtown Ogden which to this day houses many bars and restaurants. So although I don't know what the schedule was at the time, I would say you were correct as Ogden is still a crew change point for through freight operations.

According to the April 26, 1964 Official Railway Guide, which probably remained unchanged in 1966. Train #101, the City of San Francisco, was scheduled to arrive at Ogden, UT from the Union Pacific at 6:40 P.M.

At Ogden, the crew shifted from a UP to an SP one for the remainder of its journey, leaving Ogden at 7:50 P.M. Your time is right on the money, one hour and ten minutes, and right at dinner time. Plus Ogden is where the City of SF changed RR lines.

Oh, and your train arrived the next day in Oakland 16th/Wood at 12:20 P.M. the following day, 780 miles from Ogden.

Ocala Mike wrote:I need one of you old-timers to settle a bet for me. I told a pal of mine that my wife and I traveled on The City of San Francisco between Omaha and Oakland in late 1966. I recounted for him a memory of a "dinner stop" in Ogden, Utah (around an hour, as I recall) where we got off the train and ate in a restaurant near the station. He said this was highly unlikely as the schedule wouldn't allow this. Wasn't Ogden an engine/crew changeover point and wasn't the long stop a scheduled one?


Ocala Mike

Thanks, rhallanger, for letting me win that "gentleman's bet." Wish I'd have saved the timetable!

By the way, we were about 3-4 hours late getting into Oakland the next day; lots of freight moves and snow through the pass!


Ocala Mike