and the California Zephyr would go by every day,” he says. “It seemed like the most magical thing in the world to see this ...

with the arrival of the California Zephyr. Gliding through the Colorado Rockies, the "cruise ship on wheels" celebrated train travel, and was in turn celebrated in song by Hank Williams.

Crossing up and over the fabled Donner Pass in the northern Sierra Nevada and descending to Lake Tahoe is one of those essential rites of passage for Californians. But forget doing it in a car.