By the early 1970s, passenger trains have been taken over by Amtrak and are a shadow of their glory days 30 years before. Amtrak operates one train each way per day in this region in our era, called "The Valley Chief". Even though they lack the glamour of days gone by, these two trains still have high priority over this section of the railroad. They make only one stop, to pick up and drop off passengers at the Chico passenger terminal.

Passenger – "The Valley Chief"

Train originates in Portland staging

The Valley Chief runs between Stockton and Portland. On the visible portion of the railroad, it begins in the Portland (west) staging yard and runs through to Chico, where the Tower Operator will route it to the station platform. After a 5-minute stop to board passengers, the Valley Chief runs on to the Sacramento Northern loop track. We use a single train to represent both the EB and WB runs (which in reality would be two completely separate trains). The train is held until its WB departure time, then runs to Chico again for a 5-minute passenger stop before obtaining main line clearance for its run back to "Portland", represented by west end staging.

Valley Chief Procedures

• At scheduled time, obtain clearance for Main
• Run east to Old Chico
• 5 minute stop for passengers at platform
• Obtain clearance
• Run east to SN loop
• Turn in SN loop
• Hold for return
• At scheduled time, obtain clearance
• Run west to Old Chico
• 5 minute stop for passengers at platform
• Obtain clearance
• Run west to Portland staging
• Go off duty—crew change

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