Hello everyone and welcome to Train Talk!
Today, we’re going to discuss Amtrak Long Distance Routes in the western United States.
You probably know that Amtrak is America’s national passenger train network, and they
serve cities and towns all across the continental U.S.
For the most part, Amtrak service can be broken down into corridor trains and long distance
trains.
We’ll focus on the long distance trains this time but for the purposes of this episode,
corridor trains in general travel distances of about 500 miles or less and there are often
multiple trips made each day, while long distance trains travel over 500 miles and make at most
one trip a day in each direction.
Long distance trains got their start, like most amtrak services, from railroads that
had previously operated the trains before Amtrak took over passenger rail service in
the United States on May 1st, 1971, and we will see that reflected in the names and routes
of these present day Amtrak trains.
All Amtrak long distance trains in the western half of the country run with double deck passenger
cars, called Superliners.
Most trains are pulled by 2 diesel electric P42DC “Genesis” type locomotives, built
by General Electric.
Following the locomotives is a set of passenger cars, also called a consist.
A typical long distance passenger consist includes a baggage car, a transition sleeper
car used mostly for crew accommodations, standard Superliner sleeper cars, a dining car with
full restaurant and kitchen, a sightseer lounge car with large windows and lounge chairs for
sitting back and watching the scenery fly by, and some standard coach cars.
We will now take a brief look at the 5 long distance Amtrak routes that run in the western
half of the country.
The Sunset Limited, train number 1 westbound and 2 eastbound, is the first long distance
passenger train we’ll take a look at today and it is the southernmost of the long distance
Amtrak routes in the west.
This train runs from Los Angeles, California to New Orleans, Louisiana, skirting along
the southern border of America as it passes through the states of Arizona, New Mexico,
and Texas.
It takes its name from a train run over the same line by the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Scenic highlights include the spectacular Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, The Rio Grande
River, and the Bayous of Louisiana.
A few cars from this train split off in San Antonio, Texas, running as the Texas Eagle
from San Antonio to Chicago, Illinois.
The Sunset Limited runs three days a week in each direction while the Texas Eagle runs
daily.
From Los Angeles to New Orleans, the train travels 1,995 miles over the course of two
full days.
Between San Antonio and Chicago, the Texas Eagle travels 1305 miles over the course of
a day.
At one time, the Sunset Limited continued on from New Orleans all the way to Orlando,
Florida, but service was cut back to New Orleans in 2005.
The Sunset Limited uses the standard long distance Amtrak consist with an extra sleeping
car on the end of the that is set out along with the last coach car in San Antonio for
the Texas Eagle.
Our next train is the Southwest Chief.
The Southwest Chief, operating daily as train 3 westbound and train 4 eastbound travels
between Los Angeles, California and Chicago, Illinois, passing through northern Arizona
and New Mexico, south eastern Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri.
This train borrows part of its name and most of its route from the train the Super Chief,
once operated by the Santa Fe Railroad.
The train passes through the northern deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, just skirting the
Grand Canyon to the south.
Leaving New Mexico, the Southwest Chief climbs through Glorieta and Raton passes, entering
colorado and then continuing across the great plains of Kansas.
Consists for this train are the standard for western long distance Amtrak routes.
Trip time from Los Angeles to Chicago is just shy of two days, with a route length of 2,265
miles.
Traveling between the San Francisco Bay Area of California and Chicago, Illinois, the California
Zephyr snakes through some of the most beautiful scenery of the west.
Running daily as train 5 westbound and 6 eastbound, the train takes its name and most of its route
from the famed California Zephyr train that was jointly operated by the Western Pacific,
Rio Grande, and Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroads.
From Chicago, the train passes through southern Iowa and Nebraska before turning into Colorado
and climbing through the Rocky Mountains.
The California Zephyr then passes along the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake, across
the northern deserts of Nevada, and up and over the Sierra Nevada Mountains on Donner
Pass, finally descending into Sacramento and skirting the shores of San Pablo Bay.
Like the Southwest Chief, this train uses a standard superliner consist.
The route length is 2,438 miles and the trip time is just over 2 days.
Next is the Empire Builder.
The Empire Builder runs daily as train 7 westbound and train 8 eastbound and travels between
Chicago, Illinois and Seattle, Washington.
This is the northernmost Amtrak long distance route in the west and it takes its name and
route from the Great Northern Railway.
From Chicago, the Empire Builder zips through Wisconsin, crosses the Mississippi River and
passes through Minnesota’s twin cities region.
Leaving Minnesota, the train crosses the plains of North Dakota and into Montana, skimming
along the Missouri River and cresting the northern Rocky Mountains as it passes through
Glacier National Park.
Continuing toward the Pacific Northwest, the train passes through a small stretch of northern
Idaho and into eastern Washington.
The train makes an extended stop in Spokane, Washington, where a small section of the train
continues on to Portland, Oregon along the Columbia River, operating as train numbers
27 westbound and 28 eastbound.
The rest of the train continues on to Seattle.
Typically, two locomotives pull the train, but certain times of year, a third one is
added.
Following the locomotives is a baggage car, transition sleeping car, two standard sleeping
cars, a dining car, two coach cars, a sightseer lounge car, two more coaches, another sleeper,
and finally, an additional coach car.
The last coach car is dropped off in St. Paul, Minnesota heading westbound and picked up
heading eastbound.
The Sightseer Lounge, two coaches and sleeper at the end of the train are detached in Spokane,
Washington and continue to Portland, Oregon as the Portland section of the train with
everything ahead of the lounge car continuing on to Seattle.
The trip time from Chicago to Seattle is just shy of two full days and the route length
is 2,205 miles.
Finally, we come to my favorite Amtrak route, the Coast Starlight.
This train runs daily, north as train 14 and south as train 11 between the major cities
of Los Angeles, California and Seattle, Washington.
Along its 1,377 mile long route, the Coast Starlight skirts along the coastline of the
Pacific Ocean, climbs the coastal mountains, passes through the San Francisco Bay Area,
flies along the base of Mount Shasta and through the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, into the
lush Willamette Valley, and finally along Puget Sound before arriving in Seattle.
The trip takes about a day and a half.
The Coast Starlight runs along the rails of what was once the Southern Pacific Railroad,
taking its name from two different Southern Pacific trains: The Coast Daylight and the
Starlight.
This train uses a standard Superliner consist with the addition of a Business Class coach
between the dining car and the sightseer lounge, and a special car called the Pacific Parlor
Car, which serves as an additional lounge for sleeping car and business class passengers.
We have come to the end of our journey for this episode.
I hope you enjoyed the ride.
To find out more about any of these trains, visit the Amtrak website www.amtrak.com. Also,
be sure to tell me which western long distance Amtrak route is your favorite.
If this video gets 500 likes, I will make a full video on the winning route.
Well, that does it for now.
Until next time, I’m Mike Armstrong.
I’ll see you down the line!
Thanks for watching!