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Hi everyone! I'm hoping to get some advice for an upcoming trip I'm taking. I'm going from NY to SF in mid October. Due to timing I have to fly out, but want to take the train back. I was planning on taking the Zephyr but have read that the trip eastbound may not be as spectacular as the westbound. Knowing that I can only go eastbound, would you recommend the Zephyr or the Empire Builder (or even the Southwest Chief). I'm just looking to get the best, most awe inspiring views on my trek back home. THANK YOU!! Molly
Posts: 2 | Registered: Sep 2013
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I think the EB Zephyr would be best for scenery. If the train is late by very much, night might fall before it arrives at Fraser/Winter Park, but then you will get to see the lights of Denver while descending the Front Range.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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I think I answered your question on another forum as well.....
Regardless, I would still plan on the California Zephyr. It's a great ride either direction and eastbound gives you the remarkable climb into (and over) the Sierra Nevadas on day 1.
The only risk of a late train causing you to miss fabulous scenery is going to be on day 2 descending into Denver but that is a stunning experience even at dusk or after dark as the lights of Denver below you draw nearer.
I hope you have a great trip and will come back later to let us know how it goes.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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The eastbound Empire Builder is typically running 3-4 hours late into Chicago due to track maintenance and heavy freight traffic. A same day connection in Chicago from any western train is risky, but would be more risky on the Builder.
I would not agree that the Zephyr is that much less scenic eastbound. Descending toward the lights of Denver in the dark is a unique attraction. Your chances are good of being on time and there might still be daylight, but you just might not see all of the 28 tunnels between Winter Park and Denver. The climb from Denver westbound is just more dramatic after flat farmland and plains than it is after 2 days of spectacular mountain, canyon, and desert scenery eastbound.
The Southwest Chief offers good high desert scenery, and beautiful northern New Mexico (which may not be around long if the Chief is rerouted through Texas). It is generally faster and reliable. It would also allow you a scenic trip down the Pacific Coast in the Coast Starlight. You would have to overnight in LA (or even Santa Barbara). It is also an option to take a San Joaquin train and a bus to LA that would not require an overnight.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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Since you're only going to ride one train, it should be the Zephyr. The Chief and the Builder have their scenic highlights, but the Zephyr simply has more of them, for a much longer time. You get one day in the Sierras Sacramento - Reno, then the second day crossing the Rockies.The Westbound Zephyr is more majestic, but even the Eastbound train trumps the other two.
Posts: 510 | From: Richmond VA USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Mosugs, since you mentioned other trains, if that is an option why not try a Coast Starlight - Empire Builder combination. While neither route is as scenic as the spectacular Zephyr trip. You would sample what is arguably Amtrak's best train, the Starlight, and have a very scenic trip along the Columbia River and Glacier NP on the Builder.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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I once remember descending the Rockies towards Denver after dark. There was a layer of cloud and it was a moonlit night, so all you could see was a bed of silvery cloud off to the left of the train. It's quite a steep descent for a train so it wasn't long before the train dived into the cloud and came out the other side a few minutes later with the sparkling lights of Denver and Boulder off in the distance. That was a journey I won't forget for a while.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Thank you so much to everyone! I have decided to book the CZ for my trip! It sounds like the Denver decent is a can't miss and I'm really excited about it. I will be sure to come back to the forum and post about my experience. Thanks again for all your advice!
Posts: 2 | Registered: Sep 2013
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You've made a nice choice. As mentioned by Mr. Nicholson, you enjoy the Sierras in daylight, but also I would point out scenic Ruby canyon and Glenwood Canyon (be sure to sit on the left side of the sightseer lounge).
In defense of the Empire Builder, its typical lateness actually permits you to see more fine scenery in Montana especially in winter, as does a moderately late northbound Starlight lets you experience more of scenic Northern California.
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The true railfan loves a late train because it gives him more time on the train. True fact. Natural law. The Bible says so. (Somewhere.)
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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Now gee, Hank. That's not fair. Citing unspecified testamentary evidence to support your position. That raises (or perhaps lowers) our discussion here to a new level. Makes all the reasoned arguments about funding pointless. Can an atheist also enjoy that extra time?Evidences the demon in you. I am shocked, shocked.
And I have an undergarduate degree in Religion. Not even responding with a poem. Hugs to you Hank!!
Ira
Posts: 300 | From: Denver, CO USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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As Don said, a late Empire Builder could provide some good scenery. If only you could know when it would be really late and hop on it.
I was on the eastbound Empire Builder last September during the full moon. In a roomette with all light blocked out I could see the scenery between Spokane and Whitefish by moonlight. It was awesome. Lots of rushing rivers and waterfalls and tall trees. I stayed up all night to see the sights.
So much depends on the sun angle. Climbing westward up the front range from Denver or descending eastward from Glacier appear more scenic with the low morning sun, and better for photos too. The red rock country in western New Mexico looks good both directions on the Southwest Chief. I was fortunate enough to be on a late northbound Starlight last year to see Mt. Shasta at dawn. But then I missed the Columbia Gorge at sunset by being bussed to Pasco.
Dawn in a sightseer lounge over a hot coffee is always the highlight of my train day.
Posts: 1572 | From: St. Paul, MN | Registered: Dec 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Geoff Mayo: The "where are we" moment of varying length is often fun of a morning, too! [/QB]
On my first ever trip to the States and first ever night in an Amtrak sleeper I woke up on the CZ at around 5.00 am somewhere in Nebraska. So there I was, propped up on one elbow with coffee and road atlas waiting until a suitable road sign went past to indicate where we were.....and I waited.....and waited.....and waited......
The flat nothingness just went on and on, and it's not a word of a lie that it was well over half an hour before I got some idea of where we were!!
I took the SL just a few months before Katrina, and woke up to the most stunning scenary of the swamps and bayous, with mist rising off the water. On that occasion the local signs left me baffled, until I traced the route back more than 100 miles from where I had expected us to be - the dear old Sunset was living up to it's reputation and rolled into Mobile almost four hours late!
(Wow, is it really 11 years since I joined the forum?)
Posts: 395 | From: england | Registered: Sep 2002
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Zephyr all the way! Hands down...you just can't go wrong. Sierra Mountains AND the Rockies?? What more could you want in the scenery department? (Maybe the ocean, but that ain't possible on an east/west trip). Have fun! I will be taking the Zephyr as soon as I can figure out how to swing it into my schedule and surgery recovery.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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I actually experienced 'where-are-we-at-itis' on the northbound Auto-Train in December 2004.
Somewhere in the night sfter passing an uncommonly snow-covered Fayetteville, NC (where I lived from 1994-98) we ground to a stop. I rolled over and fell back to sleep.
Hours later dawn came and we had not moved much, if any, during the night. I went to the lounge car and tried to figure out where in southern Virginia we were....... until a short while later we began rolling at a restricted speed and crawled past the large CSX yard in Rocky Mount, NC.
All told, we arrived in Lorton 5-hours late on account of 'frozen signals'.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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